Skip to main content

Holiday Cookie Baking

Baking for the holidays has commenced in earnest here at home.  The kitchen is permeated with the aromas of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and pepper, along with the sweet notes of brown sugar, molasses and honey.  It's the time of year that I long for, because it means that I can start spreading some cheer.

I just want to suggest to you that making and freezing your cookie doughs for the holidays this week may be a good idea.  All roll out cookie doughs, slice & bake refrigerator doughs and even drop cookie doughs can be made a month in advance as long as the cookies are sealed airtight.  Rolled and cut cookies (unbaked) can be frozen flat and then sealed in airtight containers; bake straight from the freezer.  Rolled, cut & baked cookies can also be frozen (with no icing or decorations) if sealed airtight.  Doing this will streamline your cookie decorating projects for the holidays and make this task a lot more fun.  

As for drop cookies, the doughs can be made and portioned out onto a large baking sheet and then frozen until solid.  The mounds can then be transferred into freezer bags to be baked at a later date; bake drop cookies straight from the freezer.


Just recently, I was asked to make a set of special cookies for a child's birthday party and lucky for me, I prepared myself for this project by making the doughs ahead of time.  The moon & stars were made with my Heirloom Sugar Cookie recipe which has become a favorite with many readers.  If you haven't made cookies with this dough you certainly must for the holidays.


My friend Mally, along with her sister, commissioned a set of cookies for her great nephew & niece using my collectible Martha by Mail cookie cutters in the shapes of Moon & Star.  These iconic cutters, to my mind, make some of the best holiday cookies for gift giving, but they can be used year round for any celebration.  The sisters were so pleased with the cookies (not to mention the little ones) that they decided to use the images for one of their online auctions of these particular cookie cutters.


Think of this as a small reminder to gather your ingredients and make it a point to set some time aside for cookie dough making.  I guarantee you will be thanking yourself in a few weeks if you make the minimal effort now.  



Happy Baking!

Comments

  1. I've already baked off a few dozen sugar cookies to decorate as we get closer to Christmas.. you're so right.. baking and prepping ahead of time takes the stress out of the entire process!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I'm so glad you've already begun your cookie baking. It really does take the stress out of baking/decorating treats for the holidays.

    I've been known to take last minute requests and bake cookies just under the wire, but it's never quite as fun.

    Enjoy decorating your cookies, Mr. Kenn!! I want to see photos.

    :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank You for Posting!

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Salt Cellars

There was a time when salt cellars played an important role on the dining table for the host or hostess.  As a result of it being such an expensive commodity several hundred years ago, salt was seen as a luxury and it was the well to do that made salt cellars quite fashionable & a status symbol for the home.  A single salt cellar usually sat at the head of the table and was passed around throughout the meal.  The closer one sat to the salt cellar, the more important one was deemed by the head of the household.  Smaller cellars that were more accessible and with an open top became a part of Victorian table settings.  Fast forward to the 20th century when salt was no longer a luxury and when anti caking agents were added to make salt free-flowing, and one begins to see salt cellars fall out of fashion.  Luckily for the collector and for those of us who like to set a table with Good Things , this can prove to be a boon. Salt cellars for the table come in silver, porcelain, cut glass

Collecting Jadeite

With its origins dating back to the 1930s, jadeite glassware began its mass production through the McKee Glass Co. in Pennsylvania. Their introduction of the Skokie green & Jade kitchenware lines ushered in our fascination with this jade color.  Glassmakers catered jadeite to the American public as an inexpensive alternative to earthenware soon after the Depression, both for the home and for its use in restaurants.  The Jeanette Glass Company and Anchor Hocking introduced their own patterns and styles, which for many collectors, produced some of the most sought after pieces.  Companies marketed this beautiful glass under the monikers of jadite , jadeite , jade glass , jad-ite , jade-ite , so however you want to spell it, let it draw you in for a closer look.  If you want a thorough history of the origins of jadeite, collectors’ pricing, patterns & shapes (don’t forget the reproductions in 2000), I highly suggest picking up the book by Joe Keller & David Ross called, Jadei

How to Paint a Chair

If you have ever felt the need to spruce up a set of chairs or give them a new look, why not try a little bit of paint?  Our tastes in decor and color will probably alter throughout our lives, and at some point, we may find ourselves wanting to change the look of our furniture without having to spend a lot of money.  That's where a few handy tips, some tools from the hardware store, and good-quality paint come in handy.   I know I'm not alone in paying visits to local antique shops, antique fairs and flea markets, and falling in love with pieces of furniture that would be perfect if they were just a different color.  You don't have to walk away from a good purchase simply because it's the wrong color.   My dear friend, Jeffrey, is forever enhancing his home with collectibles from flea markets and tag sales.  However, certain items aren't always up to Jeffrey's tastes when he brings them home.  He is the type of person who won't hesitate to chang