Baking Cookies for the Holidays!

I was so happy to bake cookies with my grand-daughter Cailin this year. She is a great baker!

Welcome back gentle readers. I enjoy baking cookies, and the holidays provide the perfect excuse to use those classic family recipes. This year, I decided it would be interesting to try these recipes with sourdough. I've selected a few of my favorite ones that I like to prepare for Christmas. The chocolate chip cookies I'm sharing are delightful any time of the year and have become a family favorite.

These are the cookies I always make for Christmas.

Trying sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, and M&M cookies with sourdough was somewhat experimental. The chocolate chip cookies, which I've baked numerous times, are consistently a favorite! You may find that recipe in the recipe section. They are great anytime of the year.

These are officially my favorite chocolate chip cookies!

Let's begin our review of the experiment with the peanut blossoms. In my family we fondly refer to them as Kissy Cookies.

These cookies turned out very well with the addition of sourdough discard!

The recipe, found in my recipe section, closely resembles my original one (I've been baking these cookies since I was Cailin's age 😉). The sourdough version uses less peanut butter and butter, likely to compensate for the liquid in the starter. Here are a few tips to help guarantee your success:

1. Tips for success:

   
   

   1. Using a cookie scoop ensures uniform size. Simply scoop and shape into a ball before coating in sugar.

   2. You can choose either regular granulated sugar or coarse sparkling sugar for added flair!

   3. Check your cookies after 8 minutes to see if they are starting to brown; you don't want to over-bake them.

   4. Once they are slightly browned (after 8-10 minutes), remove the cookie tray and press a chocolate kiss into each cookie.

   5. Return the cookies to the oven for an additional 2 minutes. This step, included in my original recipe, helps ensure the kiss stays attached to your cookies!

      
      

Allow your cookies to cool on the rack briefly before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Be cautious, as the chocolate kiss is initially soft but will firm up as the cookies cool.

I asked my family to compare these cookies to the original recipe, and they were a hit! Everyone agreed they were moister and more flavorful. Some family members favored the coarse sugar over granulated sugar, so the decision is yours. These will now be my go-to recipe for kissy cookies!

Next let's talk about how the sugar cookies turned out.

The sugar cookies look great with the yummy butter cream frosting!

This sourdough sugar cookie recipe has been added to my recipe section. Over the years, I've experimented with various sugar cookie recipes. I must admit, I was slightly disappointed with the taste of these. However, they were incredibly easy to prepare and roll out. I particularly appreciated the tip to roll the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper and refrigerate it for several hours before cutting. Cutting out the cookies was effortless! They baked beautifully and were easy to decorate. We used the buttercream frosting (also in the recipe section), added some food coloring, and, of course, plenty of sprinkles.

If you look closely at the picture, you might spot a few of our "traditional Christmas fish" 😊. Cailin came up with that shape several years ago when the wings of the peace dove didn't work out. She then envisioned the Christmas fish, and it has since become a sugar cookie tradition in our family!

You may be curious as to why I included the recipe if it wasn't my favorite. One of my family members actually enjoyed the cookie because it wasn't overly sweet. Additionally, after discussing with my son Sean, I believe that using the brown butter method from my chocolate chip cookies could make it perfect. I plan to try that the next time I bake cookies.

Last but not least let's talk about the M&M cookies.

These colorful are a family favorite!t

These are another family favorite. Along with the kissy cookies, I could always expect these every Christmas when I was a little girl. They can be adapted for different seasons by changing the colors. It seems M&Ms have colors that match each season. The Valentine M&Ms would also make some very festive cookies. But back to our experiment. These cookies turned out great! They were a hit with all my testers. The only feedback I received, besides them tasting amazing, was that there might be a few too many M&Ms. Wow, I didn't think that was even possible. I also like to sprinkle some green and red sugar on top of the cookies right before baking. Again, it's a personal choice if you want to try that. I am definitely adding this to my regular Christmas cookie baking.

These cookies are great for freezing. I prefer to prepare my dough for kissy cookies, M&M, and chocolate chip cookies, freeze them on a cookie sheet, and then store them in freezer bags until I'm ready to bake. They might only require an additional minute or two in the oven, making them convenient for preparing in advance or baking just a few at a time.

Well, that's it for today's post. I intended to get this post out a week ago, but the busy season just got away from me. Regardless, I hope you get to try these or share some of your favorite holiday cookie recipes with me. Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Take care and talk to you next time.

Bridget

I've had this tree for over 25 years. Merry Christmas!