Christmas Cookies: Snickerdoodles!

All this week I'm featuring some new, some classic, and some all-around delicious Christmas cookie recipes!

We start the week with a classic recipe for Snickerdoodles, using this soft-bake recipe I found on AllRecipes.com.


My friend Kwame helped me with this recipe, too. As I've mentioned before, I'm more into cooking than baking, but this recipe was so easy that I think that's definitely changing. If you're not super comfortable 'baking,' this is an excellent starter recipe!

Look at that gorgeous batter! We chilled it for a few hours before shaping the cookies into little balls and dropping them into a cinnamon-sugar mix (equal parts sugar & spice).

I like my Snickerdoodles to be chewy so I baked them only for the 10 minutes stated, but if you want a crunchier cookie, just bake them for an extra 2-3 minutes (adjust for your oven's settings/baking times).

Soft-baked Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.

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Homemade Eggnog

I love eggnog, always have, always will. Don't try to harsh my buzz with the stats on calories, fat grams, etc. It's a once-a-year treat and I relish every sip. This year, my friend Kwame & I decided, on a wonderful whim, to make some ourselves. Holy. Deliciousness. We were not prepared for the awesomeness. (PS: This recipe does not cook the eggs--we experienced no ill effects, but keep in mind the FDA warns against consuming raw eggs for pregnant women and young children, etc)

I'm so glad we made this together, as it's a little labor-intensive, and that my mother gave me not one, but two KitchenAid bowls when she gave me her mixer. First you cream the sugar and egg yolks in one bowl. That was Kwame's job (he's much more of a baker than I). We let the mixer go for 3-4 minutes until the butter was pale yellow and delightfully fluffy.

Next up, the egg whites, along with a little less sugar. These took a little bit longer, and we basically mixed them until we could hold the mixer upside down and have the egg whites rest there without falling. Sweet!

Third, the whipped cream, which we beat by hand, because hey, any extra calories you can burn before consuming this delectable drink are worth it.

I was a little unprepared for how much volume all this whipping would produce. We had to use my largest stockpot to hold all the creamy wonderfulness (folding the cream into the eggs, then the whites into the rest). We chilled it for a few hours while we baked dinner and some Snickerdoodles (the first recipe in next week's Christmas Cookies posts!), then poured 2 glasses, straight eggnog, no booze. That's how I always drank it, and it was good. Super vanilla-y, creamy, but not heavy. Went down very easily.

Second round, we put in some liquor. I chose spiced rum for mine while Kwame went with Irish whiskey. I was amazed at how the alcohol rounded out all the flavors and actually made it better. Now of course, if you don't like alcohol or choose not to drink it, this is still a wonderful way to toast the season!

Cheers!

This will change the way you think of, taste, enjoy, and otherwise relate to eggnog!
Oh, and here's the recipe we used, courtesy of the Butter-pimpin' Paula Deen:

Paula Deen's Eggnog
6 eggs (separated)
3/4 cup sugar
1 pt heavy cream
4 pts milk
1/2 pt bourbon (we added liquor with each glass as we went, so not all would be boozy)
1 tbsp vanilla
1 pinch nutmeg

Beat the egg yolks with the 1/2 cup of sugar until thick. In another bowl beat the egg whites with 1/4 cup of sugar until thick. In a third bowl beat the cream until thick. Add the cream to the yolks, fold in the egg whites, and add the milk, Bourbon, vanilla, and a pinch of nutmeg, if desired. Chill before serving.

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Christmas Cookies: Mocha Toffee Truffles

I have hardly done any baking this season--Booo! Fortunately, my coworkers are picking up the slack. My friend Patty is sharing this recipe with us....enjoy!