Three Children's Christmas Cookies Printable Recipe

Grandpa's Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies Recipe

• 5 cups flour ( I used 1/2 sprouted wheat flour and 1/2 white wheat pastry flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger (I altered this and used 1 tsp. of fresh ginger)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup shortening or margarine, melted (I used 1/2 cup organic coconut oil, 1/2 cup butter)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• (I also threw in 1/2 lb of spinach and 3 sweet potatoes......okay, I'm JUST kidding!)  

1. Sift together the flour, salt, ginger, and cloves into a large bowl and set aside.
2. In another large bowl stir together the molasses, brown sugar, and shortening or margarine with a wooden spoon until well combined.
3. Beat in the eggs, vinegar, and baking soda mixture then stir the flour into the molasses mixture until blended.
4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate it until well chilled. This will take at least 2 to 3 hours.
5. When you are ready to bake your soft molasses cookies, make sure one of your oven racks is in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F degrees.
6. Line your cookie sheets with silicone liners, parchment paper, or nonstick foil or lightly grease them and set aside.
7. Scoop out your dough a generous cupful at a time onto a floured surface.
8. Roll the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness, flouring lightly as necessary to prevent sticking.
9. Cut your cookies out using your favorite cookie cutters and place on the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
10. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until set, and then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring your cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
11. Once completely cool, store your cookies in an airtight container with a slice of soft bread to keep them soft.

This recipe yields about 4 to 5 dozen soft molasses cookies, but will vary greatly depending on the size and shape of cookie cutters used.

(This recipe used from this source: Best-ever-cookie-collection.com: molasses-cookies-recipe)



I used a basic butter cream recipe for the frosting:

Ingredients

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup butter/ 1/2 cup coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream (I used milk: only ad a tiny bit if using cranberry concentrate to dye the frosting).

Directions

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

(This recipe was obtained from: Foodnetwork.com)

Three Children's Christmas Cookies

Once upon a time,

there were three little children.

Oops.

Nope,

these are cookies.

There were three little children:

 

The oldest was very helpful indeed.

The second,

a boy was...

 well,

a boy.

 The third child was,...

"Lillie,

stop trying to do everything your sister does.

Put that cookie cutter down before you poke your eye out with it."

These children were accustomed to decorating cookies at Grandma's every year

but this year things did not go as usual,

and the cookies were sadly missed.

Their mother,

being a decent woman,

a rather decent woman with no cookie rights whatsoever,

having a terrible propensity to turn

tasty cookies into healthy round "creations,"

perched upon her computer chair

and ransacked the screen for the perfect cookie...

a healthy one.

And that's how these came about.

The oldest child put out cookies with swift cookie skills.

The boy, well, he was a boy and the cookies he produced were often missing a leg or an arm.

And this one here:

well, this one's whole dough structure disappeared rather quickly,

some in small nibblets onto the floor 

where they were thoroughly smooshed in upon her sneakered descent;

but the majority of which disappeared into the toothed hole above the little purple neckline.

A few minor (healthy) alterations were made to the cookie;

and the frosting found it's coloring coming from this:

Pure cranberry concentrate replaced some of the milk content

so that the frosting would not be too runny.

The cranberry ads a slight tart taste to the frosting

that is barely noticeable when attached to the cookie base.

This alternative is helpful instead of it's carcinogenic counter-part 

(Red #40).

 The result is a pretty pink frosting.

 Of course, it would be helpful if I hadn't bought colored sprinkles.

 Is there a source of healthy colored sprinkles anywhere?

Okay, well.  So let's proceed.
The resulting cookies are great;
my kids gobble them up and I know they are getting some good
from their "dessert."
I have to admit,
I've eaten more than is good for my waistline as well.

The ending to the story:

 Snow fell in the kitchen and the snowmen that were built

smiled sweetly on the children...

 and they lived happily the rest of the day

(while their mother cleaned up the snow-fall

which was the result of the boy,

who was being a boy,

and discovered that flour,

when blown on,

flies like a snowstorm).

I will post the recipe for these happy cookies in the next post,

so that if you desire to cook them,

you won't have to read a book before attempting.

Oh, and I'm soooo sorry about the delay with the giveaway.

My mother actually guessed the correct answer: 

Short Stories by O'Henry.

We actually read one about a pig, but I don't remember much more about it.

Seeing how my mom remembered,

and that's pretty amazing she did because nobody else did,

even my husband,
and she seemed a bit disappointed when I said she couldn't have the prize,

I'm going to award it to her anyway.

However to compensate for your disappointment,

I randomly picked 2 more winners.

I don't have any more of those particular gourd ornaments,

but you can pick either a goose ornament:

Or a birdhouse gourd ornament.

I have several of both, so the winners may choose which one they'd like.

I will enclose a scarf  I crocheted as well.

The randomly chosen winners were:

# 13 - Cranky Crow

and

# 17 - JennW

Please email me with your choice and address to PumpkinPiePainter1(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks for all for your fun comments.

I particularly liked the idea of getting an antique book jacket to try.

Linking to these great blogs:
Women Living Well 
Our Simple Country Life 

Raising Homemakers
Savvy Southern Style  
A Bowl Full of Lemons  
A Diamond in the Stuff
Not Just a Housewife
Kellys Korner blog: show-us-your-life-favorite-holiday recipe
www.lifeingraceblog.com: Christmas-sweet-treats party
Tatertots and jello.com: Weekend-wrap-up-party
funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com: mantels-and-stockings
The Artsy Girl Connection 

Incredible Glazed Apple Cookies (printable recipe)

Incredible Glazed Apple Cookies

Ingredients for the Cookie:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup lard (or shortening or butter)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 whole egg
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup white wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 cups chopped apples
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup Heath candy pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cream oils together with brown sugar until light in color.  Add egg and milk and mix.  Ad the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing to combine.  Ad ginger.  Fold in apples, nuts, and Heath pieces.  Drop on to a greased cookie sheet: cook for 9 - 10 minutes til lightly browned.

Drizzly frosting:
Whisk together 1/4 cup (or a bit more as needed) cream cheese, 4 Tbs. cream (as needed), and 4 Tbs. pure maple syrup.  Drizzle a small amount on each cookie as it comes from the oven.
Enjoy (especially with a glass of milk).

The Best Apple Cookies EVER.

Okay, so I don't have proof for that title,

but you'll just have to trust me on this one.

My Farmer said he was hungry for dessert the other night.

I have to admit, I was feeling the same way.
He had to go help the neighbor farmer bag up feed,
so I headed to my favorite resource for good food...
Ms Pioneer Woman.

Not having the ingredients and the time to make one of her recipes,
I clicked over to the Tasty Kitchen part of her blog
and found some cookies that had 2 reviews
and they were good,
had ingredients that I had,
and took only 15 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.

That sounded do-able.

I changed up the recipe some to make it a bit more healthy
for my eaters,
but I have to tell ya,
I think I may have mastered this cookie,
healthy and all.

 

First I had to find the mixer:

my mom stopped by and did the dishes

and anything she doesn't know where it goes,

she puts into the mixing bowl.

That's okay, Mom.

No complaints here.

I love my dishes washed 

even if you have to heap them on my bed

when you're done.

Here's what the cookies are made of

(the glaze is cream, cream cheese, and maple syrup,

but they didn't make it into this scene).

I use coconut oil because it is better for the heart,

so 1/4 cup of lard/shortening/butter and 1/4 cup of coconut oil

get tossed into the mixer with

1 cup of brown sugar.

They are beat til they whip up together nicely,
kind of like rolling all the windows down in the car
so my children's hair all mingles together
and the gusting wind makes hearing each other impossible
so there is no bickering.

Ah, yes, creativity that outsmarts their attempts to scathe me
with frustration.
My brain figures these things out after a few years of experience.



Where were we?

Oh, yes,

then an egg and milk are added.

One change I made was adding some oatmeal

because anyway I can get this healthy stuff into my kids bellies,

I'm gonna do it.

So the dry stuff is all added to the blending mixer:

the 1/4 cup oats and 1 1/2 cups flour,...

the 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice,

 1 tsp. cinnamon

and the 1 tsp. baking soda,

whose picture didn't come out right;

(sorry, baking soda: better luck next time).

Next came the major improvement factor to this cookie:

a finger-tip sized amount of minced, fresh ginger.

Really, all that seems to come out of this effort is ginger juice,

but the power in this smidgen is a worthy addition.

Finally, when the mixer has blended these,

the 2 cups chopped apples and 1/4 cup chopped walnuts are stirred in...

as is the secret ingredient:

What is it?

Can you tell?

How good are you at recognizing a diet criminal?

It is this:

Oooo, yum.

One of my favorites.

I added 1/4 cups of Heath candies.
(Not healthy,
but the oatmeal will cover them with healthiness.

At least, that's what I tell myself).

Once these are all added and your batter looks somewhat like this:

you can get out your spoon

or melon scoop

or whatever instrument you use to get cookie sized cookies on your

cookie sheet,

and cook these up for nine minutes exactly.

Precise cooking time makes for the perfect cookie.

While these are cooking,

you can race the timer to get the drizzly frosting ready.

No, I didn't go to cooking school

and I know there is probably a better word for drizzly frosting:

if you know, please inform me in the comment section

so I can look like I went to cooking school.

At least for my frosting term.

Get out your real maple syrup.

Don't mention that other stuff to me;

I will cry if you ruin my cookies with it.

Yes, I know real syrup is wicked expensive

but it's 100% worth it.

It gets mixed with a spot of cream

and a dollop of cream cheese.

I'm sure there must be a recipe like this somewhere.
I can't have possibly come up with this all by myself.

(If it's as common as mint toothpaste and mans' white socks,
please don't tell me so.)

Ah, this is perfect.

When the timer goes off

announcing that the boys in the oven are done,

pull them out and begin their creamy christening.

Drizzle away.

If you want to be fancy,

there's probably a way to be fancy.

My people just want to eat them

so I nix the fancy.

Next time I'm doubling the recipe on these...

I think that may be later today.


I'll post just the recipe on my next post
so if you want it,
you wont have to read through all my prattle again.


I'm only repetitive to my bickering children...

when I can hear them.

Crockpot Tapioca and the Story Behind It.

The grumblings of the belly can do amazing things to a human being.

I have seen people who are normally very pleasant and tolerant

turn into unbearable creatures with wild eyed expressions

when the dinner hour passes and they are forced to endure

a wait.

Men generally seem to fall very heavily into this category.

But I have to tell you that when I got pregnant,

I understood a new meaning to the word

"hungry."

This reaction, this intolerance for being hungry

magnified by somewhere around 575%.

When denied the attributes of a punctual dinner time,

something went off in my brain

that turned me into a person I'd never been before...

at least, not to that intensity.

I do believe if denied certain foods at certain times during pregnancy,

after shedding a truckload of tears,

my journey by car, foot, bicycle, or donkey

would have, of necessity, followed.

Truly.

It's that bad.

So you can imagine the thrill I experienced when visiting a friend

during my first pregnancy

when I was still the the midst of the quavering tides of morning sickness,

and I was told we'd be indulging at an elegant buffet restaurant

after the morning church service.

The options were said to be magnificent.

I don't need to tell you that from about 11:30 am on,

my mind began to wander to its future prospective,

and I'm afraid I left the service sadly uninformed about what was

exhorted during that last half hour.

I had food on my mind.

If you've experienced morning sickness

you will know that it seems to morph the sense of smell

to a higher plain.

Some things that are bad are unbearably bad.

Just the mention of onions made my whole insides prepare to revolt.

But there are other things that,

even the sight of them,

sent the body into a sort of melting in anticipation of it's

inevitable sweetness.

Tapioca pudding.

I spotted the tapioca pudding as we entered the large dining area.

It called to me, beckoned with an almost discernible smell.

It was as if those cartoons I'd seen in childhood

where the vapors arise and guide the nose of the affected creature

into a lilting, involuntary mesmerization,

was actually occurring to me.

 I numbly followed my group of diners,

hearing only bits and pieces of who was sitting where

and the general chatter about how hungry everyone was

while I only heard the painful strains of that tapioca pudding

calling to me.

I don't need to inform you that after the buffet dance of bobbing in and out,

plates carefully laden with heated piles,

had completed

and the eating commenced,

my little dessert bowl of tapioca sat smiling at me.

It was when I saw the necessity to refill my cup,

(not wanting to be the sissy-type wife who needs her husband to wait on her

hand and foot when in my "condition",)

that I stretched up, strode past and away from my fellow partakers,

and stupidly left my bowl of tapioca in the hands of those

with whom I thought it was safe.

As I came smiling back to my chair,

a moment of horror shook my being.

My tapioca pudding bowl was empty.

Empty.

I looked around at the smiling faces in the group

as they watched my eyes dart from the empty bowl,

to them,

to my husband,

back to my bowl. 

Yes, it was really gone,

scraped clean with just a ball or two of tapioca

loudly pronouncing it's former occupancy.

But what?

Why?

Where?

The questions couldn't come fast enough before my husband said,

"Oh, I was just teasing you.

I knew how much  you wanted it and we wanted to see your reaction;

I'll go get you another."

The ire drained slowly

as he got up and disappeared into the buffet-mongers.

By the time I had seated myself and laughed with the rest of them,

I saw him quickly returning...

without a bowl of tapioca.

But, what was this?

"It's all gone,"

he said, and the remorse was in his eyes.

Fear and incredulity mingled.

"WHAT?

Go ask the waiter for more. 

Certainly there is more in the kitchen,

the back storage room, 

somewhere?"

"No, he said that was it.

I asked him.

It's all gone."

"This is not funny.  You better tell me you're joking."

The air suddenly became quiet at our table

and slightly uncomfortable.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

How could this man who I married because I thought he loved me

do this to me?

Was there another restaurant

or a grocery store nearby?

So you can see the magnitude of joy

when I was reading the Lancaster Farming Paper one day a few years later

and came upon this:

Having this recipe was wonderful during my last pregnancy,

but the story still comes to mind

every once in a while when I think about enjoying some

of this delicious pudding.

Let this be a lesson to you.

A hungry person's dessert

is not a wise subject for practical joking.

And a pregnant woman's dessert

carries with it years of scarred memories:

better it not be the husband who touches it.

Linked up to:
Kellys Korner Blog: Crockpotalooza

Fat-Free Chocolate Cake (No, I am not Kidding)

 Being that it is Green Day,

and being that I am

a bit o' the ole I-reesh,

I thought I'd share with you this recipe that is very near and dear to my heart.

Here we go:

 Mix the flour, cocoa, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

in a nice big red bowl.

 Dump the sugar into the water and whisk up.

I used raw sugar.

Yes, my water has been replaced here,

as I'm sure you have noticed.

I'm terrible at obeying instructions.

Please envision that it is water.

(it is actually buttermilk and whey,

left-over from my earlier adventure of making cream cheese

and butter.  I really don't know if these are fat-free,

so if you want the "Fat-free" version,

using water would definitely do it.)

 After whisking for a minute,

ad the egg whites and corn syrup,

stirring until blended
(next time I'm going to try molasses so it's healthier.

Do you think that would ruin it?

Maybe I should just try staying with the directions,

maybe.)

 Gradually stir the liquids

into the dry ingredients.

 Ignore this photo as well,

if you are sticking with the fat-free version.

I got these nuts from our own tree,

so, of course, they are fat-free.

(Yes, I am deceived.)

Really though, I did gather these walnuts last fall,

and my father shelled them all for me

(he's very helpful that way,

especially since I had him shell about 300 hundred nuts

and there were about 50 good ones in the whole lot.

Such a good man,

although he did tell me to go out and just buy some next year.)

 Pour the smooth batter

(because there won't be any nuts in the real recipe)
into your sprayed pan,

(Now I only poured a small portion of this batter into this pie plate,

because I wanted to do something a little extra fun

for our "Irish" dessert

and I poured the rest...

Here,

where there was

one more alteration on my part:

 but there IS a reason fort this!

The reason I did this is because

there is a frosting recipe to make with this cake

using non-fat cream cheese and cocoa,

but I decided to skip that and just make these into brownies.

There is a teensy bit of fat in the frosting recipe,

and I will give you that in the end of my terrible display of not obeying instructions.

Just in case you are wondering,

the truly non-fat version of this cake is TERRIFIC!!

My mother-in-law got this recipe from her friend,

and when she made it,

following all directions,

it was SUPERB.

 Yes, I added some little white fellows

and some little chocolate tiny ones as well.

Just about 3 Tbs. of chocolate or so,
and 1/2 cup of mini marshmellows:

very minimal.

It was then baked at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

This is how it looked when done.

The marshmellows took on a decidedly blackened coating,

but the taste definitely made up for the looks.

 My farmer even had seconds,

very large seconds,

and he doesn't "like" chocolate cake.

 So now

I am going to give you an added recipe

(that is not fat-free,

although, it is definitely LOW in fat)

because it's just the way we Irish lasses are,

(teeny-bit Irish.

After all, my Grandmother had hair as red as the ruddy face
of a leprechaun who's been robbed of his rainbow gold;

and also,
thanks to O'Henry
I realized I was in love with my Farmer,

which I do need to go back and finish the Nanny Story again sometime soon,

but not over a fat-free cake recipe

or a mostly fat-free pie alteration.

 Okay, so I got 1 1/2 cups of low-fat milk

(well, a mixture of milk with buttermilk and whey, because there was still about a cup left)

 added the sugar and heated it on low heat.

I then added cornstarch with the 1/2 cup of milk waiting on the side.

When the liquid in the pan is hot, the cornstarch milk gets added in,

stirring as it cooks for about 3 minutes,...

 until it thickens.

Some of this hot liquid was scooped out...

 and added to some beaten eggs.

 This egg mixture slowly gets added to the pot,

stirring constantly.

Continue to stir for about a minute,

and then take it off the heat.

 I added some

(gulp)

food coloring because I wanted it to be green.

Really,

I don't use it much; I wanted to find some spinach

and cook and blend it up to ad to make it green,

but I didn't have any.

So I caved and used 

artificial color.

Just this once.

Besides, I wasn't too sure that peppermint and spinach sounded too good together.

 Here it is looking like

Oscar the Grouch would approve.

At this point, you get to chose.

I grabbed some pure peppermint flavor out of my cupboard.

Grasshopper style for us.

Chocolate and peppermint.

Yum.

But really vanilla or maple would be great, too.

Not lemon.

Ooo, just the thought of lemon on chocolate makes my teeth cringe.

(Sorry, Farmer.

I know you think I make up entirely too many words and terms.

  I do know that teeth don't cringe,

but I'm not sure how else to describe it)

 So once the peppermint "pudding" was ready,

it became the top layer over the (mostly) fat-free cake.

 I heated up some chocolate chips and butter,

(throwing all fat-freeness away on this part)

and poured it in a strip across the top.

  A little swivel with the spatula this way,

a little swivel that way...

 And it's looking rather...

um...

Irish-ish...

Irishy...

Irishly...

A touch of spring on Irish day.

(Don't forget the great herbal give-away <here>.)

Here are the EASY-to-FOLLOW recipes:

Decadent Fat Free Chocolate Cake:

1 1/4 Cup flour

1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 Cup corn starch

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 Cup sugar

1 Cup water

3 egg whites

1/2 Cup karo/dark corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In medium bowl, stir the sugar and water with a wire whisk for 1 minute.  Add egg whites and corn syrup; stir until blended.  Gradually stir into the dry ingredients until smooth.  Pour into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  Ice with Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting or your favorite.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 block (4 oz.) low or non-fat cream cheese

2 Tbs. butter (softened)

3 Tbs. low-fat milk

3 1/3 Cup sifted powdered sugar

3/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat first three ingredients in a large bowl at high speed until smooth. Combine sugar, cocoa, salt.  Gradually add sugar mixture into mixture, beating on low until blended.  Add vanilla and beat in.  Cover and chill before frosting.

Peppermint Pudding Pie

2 Cups low-fat milk

1/2 Cup of sugar

2 1/2 Tbs. corn starch

1/8 tsp. salt

2 beaten eggs

2 tsp. flavor or your choice (vanilla, peppermint, walnut)

Pour 1 1/2 cups milk and the sugar into a heavy pan.  Heat over low temperature.  Stir.  In a cup, blend remaining milk with cornstarch.  

When the heating milk and sugar are hot, stir the cornstarch milk into it.  Stir until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the eggs and stir up.  Ad this to the pan on the stove and cook all for 1 more minute.  Remove from heat and ad flavoring.

Pour this onto prepared pie plate, preferable one with fat-free chocolate cake for a crust.

Heat about 3 Tbs. chocolate chips with 2 Tbs. butter.  Pour this in a straight line across your pie and then swivel a spoon through it to make it beautiful.

Enjoy!

Linked up to: Diary of a Stay At Home Mom: Cooking-Thursday
Kelly the Kitchen Kop: Real-Food-Wednesday
Fireflies and Jellybeans: Show-off-your-Stuff-party
Home is Where my Story Begins: Home-and-Family-Friday
and to: