“Tis the season” to celebrate with friends and family gatherings with lots of tasty sweets. Even if you’re watching what you eat, this is the time when those good habits seem to go out the window. Wait, Homemade cookies can give you the taste treats you want with a bit of healthy goodness and portion control. Giving or serving homemade cookies is a way to tell others you care about them. Making them with family or friends can be as much fun as eating.
Decorating shaped cookies are easy even for the smaller members of your family. Use cookie cutters for shapes or draw a shape on wax paper and trace on the cookie dough.
Recipe: Basic Sugar Cookies for Decorating
Ingredients
1 and 1/3 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1 and ½ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
To Make: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in sieve over the creamed mixture and mix well.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease and flour a baking sheet Using a small scoop, scoop cookie dough on to baking sheet. Gentle roll the scooped dough into balls and pat down slightly or use cookie cutters or a paper pattern to cut out shapes. With a floured spatula, transfer cookies to greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.
Decorating: See video Make a decorating tube from a plastic bag or use a paint brush. Make a paste, thin enough to spread, thick enough to stick, using ½ cup soft butter, 1 and ½ cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring extract. Use separate bowls to add food coloring. If “painting” with a brush, thin slightly paste with a bit of milk
More treats: Breakfast cookies and Jingle Bells: Delicious and healthy. See recipes
Feliz Navidad Habari Gani Hanukkah Sameach Merry Christmas
Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanza
RECIPE: Jingle Bell Cookies
Pop-in-your-mouth Delicious with healthy coconut and dates
Ingredients:
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups chopped pitted dates, (8 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups toasted rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1 cup shredded coconut
To Make
Combine butter, sugar and dates in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted, the sugar is no longer white and the dates are mostly melted, 8 to 15 minutes. The mixture should be a shiny, brown sticky mass. Remove from the heat.
Add salt, vanilla, rice cereal and coconut; stir well to combine.
When cool enough to handle, squeeze and roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet or plate. Refrigerate until chilled.
GINGERBREAD BREAKFAST COOKIES:
A Christmas Breakfast treat filled with health
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup applesauce
2 tablespoons coconut oil melted or olive or avocado oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
To Make:
Preheat oven to 350+ prepare a lined cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients.
Add in wet ingredients + stir until everything is mixed
Drop cookie dough by one tablespoon balls on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes + allow to cool.
Store in an airtight container in the frig for a week.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Nuts add extra crunchy taste and health: Almonds have more calcium than milk; pecans have vitamins A,B,E plus lots of those minerals you need.
Dates , naturally sweet, have minerals our diets often lack, fiber and antioxidant.
Cut the calories with applesauce and up the taste. Substitute applesauce for eggs or butter/oil. Replace either the Eggs or butter and oil in your cookies with applesauce.
One egg = ¼ cup of applesauce
Oil or butter: Use the same amount of applesauce instead of the oil or butter ( ¼ cup of applesauce = ¼ cup of oil or butter).
Crispy Cookies: Use applesauce in place of eggs or use applesauce to replace ½ the butter or oil.
Soft, Chewy Cookies: Use applesauce to replace the eggs or all the butter
Storing Cookies: Different kinds needs different containers
Cool completely before storing.
Soft cookies: Store in airtight container with a piece of bread to keep them soft
Crunchy cookies: Store in cookie jar
Iced or delicate cookies: Store in airtight container in single layers with a sheet of wax paper, aluminum foil or even tortilla between the layers.
Cookie Share Party with your family or friends. Exchange cookies or make together. Kids love to help. A festive way for busy neighbors to gather, have some fun and get ready for the Holidays.
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