Christmas 2010 Baking

As usually happens with us and our Christmas baking we had some great successes and some disasters. We had fun and learned a lot and have a few recipes that will be added to our holiday traditions.

We used Martha Stewart's Sugar cookies to decorate and had a lot of fun making these. Jerry won the "best decorated cookies" and his were saved to put out for Santa.

This year we used a meringue powder icing instead of raw eggs because of the kids and expectant Mom! Worked out fine.


Basic Sugar Cookies

Prep: 90 minutes Total: 2 hours

Use flour on utensils to keep dough from sticking: Dip the cookie cutters, and dust the spatula before transferring uncooked dough to a sheet. Rolling dough between two sheets of floured parchment will keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. You can store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature, up to 1 week. To make icing, sift 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid.



INGREDIENTS

Makes 32.

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (optional)
DIRECTIONS

In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.


Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies (Martha Stewart)

If you're decorating cookies for children, pregnant women, or anyone with compromised immune systems, use meringue powder, found in the baking aisle of most markets, instead of raw egg whites.



INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 1/3 cups.

1 box confectioners' sugar (1 pound)
5 tablespoons meringue powder, or 2 large egg whites
DIRECTIONS

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar and meringue powder. Mixing on low speed, add a scant 1/2 cup water. For a thinner consistency, usually used for flooding, add more water. A thicker consistency is generally used for outlining and adding details. Mix until icing holds a ribbonlike trail on the surface of the mixture for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.



Hot and Spicy Chex® Party Mix

Ally and I made this pretty much like this recipe this year. The changes we would make: More nuts, add cheerios and then increase seasonings based on how much we add.

Yields: 24 servings
Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 to 3 teaspoons red pepper sauce
3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
3 cups Wheat Chex® cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup pretzels
1 cup bite-size cheese crackers
Directions

Heat oven to 250°F.
In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt and pepper sauce. Gradually stir in remaining ingredients until evenly coated.
Bake uncovered 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.