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INGREDIENTS
Dark chocolate and candy cane cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
1/4 cup black cocoa powder sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light-brown sugar packed
2 large eggs room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract optional
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag Bright White Candy Melts or white chocolate, melted* vegetable shortening as needed to thin candy melts crushed candy canes

Molasses cookies
1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups sugar (plus extra to roll the cookies in)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Peanut butter blossom cookies
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (plus extra to roll the cookies in)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
48 unwrapped Hershey’s Kisses

Almond nonpareil cookies
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Nonpareils

Every year around the holidays I go on a three to four day baking spree where I take over my kitchen and do nothing but bake cookies. For the past couple of years, I have been making six or seven types of cookies and we always end up with way too many. I have officially become the designated baker for my family and friends, so I want to share some of the recipes that have been fan favorites.

Dark chocolate candy cane cookies

Most people love a good candy cane around the holidays, and what is better than cozying up with a nice cup of hot cocoa and a candy cane to stir in it? These cookies combine the chocolate flavors with peppermint, tasting just like your peppermint hot chocolate.

To make these cookies, the first thing you will need to do is whisk together the flour, cocoa powders, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. You will use this a bit later, but you can set it aside for now.

Next, using a stand or hand mixer, beat together your room temperature butter with both types of sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. This will take about two to three minutes. Once the butter-sugar mixture has reached the right consistency, reduce the speed and add in your eggs and peppermint extract. Beat this mixture until well combined, scraping the sides down as needed.

Once your wet ingredients are well-combined, start adding in the flour mixture you set aside earlier. I have found that adding the drying ingredients a little bit at a time helps to make sure it all gets incorporated and lessens the chance of flour flying all over your kitchen. Following the flour, add in your chocolate chips and stir until they are evenly distributed.

Now that the dough has formed and you have added the chocolate chips, cover the dough and chill for at least an hour or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small or medium cookie scoop, portion the dough onto the baking sheet. If using a medium scoop, I recommend nine cookies per tray, but if using a small scoop, you can fit up to 12 on a standard-sized cookie sheet.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the middle is set. The cookies will deflate a bit after removing from the oven as they cool. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.

Once the cookies are completely cool, melt your white chocolate for decorating. Dip half of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Before they are dry, sprinkle the tops with crushed candy canes. Allow the cookies to set the rest of the way before packaging for storage.

Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

My family is a sprinkle household. Ice cream gets sprinkles, cake gets sprinkles and I even put sprinkles in my chocolate chip cookies. My mom was the reason I started making this recipe because she loves nonpareil sprinkles, and ever since I discovered it, she asks me to make it every year when I break out my baking stuff.

For this recipe, the first step is to turn the oven on to 350 F and let it preheat while you prepare the dough. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined and set aside for later.

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Once beat together add in your room-temperature egg, vanilla and almond extracts. After adding, turn the mixer back on and beat until combined.

After the egg and extracts have been added in, reduce the mixing speed and slowly add the dry ingredients you set aside before. Continue to add the flour mixture until all of it is in the bowl and mix until it has been well incorporated into the wet ingredients.

Once you have a dough formed, use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough and roll it into balls. Pour your nonpareils into a bowl or container. One at a time, take the dough balls and coat them in the sprinkles.

As you finish rolling the dough in the sprinkles, place them on the cookie sheets lined with parchment. Arrange the cookies in a 3-by-4, 12-cookie formation on the trays. After the cookies have been put on the sheets, lightly press each one with the bottom of a glass to flatten.

Bake the cookies at 350 F for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire cooling racks until completely cool.

Molasses cookies

One of the first things my sister-in-law shared with my family was this recipe and I am convinced this was one of the best things she could have given me. Although this recipe is a lot of work, it is certainly worth the time and effort.

To begin this recipe the first thing you will need to do is melt the shortening in a pot on the stove. I use a saucepan to melt mine when I make these. Once it is completely melted, set it aside and let it cool.

Once the melted shortening is cool, pour it into a bowl or stand mixer. Unlike the other recipes I have included, this one can be done without a stand or hand mixer. Add the sugar, eggs and molasses to the shortening and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. After being mixed, add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture in the other bowl. Fold in the flour mixture until completely incorporated. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. My sister-in-law recommends overnight, but when I’m impatient, chilling them for 3 hours has done the trick.

After the dough is chilled, you are ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 375 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. You will want to form the dough into walnut-sized balls for baking. I use a small cookie scoop to portion them and then roll them in my hands to round them out.

Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl or container. As you form the dough into balls, roll each one in the sugar and then place in rows of three by four, or three by five on the baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack until completely cool.

Peanut butter blossom cookies

This is by far one of my favorite recipes to make and it started my love for baking. I have been making this recipe since I was in eighth grade, and I even tweaked it to use as my signature chocolate chip cookie. I love this recipe because you can put everything in the bowl all at once, mix, and it turns out perfect every time.

You will want to start by preheating your oven to 375 F and lining your baking sheets with parchment paper.

As your oven preheats, add all your ingredients to a stand mixer — flour, sugars, baking soda, shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla, salt and egg. You can use a bowl and mix it by hand or use a hand mixer, but I have found that the stand mixer works the best.

You will want to mix the dough until everything is well combined, scraping the sides and beater as needed. The dough will form one cohesive unit on the beater if using a stand mixer.

Once the dough is completely mixed, use a small cookie scoop to form the dough into balls. Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl or container. Roll each ball in the sugar and then place them on the baking sheets in three by four rows.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes— I have usually found that 11 minutes is the perfect amount of time, but it depends on the oven.

Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, press one Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie. You will need to press hard enough that the chocolate makes an indent in the cookie, ensuring it will stay in place.

Allow the cookies to cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the cookie sheets and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

Published on December 12, 2022 at 9:32 pm