Need a few last minute cookie ideas to wow the relatives this holiday season? A few of the members of our staff are here to help! We’ve teamed up to create a list of some of KCBJ’s favorite Christmas cookies to help you find the very BEST holiday cookies.
1. Orange Cranberry Cookies – Jacob Maday
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups chopped cranberries
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
½ tsp grated orange zest
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and if using, walnuts, until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
- In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.
2. Sugar Cookies – Matt Murphy
1 ½ cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Directions:
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.
3. Cranberry white chocolate chip cookies – Robin Dodd
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks to 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
2 teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (135g) white chocolate chips
3/4 cup (105g) dried cranberries
Directions:
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries mix on low for about 5-10 seconds until evenly disbursed. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes– if the cookie dough chilled longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This makes the cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Once chilled, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but will come together if you work the dough with your hands as you roll into individual balls. Scoop and roll balls of dough, about 1 heaping Tablespoon of dough each, into balls. Place 10-12 on each baking sheet. Bake in batches for 10-11 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. They will look extremely soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Butterscotch Chips – Michaela Rumbaoa
3 1/4 c. All-purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1 c. Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
1 1/2 c. Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 c. Butterscotch Chips
1 c. Chocolate Chunks
Sea Salt, For Sprinkling On Cookies
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together for about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients. Stir in butterscotch chips and chocolate chunks.
- Form the cookie dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
- Bake cookies for 10–12 minutes or until edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2–3 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
5. Gingerbread Cookies – Jenny Kurtz
1.5 sticks butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ¼ cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp kosher salt
2” piece fresh ginger, grated
Sugar cookie icing and sprinkles (for decorating)
Directions:
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and molasses until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, spices, baking soda, and salt until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, as well as fresh ginger, until dough just comes together. (Do not overmix!)
- Divide dough in half and create two discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 to 3 hours. (Alternatively, divide dough in half and roll each piece of dough between two pieces of parchment to 1/4″ thick. Chill until firm.)
- Preheat oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place one disc of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll until 1/4″ thick. (Alternatively, peel off both sheets of parchment from dough, then replace one sheet of parchment back underneath dough.) Cut out gingerbread men with a 3″ wide cutter and transfer to baking sheets.
- Bake until slightly puffed and set, 9 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with remaining disc of dough. Decorate with icing and sprinkles as desired.
6. Chocolate Sugar Cookies – Riki Duncan
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Directions:
- Cream together butter and brown sugar with a mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition, and then vanilla.
- Combine cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix well.
- Refrigerate dough for one hour.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough and place into granulated sugar, roll around to coat. Place sugar coated dough on lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet, space cookies 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 9-10 minutes.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
References:
https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a89643/butterscotch-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/1040
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/40180/cranberry-orange-cookies/