Great for Gifts, Parties, Or Just You!

There are just under two weeks until Christmas. In fact, last we looked at a calendar, there are twelve full days until Christmas Eve... At which point the kids are likely going to start commenting that Santa needs some cookies.

In our house, it's tradition that the cookies for Santa are always homemade. The recipes and quantities may change from year to year - and honestly, sometimes we just get caught up in the rhythm of measure-knead-roll-cut-bake-cool-repeat, and end up making way too much.

So, for us, cookies are also Christmas gifts for the other households in our family. A little tray or box of handmade treats is also a cute, enjoyable and inexpensive long-distance (or socially-distanced) way to tell someone else you're thinking of them in this unconventional holiday season.

If homemade cookies sound a little out of your league, don't fret. These aren't terribly difficult. They're among the most crowd-pleasing recipes we know, and they are extra easy to personalize.

We'll start with a go-to favorite: Almond Puff Cookies. We've been making this recipe for almost fifteen years now, and it has never failed to impress. They're soft and fluffy, almost cake-like in texture when fresh. These don't really lend themselves to decorating with royal icing like sugar cookies because of the way they puff. A quick egg wash is often all we do to jazz them up. We like to cut these into bell, star and ornament shapes and wash them with different colors, but we've also included a handful of other decorating ideas your family might enjoy.

Almond Puff Cookies

Ingredients:

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 c butter, unsalted, melted

4 eggs

2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Egg Wash (optional)

1 egg (well-scrambled) per each color you intend to make

2 drops food coloring per color

1 teaspoon water per color

Alternative Decoration Ideas (optional)

Sprinkles

Powdered sugar

Slivered almonds

Sweetened coconut flakes

Melted chocolate drizzle

Tools:

Mixing bowls (2), rolling pin, cookie sheet(s), cookie cutter(s), small dishes for egg wash (divide by color), pastry brush, cooling rack, space to make a mess (100% not kidding here, especially if the kids are assisting)

Instructions:

Sift together your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in one mixing bowl.

In the other mixing bowl, whisk together your extracts, eggs, and cooled melted butter. We do NOT want to cook the eggs quite yet, so please allow your melted butter to cool a little before this step; ideally it's still liquid, but not scalding hot.

Knead together the contents of both mixing bowls. If you feel like the dough is a little too stiff, feel free to add a tiny bit of water to it, but don't go overboard. Too much liquid can't be undone, and a wet dough is very difficult to cut into shapes.

Once you've established a nice lump of dough, squish it down into the bottom of the mixing bowl and put the whole thing in the fridge for about 15 minutes. We like to use this fifteen minute break to start making the egg washes, but if you chose another decoration, you're free to relax for a few.

After your fifteen minutes are up, start preheating the oven to 400.

While the oven heats, turn out your dough onto the counter and roll it to about a quarter inch thick. If you feel like there's not enough room on the counter for the whole ball of dough, divide it and toss half back into the bowl for now. Save yourself the headache of having to pull dough out of the backsplash or from under that knife block you couldn't find another place to put (no, we've never had this happen to us - gee, why do you ask?).

Grab the cookie cutters (the objects, not the little minions you may or may not have clamoring in the background). Either you or your helpers should cut as many shapes as you can from the dough you've rolled out, peel away the excess dough, and gently transfer the shapes to your cookie sheet. Be careful not to stretch or distort them during the transfer - if they're stretched, they'll bake up lumpy and uneven.

If you find yourself struggling with the process of transferring, you might consider rolling the dough out on a cutting board or a sheet of wax paper before cutting your shapes. Having an extra layer you can just pick up and flip over the cookie sheet sometimes makes it easier to get the cookies from Point A to Point B without creating oblong ornaments or lopsided stars. Another trick to try is chilling the cut shapes before moving them to the cookie sheet with a thin metal spatula. If you do use a spatula, try to find a smooth one without slots (as the slots risk tearing up the undersides of your cookies).

Repeat the rolling, cutting, and transferring of shapes until you're out of space on the cookie sheets, or out of dough, or out of patience, whichever comes first.

Once your shapes have been arranged on the cookie sheet, you've reached the ideal time to add an egg wash. Use your pastry brush to lightly coat the tops of your cookies with the color of choice. Try not to use too much, just cover it with a thin layer. You don't want it to puddle around the edges on the cookie sheet, as that gets messy and difficult to clean later.

If you're not doing an egg wash, coconut flakes and slivered almonds will hold up well in the oven, and even toast a bit - but sprinkles will lose some of their color to the moisture in the dough, and that color will leak all over the cookie, so it's better to add them, the powdered sugar, or the chocolate later, after the cookies have been removed from the oven.

Bake your cookies 5-8 minutes at 400 degrees. You'll know they're ready to leave the oven when the edges are golden, the centers are puffed up, and the egg wash (if you used it) is set and shiny.

The cookies are still very soft at this point, so allow them to cool for about two minutes before you move them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack, where they'll finish setting up.

Should you want to do any further decorating, let the cookies cool about ten more minutes on the cooling rack to ensure they're fully set and ready to be moved about (or boxed up for giving).

After you’ve tried out this week’s recipe, consider letting us see? We would love to get pictures over on our Facebook page to see how your cookies turned out. 

If on the other hand you need your oven fixed, or any of your other major appliances, we can help. Just call us at ((214) 599-0055) or make an appointment over at our website. We aim to be the most reliable appliance repair in Addison and the surrounding areas, and we want to keep your home running smoothly. Whether that’s an oven that won’t heat right for making cookies, or a washing machine that won’t drain right, we’re here to help.