Cookie Recipes

I love to bake, and the holiday tradition at the Nobles house includes lots of cookies.  I start baking around Thanksgiving and put them in the freezer for later.  My girls are helpful when it comes to baking multiple batches of cookies.   Alyssa made gingerbreads with the Yadkowski family that she works with at Winshape Homes.  Carrie made the pinwheel recipe on her own this year too.  Everyone at the house shows up when the beater and bowls need to be licked, or cookies need to be taste tested!

Here is the easiest cookie I have ever made. These cookies are not decorative, but yummy and gluten free!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

1 egg

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of peanut butter, creamy or crunchy.

bag of chocolate kisses

Mix the egg, sugar and peanut butter together in a bowl. Drop a spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 -6 minutes. Watch them carefully because they can burn on the bottom. Once the cookies are out of the oven, place a chocolate kiss in the center. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before putting them on a plate or in your mouth! Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Oat Bars are a huge favorite of college students. Just make sure everyone knows they contain peanut butter before serving them.

Chocolate Oat Bars - NO BAKE!

2 sticks of butter, melted

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. oats

3/4 c. peanut butter

8 oz. chocolate chips

In a saucepan on the stove, melt butter and add brown sugar and vanilla and mix well. When well blended, add oats and let cook for 5 - 10 minutes on low. In another saucepan melt peanut butter and chocolate chips together until smooth and creamy. In a 8 X 8 glass dish, layer oats on the bottom with peanut butter mixture in middle and oats on top. Refrigerate for at 2 - 3 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow bars to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cutting.

Holiday Candy Cane cookies look and taste like candy canes. People often ask me if I crush peppermints to make them, but it's as simple as buying peppermint extract! I make the dough and refrigerate overnight, then bake them the next day. This makes the dough easier to work with, and less sticky. These favorite cookies have 3 sticks of butter!!!

Holiday Candy Cane Cookies

1 1/2 c. softened butter

1 c. sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. peppermint extract

4 1/2 c. all purpose flour

red food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a large mixer, adding the flour last. Divide the dough in half and add red food coloring to one half. Cover dough and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees and begin rolling dough into 4 - 6 inch ropes. Roll white dough and red dough together, and twist together to make a candy cane shape. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 4 - 5 minutes. When you remove from the oven, let the cookies stay on the cookie sheet for several minutes to firm up. This will allow you to remove them without breaking the cookies. This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

You can freeze these cookies, and take them out when you need them. Keep the candy canes separate from other cookies, otherwise all will taste like peppermint.into squares. These bars can be frozen to use later.

Gingerbread Cookies 

Some folks don't like gingerbread, but I love them.  Here's an easy recipe, but you may need to go to the store for the molasses.

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. dark molasses

1/4 c. water

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground allspice (I admit to not using this)

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

mini-chocolate chips

writing icing

Beat sugar, shortening, molasses and water in a large bowl on low speed until blended. Stir in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips/icing. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle wax paper with flour and roll the dough with a rolling pin until 1/4 inch think. Cut with gingerbread man cutter or any favorite cut-out, sometimes I use a Christmas stocking. Using a spatula, lift the gingerbread shape onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with mini chocolate chips...eyes, buttons. Bake approximately 5 minutes. Let cookies cool and then finish decorating with icing.

Some of my gingerbread men have only chocolate chips, others have a combination of chips/icing. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Pinwheel Cookies are a Christmas tradition at the Nobles. These cookies aren't especially festive, and they aren't the easiest to make, but we like them...so we make them. Alyssa likes the dough, and says these are her favorite cookies. 

Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

4 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. milk

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. cocoa

Mix all ingredients, except the cocoa, together in a large mixing bowl. Knead an additional 2/3 c. sugar into the dough. Cut dough in half and knead 1/4 c. cocoa into one half. Roll onto wax paper. This will require MORE flour because this dough is sticky. Now you have one long sheet of white dough and one sheet of chocolate dough. Put both sheets on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Remove from the refrigerator and roll the two sheets together, then roll into a log. Use a serrated knife to slice into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.

Vanilla Wreath Cookies 

This recipe is the same as the chocolate pinwheels with a few minor changes. 

Cut dough in half and add green food coloring to half of the dough. Cover and chill until firm. On a surface sprinkled with sugar, roll the green dough into 5 inch ropes. Repeat with the white dough. Twist the dough together to form a wreath. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. You can use red hots or red icing to give them a holly berry look, but my kids prefer just the wreath.

Tip - this dough is sticky and will require more flour than the recipe calls for, so have it ready.

Chocolate chip cookies pictured because they are a staple at our house. If you visit, the cookie jar usually contains chocolate chip. I bake so many chocolate chip cookies that I buy my chocolate chips at Sam's in the large 72 ounce bag! So, here is my last recipe for the season.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 stick of butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

12 oz. chocolate chips

Mix sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. When this is creamy, add dry ingredients slowly. Add chocolate chips and mix well. Drop by teaspoon onto un-greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 4 - 5 minutes. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Disclaimer: I don't measure precisely, so my cookies tend to vary from batch to batch...but they are always yummy!!

All the recipes that I have shared are a part of the Christmas tradition at the Nobles. I use them for my Kindermusik, piano and college students. Sometimes my family actually gets to eat them!