Season’s Eatings

4 eggs

1 - 1 ½ cups oil (all or part of this can be replaced with orange juice if desired)

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ cups chocolate chips

For the topping:

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more to taste)

½ cup sugar

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet. 

2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until thick and light-colored. Stir in the flour and baking powder, and then the chocolate chips. Mix well.

3. Place the dough on the cookie sheet and pat into a flat, inch-or-so-tall rectangle, taking care toleave at least an inch clear around the outside edges of the cookie sheet.

4. Bake about 25 minutes until brown. (While it is baking, mix together the cinnamon andsugar for the topping.) Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, move the large rectangle to acooling rack, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then cut the rectangle into long ½-inch slices.

5. Return the slices to the baking sheet cut side up and sprinkle generously with the cinnamon-sugar mix. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, and then remove from the oven and flip over eachslice and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them lest they get too brown.

6. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.

1 cup butter (softened)

⅔ cup sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

½ cup raspberry jam

For the icing:

½ cup confectioners sugar

¾ teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth, then mix in ½ teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 ½-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a small hole in the center of each ball using thumb and fill with raspberry jam.

3. Bake 14-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. For icing, mix together confectioners sugar, almond extract and milk until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to get drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over warm cookies.

Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup vegetable shortening, melted

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

½ cup raw or sanding sugar, for rolling

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together until combined. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted shortening, melted butter, sugar and molasses. Add the egg and mix in until combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes together and no streaks of flour remain.

4. Chill the cookie dough for 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop about 1 ounce of cookie dough and roll in the raw sugar. Repeat.

5. On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, place 6-8 cookies, at least 1 inch apart. On the middle rack of the oven, bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies have puffed and cracked and no longer appear wet. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Enjoy!

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

2 ¾ cups flour (easy substitute: one-to-one gluten-free flour. We love King Arthur!)

1 tsp baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch cinnamon

1 pinch allspice

1 small bowl

1 large bowl

Ungreased cookie sheets

Parchment paper

1. Set up your space where you will be making your cookies. Make sure you have all the tools you need. Take a moment to center yourself and to visualize prosperity for anyone who will be eating these cookies. Then put parchment paper down on your cookie sheets. 

2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. 

3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in an egg and the vanilla into the creamed butter and sugar. Fold in the dry ingredients gradually until well-mixed. (You may need to knead the dough by hand to incorporate completely.)

4. Take the dough and roll it into teaspoonful-sized balls, placing them on the parchment-lined cookie sheets. (I also like to shape them into crescent moons.) While you do this, visualize prosperity for those who will eat the cookies again. What does that look like for each individual? Don't forget to visualize prosperity for yourself if you will eat the cookies as well.

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden. Remove from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Allow to cool on wire racks.

Yield: 2 to 3 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 ¾ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

¼ to ½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and blend. Separately, mix all the dry ingredients together, and gradually add it to the sugar mixture. Finally, add the vanilla and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. If it feels squishy, pop it back in the fridge to continue chilling.

2. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

3. Once chilled, break off small batches and keep the rest in the refrigerator. Roll dough to ⅛-inch thick and use desired cookie cutters to cut cookies and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with sanding sugars and bake for 8 minutes.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies, depending on cookie cutter sizes.

For candy cane variety: Once the dough is made, split it into two parts and tint half with red food coloring. Then chill all the dough. Once chilled, divide each segment of dough into 16 equal pieces and roll into "pencils" (you should have 16 red and 16 plain) and then twist the two colors together into a cane shape. Bake 15-18 minutes at 425 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet. Makes 16 candy cane cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

½ cup Dutch process unsweetened natural cocoa powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup granulated or caster sugar

1 teaspoon pure almond or vanilla extract

For vanilla icing:

1½ cups powdered or confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons room temperature milk

Pinch salt

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is fluffy and pale yellow. Add the almond extract. Then, add the flour a cup at a time, until you have a crumbly dough that’s starting to come together.

4. Turn the dough onto a pastry or cutting board. Press the dough together with clean hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. If it doesn't come together quickly, add some sprinkles of water until it is a smooth ball. Do not over knead. Flatten the dough into a ½-inch disc. Wrap with plastic wrap, and freeze for about 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll each disc of dough until it’s ¼-inch thick. Cut out 3-inch snowflake cookies with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets, and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, and then move the cookies to a wire rack to completely cool.

6. Using a fork, stir the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and milk together in a medium bowl. It will be very thick and almost impossible to stir. Switch to a whisk and whisk in ½ tablespoon of milk. If you lift the whisk and let the icing drizzle back into the bowl, the ribbon of icing will hold shape for a few seconds before melting back into the icing. That is when you know it’s the right consistency and is ready to use. If it’s too thick, whisk in another ½ tablespoon of milk or a little more until you reach the consistency. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto cooled and baked cookies. Allow to set. Enjoy!

Yield: 16 cookies.

2 cups salted butter (softened)

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

4 teaspoons baking powder

6 cups all-purpose flour

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add the 4 sticks (2 cups) of butter and 2 cups of white sugar to your mixer. The butter needs to be softened but still cold. Pull out to room temp an hour before you start. 

3. Cream the butter and sugar until it is completely mixed, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 2 eggs. Mix until light and fluffy (about 3 more minutes). Scrape down the bowl.

4. Add 4 teaspoons of baking powder and mix until combined. Last, mix in the 6 cups of flour two cups at a time. Mix it only until the flour is incorporated into the dough.

5. Roll a handful of the dough out on a prepared surface until it's about 3/8" thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

6. Bake for 6-10 minutes. Decorate with royal icing or buttercream icing and your favorite holiday sprinkles. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

½ cup Crisco butter-flavor shortening

½ cup butter, room temperature

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Begin by beating the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add half the flour, the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Beat the mixture until thoroughly combined, then add the remaining flour. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips (overuse of the chips is encouraged).  

3. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Yield: 3 to 4 dozen cookies. 

¾ pound butter

1 ¾ cup sugar

1 whole egg

4 egg yolks

4 ½ cups flour

Grated rind of one lemon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix ingredients, roll dough flat and cut into fancy shapes. Decorate with sugar crystal sprinkles.

3. Bake 6-8 minutes.

Yield: About 200 cookies.