Spice Drop Cookies

Sorry, no picture, but I thought I'd better share a holiday favorite the Hurst family has. This is Grandma Rita's recipe, and it isn't Christmas until these cookies are made!

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. shortening
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
3 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped pecans, optional
1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and placed on paper towels

Directions:
Combine baking soda with buttermilk and set aside. Beat together shortening, sugars, and eggs. Mix rest of dry ingredients together (except pecans). Add flour mixture and baking soda with buttermilk gradually to shortening mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add 1/2 c. chopped pecans. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Top with 1/2 maraschino cherry. Bake at 375 degrees, 8-10 minutes, until light brown. Cool and place in airtight covered containers. Best when fresh!

Sugar Cookies

This recipe is actually from my neighbor, but they are the best sugar cookies ever! They turn out perfectly every time and are great for any, and all, holidays.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1 stick) butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 to 2 1/4 cups flour

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

4-5 oz. cream cheese

1 tsp. vanilla

2-3 cups powdered sugar

food coloring

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Gradually add to butter and sugar mixture. Roll out dough to desired thickness on floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 8 minutes or until barely golden. Place on cooling rack until ready to frost.

Combine frosting ingredients and stir until desired consistency is reached. Add food coloring. Frost cooled cookies.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cookies

I stumbled upon this recipe a short while ago and am in LOVE. Seriously. These cookies are absolutely heavenly. I'm not a nut fan so I omit those and use white chocolate chips or simply sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top. They are also great plain or for homemade Oreos or ice cream sandwiches. The dough is so good, you'll probably only get 17 servings out of this recipe. I do.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup dairy sour cream (or I used non-fat plain yogurt last time and they turned out great)
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
½ cup shortening, melted
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325° and grease cookie sheets.

Cream eggs, sugar & vanilla. Blend in sour cream, butter & shortening. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl, then add to sugar mixture. Stir in nuts (if you are insane). Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased sheet or refrigerate dough for an hour and roll into balls. Bake 12-13 min or until just set-cool slightly; remove from sheet to wire rack until cooled completely.

Servings: 48

Snickerdoodles

We got this recipe with a cookie sheet as a wedding gift from the Worthington family. We love it! Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside.




Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Cream butter, shortening, and sugar. Add eggs. Mix dry ingredients together and then mix that with wet ingredients. Make into small balls and roll in 2 T. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are my fallback cookies. You know, the ones you always come back to because you make them just right every time, and you love them. People almost always ask me for this recipe when I take them places. They are so soft, and stay soft for days. (Although I have been known to eat the entire batch in less than 48 hours!)

Mix together:

2 cubes butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

Add:

2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix in:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 - 3.9 oz box chocolate Jello Instant pudding (you can use devil's food if you prefer the darker color and flavor)
12 oz chocolate chips (I use 1/2 bag chocolate chips and 1/2 bag peanut butter chips)

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Makes 4-5 dozen.