Christmas Cookies Part 1

So I decided to go all-out with the Christmas cookies year. The plan? make a bunch of dough, freeze it, and take it out as needed for the various gatherings in the next couple weeks

So- my assistants and I got to work today...

I settled on 3 different doughs:

Vanilla (double batch)

Chocolate (single batch)

and Peanut Butter (double batch)

They are all wrapped up and in the freezer.

Here's the game plan for each dough:

Vanilla:

1- Rasberry pistachio layer cookies

2-Coconut raspberry thumbprints

3- Classic roll out sugar cookies

Chocolate:

1- Chocolate peppermint thumbprints

2- Chocolate caramel pecan turtle cookies

Peanut Butter:

1- Hershey Kiss cookies

2- Snickers "surprise" cookies

3- Resse's PB cup cookies

Here are a couple "action shots".

Mosie is the designated Kitchen Aid operator-

well, after we added the flour and cocoa to the chocolate dough, he slid the lever a bit too fast....

POOOF!- cocoa in the face (and everywhere else in the kitchen within 3 feet of the mixer) he's saying "wooow!"

and of course- the licking of the mixer paddle/bowl- the true favorite part of baking with Mommy!  We didn't even make any cookies today- and they didn't even seem fazed!

Oh- I thought I'd share a little project I completed today.  I have had the rattiest old spiral bound notebook- from college that I have been writing my recipes in for years.  I finally "bit the bullet" today and ripped all the pages out and filled them into a binder with plastic sheet covers-(much more practical in the kitchen).  I seriously toyed with the idea of retyping all of the recipes and starting a totally new notebook- but it would have been sort of sad to get rid of these old pages.

I know- kinda gross- but it has character!

Here are the cookie dough recipes I used today- I'll do more posts with the most successful of the bunch next week!

Basic Vanilla Dough- (chocolate recipe too)

2 sticks room temp butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour (21/3 cups for chocolate dough + 1/3 cup cocoa)

3/4 tsp. baking powder (if making roll out cookies- omit for thumbprints)

1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and sugar, add vanilla and egg- beat until smooth.  Add flour (and cocoa), baking powder and salt.

recipe origin- Martha Stewart Living, December 2010 issue

Peanut Butter Dough

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. milk

1 egg

13/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

Cream together butter and sugars, add remaining wet ingredients (peanut butter, milk, vanilla, egg)- combine.  Add flour, baking soda.