5 Delicious Christmas Cookies to Bake and Share

Baking for friends during the holidays is a great way to show you care. It's also budget friendly. Today, I'm sharing five of my favourite Christmas Cookie Recipes for baking and sharing this holiday season.

1) Soft and Chewy GINGER MOLASSES Cookies - I've been making these cookies with my kids since they were little... and they are always a kit with family and friends.

2) Melt in your mouth SHORTBREAD cookies - These cookies come together quickly with a few ingredients, and they are delicious. They are wonderful plain OR with a bit of buttercream icing.

Recipe for the perfect melt in your mouth shortbread cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups softened butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 egg yolks

4 cups flour

1 cup cornstarch

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and mix well. Add flour and cornstarch until combined.

Then, refrigerate the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Roll dough between two sheets of parchment, cut with a cookie cutter, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 until cookies are lightly brown on the bottom... approximate 10 - 12 minutes.

3)  PEANUT BUTTER reindeer cookies - Bake your favourite peanut butter cookie recipe. Then, after you've taken them out of the oven, add broken pretzel piece antlers, googly eyes, and a red candy nose.

4) Red & Green Christmas M&M Cookies - Your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe can be a festive treat--just substitute red and green M&Ms for the chocolate chips. You can find my favourite recipe here.

5) Peanut butter CHOCOLATE KISS Cookies - There is nothing better than the combination of chocolate and peanut butter... and these cookies are simple to make and totally delicious. You can find my recipe here.

All of these cookies are perfect for enjoy at Christmas... and for sharing!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Chocolate CHRISTMAS Crackle Cookies

Who doesn't love a good Christmas cookie recipe? Baking (and eating) cookies is one of my favourite parts of the holiday season. This year, my boys and I are loving these chocolate Christmas crackle cookies. They are simple to make, fudgey in the middle, crispy on the edges... and they look great on a Christmas cookie tray.

To make Chocolate Christmas Crackle Cookies:

 

Gather your ingredients:

•         ½ vegetable oil
•         2 cups granulated sugar
•         4 eggs
•         2 tsp real vanilla
•         2 cups flour
•         1 cup unsweetened cocoa
•         2 tsp baking powder
•         1 tsp salt
•         1 tsp cinnamon
•         Approx. ½ icing sugar for coating

Then:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.      In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3.      In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4.      Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
5.      Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (using a cookie scoop), and then completely coat each ball by rolling it in icing sugar.
6.      Place the balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet (leaving room for spreading), and bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. Cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

I think a cookie chacuterie board is wonderful for holiday entertaining, and these cookies make a great addition to a tray of goodies. 

Check out the cookie board I made for my boys this year. I filled a couple of dishes with chocolates, stacked my chocolate Christmas crackle cookies in the middle, and filled the extra spaces with store bought cookies. Cute, right?

Do you have a favourite cookies? I highly recommend giving these chocolate Christmas crackle cookies a try. If you make them, let me know what you think.

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

You might also enjoy the awesome Christmas cookie recipes here.

REINDEER POOP Cookies... with free printable tags for gifting

I'm the mom of three boys, so of course, bathroom humour has been hilarious in my house for many years. So, for Christmas, I thought I would bake one of my favourite cookies... with a holiday twist. Check out my delicious REINDEER POOP cookies (below).

The secret to these cookies is to have the dry ingredients ready, so when the chocolate mixture boils, the two mixtures can be combined and spooned out before the mixture starts to dry out.

To make these no bake chocolate coconut cookies:

1) Mix together the following dry ingredients, and set aside:

• 3 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1/4 tsp salt

2) Put the following ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a boil:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3) Remove from heat, and stir in dry ingredients.

4) Before the mixture starts to dry out, drop the mixture from heaping teaspoons onto wax paper, and allow to cool completely.

I love serving these cookies with this little sign I designed.

To download the sign I designed (for free): click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 5x7 photo.

These cookies are also great for sharing, so I packaged mine up in little boxes from the dollar store, and added a cute tag I designed. 

To download the tags I designed (for free): click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photo.

Don't they look adorable all packaged up for my neighbours?

For a closer look, check out the video I made here:

What do you think of these REINDEER POOP cookies? They are delicious, and kids will love the potty humour. We all need a laugh during the holidays, don't we?

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Find MORE Christmas Cookie Recipes here.

Homemade Nuts and Bolts... a DIY holiday gift to give to neighbors and friends

Every year, I make treats to share with my neighbours during the holidays. I love simple DIY gifts that are packaged in a fun way don't you? This year, I filled little jam jars with homemade bits and bites. Today, I'm sharing my recipe (and an adorable packaging idea) for this savory snack.

The best part about this recipe is that you can "change it up" based on what you like. (For example, if you really like Shreddies and don't like Cheerios, you can add more Shreddies and less Cheerios.) As long as you have the same number of "cups" of dry ingredients, you'll be good to go. As a guide, here's what I used...


Ingredients:

7 cups of Rice Chex cereal
4 cups of Shreddies
3 cups of Cheerios
4 cups of pretzels
2 boxes of cheese stick crackers

2 cups of melted salted butter
1 1/2 tbsp seasoning salt
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp paprika


Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2) In a large roaster, combine the first 5 ingredients (i.e. all the cereals, pretzels and crackers).
3) In the microwave, melt the butter. Then mix in the seasoning salt, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.
4) Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours... stirring gently and thoroughly every 30 minutes. You'll know you are done when the cereal is dry (i.e. all the butter mixture has been absorbed).

You can package the bits and bites in any airtight container, but I put mine in these little 250mL "jam jars". I used curling ribbon to attach gift tags to the jars. Because I used jam jars, my tags had a little play on words. My tags said, "Spreading Christmas Cheer... one jar at a time." Cute, right?

To download the tags I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photo.

Don't my little jars look adorable? The treats are delicious too!

Do you have a favorite DIY Christmas gift to give? Or have you gotten one that you absolutely loved? I'd love to hear about it!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

You can find more simple DIY gift ideas here.

The BEST Christmas Cookie Recipes

Baking (and eating!) Christmas cookies is one of my favourite holiday traditions. I love spending time in the kitchen with my boys this time of year, and the promise of cookies helps convince them to join me. Today I am sharing my favourite holiday cookie recipes. They are all unique and fun... and totally delicious!

My favourite Christmas cookie recipes (in no particular order) are:


1) Soft and chewy ginger cookies - These are my youngest son's favorite cookies, and he likes to help make them because he can roll the dough into balls and dip it in sugar. I love these cookies because they taste delicious and they make the whole house smell like Christmas. Click here for the recipe.

2) Red and Green M&M cookies - These cookies are festive, and super-simple to make. They are basically a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie with M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. If you give these a try, they will become a holiday staple. You can find the cookie recipe here, and you can find instructions for making a "cookies for Santa" cookie mix jar here.

3) Make-ahead gingerbread cookies - These traditional cookies are soft and full of flavor, and they make your house smell like Christmas. Kids have fun rolling out the easy-to-work-with dough and cutting out all their favorite cookie shapes. Click here for the recipe.

4) Butter cut out cookies - Orange juice is the secret ingredient in these wonderful holiday cookies. They taste delicious, and the dough is easy to work with. Kids will love cutting out all their favourite cookie shapes. Click here for the recipe.

5) Shortbread cookies with buttercream icing - Nothing says "Christmas cookies" like a tray full of light and fluffy shortbread cookies topped with rich and delicious buttercream icing. You can find my recipe for classic shortbread cookies here.

6) Peanut butter reindeer cookies - With a few simple decorative touches, a plain soft and chewy peanut butter cookie can be transformed into a darling reindeer cookie. Find the recipe and the "how to" here.

7) Chocolate and peanut butter "kiss" cookies - If you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, these little "kiss" cookies are for you. They are fantastic for baking with kids too. Little ones will love unwrapping the kisses and pressing them into the tops of the warm cookies. Click here to find the recipe for these little gems.

8) Reindeer Poop Cookies - These are simple to make, kids find them hilarious, and they are delicious! I even designed a sign and tags you can download for free here.

9) Chocolate Chip Pecan SNOWBALL Cookies

All of these cookies are perfect for Christmas. Which one looks best to you? What's the #1 cookie on your Christmas baking list?

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Find more ideas for easy and inexpensive Christmas celebrations here.

"Cookies for Santa" Jars... with free printable tags

Today I am sharing a "sweet" Christmas idea... jars of cookies for Santa. I have the best recipe for delicious cookies and adorable (and FREE) printable gift tags. These cookies jars make great gifts, and they are perfect for baking on Christmas Eve.

Isn't this mason jar filled with cookie ingredients adorable?!?

To make this "Cookies for Santa" jar:

1) Start with a clean 1L mason jar.

2) Layer the ingredients below (patting down each layer before adding the next one):

First layer: 1 3/4 cups flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt
Second layer: 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
Third layer: 1/2 white sugar
Fourth layer: a 200g bag of red and green M&Ms

To make the process easy: use a wide-mouthed funnel to fill the jars, and make a tool to press down the layers. I attached a round piece of cardboard to the end of skewer and covered it all with tin foil.

3) Print off the cookie tag below, cut it to look like a tag, and attach it to the cookie jar with twine or ribbon. 

To download the tag: click on the photo below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print.

To bake the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, beat 3/4 cup softened butter, 1 large egg, and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Add the jar of cookie mix, and stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-12 minutes.

Isn't this an adorable Christmas DIY? It's a fantastic Christmas cookie recipe, and it's an easy, inexpensive and adorable homemade gift. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

M & M Christmas Cookies

Tried and true recipes are my favourite, and I absolutely love my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. I literally bake it a couple of times a month, and it is an absolute favourite in our home. So, last week, I thought I would take my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and turn it into a Christmas classic. Today, I am sharing my recipe for super-easy M&M Christmas cookies. This is the perfect recipe to bake with kids... and these cookies would be perfect to leave for Santa.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter (at room temperature... NOT melted)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups green and red M&Ms (or other holiday candy coated chocolate)

Here's the recipe:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the following dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

3) In a separate bowl, use electric beaters to combine the butter, white sugar and brown sugar.

4) Add eggs and real vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat with electric beaters until well combined.

5) Using a wooden spoon, mix wet and dry ingredients together (just until combined). Then, add green and red M&Ms (or any candy coated chocolate candies).

6) Drop tablespoon-size balls onto a Silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake for approx. 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.



This is such a classic cookie recipe... and kids will love them!



They freeze really well too... and they are a perfect choice for leaving for Santa. A glass of milk and a few of these cookies will give Santa all the energy he needs to deliver presents on Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays!!!

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Note: If you notice that your cookies are flattening out, try putting the batter in the fridge for half an hour before baking. Also, use fresh baking soda, don't melt the butter, and don't put batter onto a hot cookie sheet.