Blogmas Day Four: My Favourite Gingerbread

There are 21 days left before Christmas and I AM FULL OF SUGAR ALREADY!!! I baked and iced gingerbread today in order to practice my cookie icing skills. I realize now that I have zero cookie icing skills. That's why you practice before you commit to bringing seven dozen iced sugar cookies to a party, right? Thankfully I have no party to go to and get to eat this batch of cookies all by myself, explaining the abundance of sugar in my system)! These cookies are simple and taste great.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup shortening

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup corn syrup

5 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tbs ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/3 cup milk

Instructions:

Beat shortening and sugar untill fluffy. Beat in corn syrup. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients. With wooden spoon stir into shortening alternately with milk. Mix with hands when the dough becomes too stiff to stir. Bake at 340f until lightly brown around the edges. Icing is optional.

I recommend freezing half this batch to use at a later date. I find this to be very handy if things become busy during December an you need something homemade in a hurry.

Enjoy your baking. 

Until next time, 

Kyra

Blogmas Day Three: Grandma's Shortbread

For blogmas today I am sharing the shortbread recipe I use during the Christmas season. This shortbread recipe is my Grandma's and is my favorite and happens to be one of my December favorites. IT is a very easy recipe to mix up and you do not want something complicated. I use a metal pastry press to form the cookies but you can also roll out the dough to cut it with a cookie cutter.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup icing sugar
2 cups pastry flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1/2 lb butter

Mix ingredients with a pastry blender. With hands bring together to make a ball. Knead until smooth. Refrigerate prior to assembling the cookies.
When assembling the cookies knead the dough again but DO NOT use flour. Put through a pastry press or roll flat and cut in to desired shapes. Bake at 325-350 until lightly brown. Enjoy immediately, enjoy later or freeze the cookies.

Blogmas Day One: Sugar Cookies (part one)

HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE!!! I have dusted, vacuumed and cleaned up a storm this weekend because Christmas decorations can go up now!!!! I have to be up front and admit that I (*gasp*)began with the music and decorations before December first. I couldn't help myself this year.

I am getting ready for Christmas with BLOGMAS!!! I plan to have 25 different posts between now and Christmas. I am starting with a sugar cookie recipe.

My mom works in the office of one of our local grocery stores and is friendly with the women in the bakery. This is the recipe that the bakery uses for their sugar cookies.

1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
3tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour

I mix this together at the beginning of the season and freeze it for when I need some cookies.  Next week I will be baking and icing these babies for family and friends

Happy Blogmas,
Kyra