Christmas Cookies
 

* warning to all you Atkins' people- you may not want to read this thread*

What kind of cookies are you making this year?

Right now i'm working on stained glass sugar cookies- sugar cookies with a cutout- crushed candy is melted to make a window.

I have some peanut-butter/chocolate ones to make, and going to make regular sugar cookies to ice and decorate.

omg! i saw a recipe for those stained glass cookies when i was watching the food network one day (i'm obsessed with food network) they looked so pretty with the crushed lifesavers!

i looked high and low at target, i couldn't find lifesavers ANYWHERE, so I got Jolly Ranchers. I'm hoping the flavor won't be too strong.

Sure had fun beating those things with a rolling pin. Great way to take out stress!

Atkins people - DO NOT FEAR!! I have the BEST recipie for you!!

Apricot Cream Cheese Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies Per cookie... calories 35 , fat 3, carbs 2

These sugar free cookies are from my mother's repertoire of Italian Christmas cookie recipes. The dough is tender and flaky and the sweet tart apricot filling is perfect. Dont let the short ingredient list throw you, they taste out of this world. Santa would love a plate of them with a mug of hot chocolate.

4 ounces cream cheese

1 stick butter

1 cup flour, plus additional for rolling

1/4 teaspoon salt

Jar of Smuckers Sugar Free Apricot Preserves (or Sugar Free rasberry Preserves taste GREAT too!)

Blend the cream cheese and butter. Add the flour and salt and blend until flour is completely incorporated. Gather dough into a smooth ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly dust counter with flour and roll out 1/2 of the dough to 1/8 inch thickness... carefully cut into 2-inch squares, saving scraps to re-roll. Blend the jar of preserves with a spoon so it is a smooth consistency.

Place a 1/4 teaspoon dab of the preserves in the center of each square. Fold over two opposite corners of the square to the middle, overlapping slightly and pressing so they stick together and the jam squishes out a bit. Transfer each cookie to an ungreased cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart as you fold them.

Bake each batch for 10-12 minutes, until the bottoms are just golden brown. Gently press any overlapped corners down that have opened while baking. Transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

When cookies are cool, place an additional small dab of apricot preserves on each side of the folded cookie.

I'm not doing the Atkins diet, and that still sounds really good. Pass the milk.

Re: Christmas Cookies
 

lol....I'm soo drooling. And would you believe this, I'm actually planning on making cookies for people this holiday season. (Obviously I will IMMEDIATELY give them or else I'd be eating them!!!)

Observations on the stained glass cookies: yellows don't work well- look too clear. Put more in than you think you will, it thins out when melted. Green works really well, as do the reds. I'll post the recipe later :)

These take awhile... think i'll have to do the other cookies tomorrow.

Mmmmm... yellows taste good at least. I let myself taste test the ugliest one :)

ETA: If you're planning on making cookies- BUY AN AIRBAKE SHEET!
The two batches I made- one was on the airbake sheet, the other on some crappy old cookie sheet. The air baked ones turned out much better- cooked evenly, etc. The regular cookie sheet burned some slightly in some places.

You can get an air-bake sheet for less than $10 at Target or your grocery store

does anyone know how to bake substituting diet soda for eggs/oil?

i remember someone posting about it a really long time ago, and im just too lazy to do a search for it..

i've never heard of diet soda.. i've heard of apple sauce being used.

Here we go.. my annual Christmas baking that was completed last weekend:

Lemon Spritz (done with a cookie gun and sprinkled with the colored sugars)

Peanut butter cookies with hershey's kisses on top

Corn Flake Wreaths

a bar cookie always referred to as "Mary Lou's cookies" in my family.. dough layer, chocolate chip layer, sugar/nut/egg layer with confectioner's sugar on top

Pistachio coffee cake

Fudge

Sour Milk Cookies (like a sugar cookie but better.. cut in Christmas shapes and frosted of course!)

This weekend I'm making a Gingerbread House! I love Christmas!

Dee