Baking is as much a part of Christmas for many people as their tree. And when the holiday season gets underway there is no such thing as too many cookies. They’re staples of cookie swaps, classroom parties, office parties, hostess gifts, party buffets and, of course, for Santa.
“I think that’s what makes me think of Christmas: Your house smelling like baked cookies,” says Ooltewah mom Roanna Taphorn.
When she got ready to make Christmas cookies last week with her children, Amelia, 8 and Joseph, 3, she turned to Pinterest in search of recipes that would be fun for the kids to make but would also yield multiple dozens.
This year, the family plans to bake about eight dozen cookies, she estimates, which will be given to friends and delivered to admissions and financial aid offices at Bryan College, where her husband, Rick, is vice president of finance and enrollment. Oh, in addition to saving some for Santa.
“Last Christmas, we made about three dozen cookies and gave some to neighbors and sent some to Bryan students and to Rick’s office at Bryan,” says Taphorn.
Since the Taphorns home-school Amelia and Joseph, the baking session offers supplemental fun to math lessons.
“They are definitely practicing math skills. Amelia has to tell me the fraction and they learn to measure,” says Taphorn.
Learning their way around the kitchen, including how to read a recipe to cook for themselves, is also a life skill they will use repeatedly, she adds.
Pinterest is the online catalog of recipes, design, garden, wedding, birthday and home decor ideas that millennials turn to for inspiration the same way their moms relied upon Martha Stewart. Just by typing “Christmas cookie” into the search bar of Pinterest, more than 1,000 cookies pop up.
The folks at www.digitaltrends.com recently tracked down the most popular Christmas cookie recipes on Pinterest. They based popularity on the number of “repins” a cookie had on the website. Different result totals came up, depending on how the search was worded – “cookie,” “Christmas cookie” or “Christmas cookies.”
But the definitive winner was White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with 518,500 pins. It was followed by Buckeye Brownie Cookie at 451,000; and White Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Sugar Cookie at 305,400.
The Taphorns chose a basic sugar cookie on Pinterest that incorporates chocolate flavoring. The kids participated in every step – measuring and mixing ingredients, rolling out and cutting dough, then icing the cookies.
“I like the decorating,” Amelia says.
Joseph cuts to the bottom line: “I like eating cookies!”
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.
Recipes
Chocolate Sugar Cookies 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups sugar 2 large eggs 3 teaspoons vanilla 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder 1 teaspoon salt Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed and using a paddle attachment. Mix until thoroughly incorporated, about one minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again. Add liquid vanilla extract, stir briefly. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt together. Add all of the mixture to the bowl. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. When dough clumps around the paddle attachment, it’s ready. Roll dough out to desired thickness; cut shapes with cookie cutters. Place on parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes; baking time will depend on size of the cookie. Let cool at room temperature and decorate. Note: While the Taphorns cut cookies immediately after rolling out the dough, a second option is given. Roll dough out between two large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the refrigerator for a minimum of one hour. Remove from refrigerator, roll dough out further if needed and cut out cookie shapes. Place cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Put cookie dough shapes back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to one hour to chill again. This helps keep their shape better when baked. Bake according to the instructions listed in the main recipe above. White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar, divided 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chunks Melt butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon. The dough will be very soft. Fold in white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but try to evenly disperse them in the dough. Cover dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to three days. Chilling is mandatory. Take dough out of refrigerator. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Roll dough into balls, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough each. Mix together remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll each dough ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. Bake cookies 8-10 minutes. They will look very soft and underbaked. Remove from the oven and press a few more white chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn’t spread much at all, flatten them out when you take them out of the oven. Allow cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. Buckeye Brownie Cookie 1 box fudge brownie mix (19.5-ounce or family size) 1/4 cup butter, melted 4 ounces softened cream cheese, about 1/2 block 1 egg 1 cup powdered sugar 1 cup creamy peanut butter 4 ounces (or 4 blocks) chocolate Candiquik or your favorite chocolate Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat the brownie mix, butter, cream cheese and egg. Dough will be a little sticky. Scoop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, making about 24 cookies. Smooth edges of each to form a round cookie. In a separate bowl, mix the powdered sugar and peanut butter until it is completely combined. Form the mixture into 1-inch balls. Make sure you have one ball for each cookie. Set aside. Bake cookie dough 12 minutes. Do not overcook. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a peanut butter ball lightly into the center of each cookie. The peanut butter mixture will soften slightly. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Melt the blocks of chocolate in a microwavable bowl for 45 seconds. Stir the chocolate and melt for additional 15 seconds or until the chocolate is completely melted. (Candiquik comes in 16-ounce packages. When you open it, there are 16 blocks. Cut off four blocks for this recipe.) Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon of melted chocolate on top of each cookie so it covers the peanut butter ball. Let the chocolate set. Store in an airtight container. White Chocolate- Dipped Peppermint Sugar Cookies 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract 2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips 2 1/2 tablespoons shortening 1/3 cup peppermint bits or finely crushed candy canes To make the cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar for 20 seconds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter until combined. Mix in egg, then mix in egg yolk, vanilla and peppermint extract. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. The dough with will be thick, so stop mixer and mix by hand to get flour at bottom if needed. Scoop dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon-size pieces and shape into balls. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Chill dough balls that aren’t currently baking in refrigerator. Bake in oven 10-11 minutes. Cookies should appear slightly underbaked. Remove from oven and allow to rest several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. To make the coating: Place white chocolate chips and shortening in a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50 percent power in 20-second intervals, stirring well between intervals until melted and smooth. After cookies have cooled, dip one-half of each into white chocolate, allowing excess to run off, then transfer to wax paper and immediately sprinkle with peppermint bits. Allow to set at room temperature or in refrigerator. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.