Shortbread Cookies

These are supposed to be red and white candy cane cookies, but I made them for birthday cookies for some friends and wrote their names out. With my extra dough, I made some for my husband to have as snacks while studying for law school finals. Like my message?! They look kind of bad because I did them fast, but they are fun for something a little different!

Here is what the recipe I adapted had for a picture:

Prep Time: 30-40 minutes
Bake time: 13 minutes
Yield: about 4 dozen

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract (or peppermint, or whatever you want!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Optional toppings include, but are not limited to:

• -crushed peppermint hard candies
• -white sugar
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Mix in flour and salt.
3. Roll into 4 inch strips, place on baking sheet. Curve top down to form handle of cane.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. While still warm, remove from pan and sprinkle with toppings. I just used white sugar.

Coloring: I colored half my dough blue and half pink, just for fun. I rolled each color into a 6 inch strip (for letters) and then rolled the two color strips into one strip. Then I twisted it together. Experiment and see how you like it to look!

Gingerbread Cookies

Deliciously spicey (but not overpowering), these cookies are nice and soft- my little nieces and nephews LOVE them! Don’t judge the decorating in the above picture, I was just trying to bust them out quickly because I had many family members waiting impatiently for them to be finished :)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Chill Time: 2 hours

Bake Time: 9 minutes

Yield: about 3 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup molasses

2 eggs

2  tablespoons fresh ginger root, zested

4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

¾  teaspoon baking soda

¾  teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground allspice

¾ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.        Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.        In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the molasses, eggs and ginger root.

3.        Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.

4.        Chill for two hours.

5.        Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes and place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

6.        Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

7.        Once cool, use Royal Icing to decorate! ENJOY!!!

Tip: This recipe can me used for gingerbread houses too. The Royal Icing is also perfect to build and decorate your house- its very strong, dries quickly, and very tasty too! 

 

Chinese Cole Slaw

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 head Napa cabbage, chopped up finely
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 packages uncooked Ramen broken up (don't use the seasoning)
1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted (toast in 1-2 tbsp butter)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (toast in 1-2 tbsp butter)

Dressing:
1 cup salad oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar

Tip: Add dressing right before serving and mix well. It gets soggy if it sits too long! Enjoy!