Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

Got two Christmas cookie recipes that I thought might fill the Season’s spirit of giving.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Number One is adapted from Diana Rattray (About.com).

             Christmas Hazelnut Drop Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup butter, room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, unbeaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 squares semisweet chocolate, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour, stir before measuring

½ cup finely chopped hazelnuts (other chopped nuts may be substituted)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in salt and sugar. Add egg; beat well. Blend vanilla and chocolate. Mix in flour then chopped hazelnuts, mixing until well-blended.

Drop level tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto greased cookie sheets. Stamp lightly with a flat bottom glass covered with a damp cloth. If desired, sprinkle more finely chopped hazelnuts over the top of each cookie. Bake for about 15 minutes, until done.

This Christmas Cookie Recipe makes about 2-3 dozen chocolate hazelnut bites.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Number Two is adapted from Stephanie Jaworski (JoyofBaking.com).

Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients

2½ cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (120 grams) confectioners sugar

2 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon pure almond extract

½ teaspoon red liquid food coloring

Preparation

In a bowl, whisk flour with salt.

In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolk, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat until combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed. Add flour mixture, in three additions; beat until you have a smooth dough.

Remove half the dough from mixing bowl. To remaining half, add red food coloring and beat on low speed until well-blended. If you find the dough too soft, cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Take a walnut-sized piece of red dough and a walnut-sized piece of white dough. Separately, roll each color on a lightly floured surface, into a 4-5 inch long rope.

Place the two ropes side by side, gently press together, and twist the two ropes to form a spiral. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Shape each cookie into a cane shape by bending one end into a hook shape.

Preheat oven to 325°F and place rack in center of oven.

Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes or until set and the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely on baking sheet. Cover and store in an airtight container for about a week.

This Christmas Cookie Recipe makes about 30 canes.

Make a batch of these Christmas Cookie Recipes as yummy Yuletide greetings to friends! More Christmas Cookie Recipes coming up.

photo credit: @paulapaulac Flickr.com