One of the joys of the Holidays is spending time with family while enjoying good food. If you have a large family like mine, it’s likely that a younger child, grandchild, niece, or nephew will want to help bake in the kitchen. Although some of your recipes may be rather complex for them to help you with, here are 2 simple ones for festive cookies that they can help you with and the family will enjoy:
Peppermint Bark Cookies
This is a recipe that my grandma bakes every year! This recipe will produce roughly 25 large cookies, depending on how you cut them. The ingredients you will need include:
Ø 3 and a half cups of flour
Ø 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Ø 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
Ø Half a teaspoon of salt
Ø 3 large eggs
Ø 1 cup of unsalted butter
Ø 2 cups of sugar
Ø 2 heaping cups of chopped peppermint bark
Ø Half a cup of chocolate chips
You will want to preheat your oven to 375 degrees and spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. Start by mixing the baking soda, flour, and salt together. Next, grab your mixer (or a large bowl if you don’t have one) and start mixing the butter until it’s a creamy texture. Add in the sugar and then the eggs. I usually add one egg at a time and mix it for 30-45 seconds before adding the next to ensure a consistent texture. Add the vanilla before slowly mixing in the flour mixture. Once you have evenly mixed everything and created the dough, you can start stirring in the peppermint bark and chocolate chips. Here is where it’s handy to have a kid do the hard work of stirring everything in by hand J Once everything is evenly distributed, place the dough on the baking sheet and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes. As a general rule of thumb, the cookies will be ready when the edges start to brown.
Good Old Fashion Ginger Snaps
Your Holidays are incomplete without a batch of ginger snaps for the family to enjoy. This recipe is very delicious and will surely leave Santa satisfied as well! You will need:
Ø 3 cups of flower
Ø 1 teaspoon baking soda
Ø 1 cup of brown sugar
Ø ¾ cup of softened, unsalted butter
Ø 1 large egg
Ø ¼ cup of molasses
Ø ¼ teaspoon of cloves
Ø 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Ø 1 teaspoon of ginger
Start by grabbing a large bowl and combining all of the spices, flour and baking soda. Mix evenly and put it to the side while you cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg and then add the molasses. Once the mixture is light and fluffy, stir in the flour and spice mixture and thoroughly mix together all of the ingredients. Put the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours. When I made this recipe, I made the dough the previous night and left it in the fridge until the morning. After the dough has been chilled, you will need to spray a cookie sheet with a non stick spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Shape your cookies and sprinkle a bit of granular sugar on top before placing in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Kids love shaping the cookies and mixing together the ingredients, which means less work for you!
Adam Bruk has been busy this holiday season helping parents find the perfect kids socks and sunglasses to stock their children’s stuffing. When he isn’t busy writing for Sunglass Warehouse, he’s enjoying the holidays by trying new recipes while sipping on a holiday themed coffee.
Photo Credits:
Peppermint Bark Cookies- http://www.instructables.com
Gingersnaps- http://makeitdo.files.wordpress.com
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