1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix the remaining dry ingredients together. Hand mix all ingredients together. Drop by rounded tablespoonful on ungreased cookies sheet and bake at 375˚F for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen 2 inch cookies, or about 4 dozen 1 1/2 inch cookies.
Odessa’s Pumpkin Cookies (submitted by Odessa Green)
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups granulated cane sugar
1 1/2 cups pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in a bowl, mix until combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream sugar and butter until blended. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla paste.
Add flour mixture slowly to pumpkin mix and drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown.
**Frost or serve plain
Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs (submitted by Pam Greenslate)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Granulated sugar or colored sugar
Directions:
Mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Heat oven to 375ºF. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
Divide dough in half. Roll each half 1/4-inch-thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes with 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (submitted by Catherine Ojalvo)
Makes about 24 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup super-chunky peanut butter
1 cup(packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (about 6oz.)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands, form generous 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie. Arrange on 2 ungreased baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies until puffed, golden on the bottom and still soft in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks, and cool completely.
Snowball Cookies (submitted by Keri Knutson)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon almond extract
36 maraschino cherries, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups coconut flakes
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together the flour, almonds, and salt.
In another mixing bowl, beat together butter and ½ cup sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the water and almond extract. Stir in the flour mixture until a dough forms.
Take tablespoons of dough and form a ball around each cherry. Place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 18-20 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
To Glaze:
In a small bowl, mix a cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Dip the cooled cookies in the glaze and then roll in shredded coconut.
Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Grandma's Opera Fudge (submitted by Keri Knutson)
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup chopped candied red cherries
Directions:
Line a 5-3/4x3x2-inch loaf pan with foil or parchment paper and butter or spray with cooking spray.
In 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, half-and-half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Keep boiling and stirring constantly until a candy thermometer reads 236˚F (soft ball stage).
Remove saucepan from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool at room temperature for 20 minutes, then beat for five minutes. Stir in cherries, then pour into loaf pan and spread evenly. Place in refrigerator to cool. When chilled, remove fudge from pan and cut into pieces.
Makes 2 dozen pieces.
Dutch Sour Cream Cookies (submitted by Sherri Titus)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup soft butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon orange or lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/4 cup sour cream
Directions:
Cream butter, gradually, add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and flavorings; beat well. Add flour, soda and sour cream.
Shape dough into a long roll, 2 inches in diameter; wrap in waxed paper, and chill 2 to 3 hours or until firm. Unwrap roll and cut into ¼ inch slices; place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375˚ for 8-10 minutes.
Yields 4 dozen
Soft Raisin Cookies (submitted by Sherri Titus)
Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup soft butter or margarine
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup dark seedless raisins
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
Make early in day or up to 2 weeks before serving.
Into large bowl – measure all but raisins and nuts. With mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until just mixed. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Stir in raisins and nuts until they are well blended.
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Drop batter by heaping tablespoon about 2 inches apart, on greased cookie sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. With pancake turner, remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in tightly covered container.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen
Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 package wild blueberry muffin mix
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg
Directions:
In a medium bowl combine all but the blueberries: mix well.
Drop from a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a deep depression in the center of each cookie and fill with 7-8 well-drained blueberries. Push dough from sides to cover berries and pat down.
Bake at 375˚F for 8-10 minutes, until light brown.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When Mistletoe at Moonglow, the first Moonglow Christmas Novella, was released, future guests of the Timberton Hotel yearned to tell their stories, too. And so Silver Bells at Moonglow came to be. Heartfelt thanks go to Annie Sarac at The Editing Pen for her excellent editing, as well as to Elizabeth Christy for initial developmental guidance. Carol Anderson’s proofreading expertise provided final polishing touches. Sincere gratitude goes to Keri Knutson of Alchemy Book Covers for cover design, as well as to Leah Michelle Banicki and Tim Renfrow for formatting eBook and print editions. Jay Garner, Karen Putnam, and Carol Anderson all deserve credit for beta reading and plot suggestions.
Betty is always happy to share recipes from her annual cookie exchange. Yes, Betty is fictional, but the recipes are very real. So get out those holiday aprons and mixing bowls, and enjoy a few sweet treats. Thank you to the wonderful readers and authors who contributed: Kim McMahan Davis, Sue Doucette, Jan Harvey, Linda Smith, Kathy Turner, Frances Hampton, Odessa Green, Sharon Guagliardo, Peggy Hyndman, Pam Greenslate, Keri Knutson, Sherri Titus and Valerie Peterson.
Silver Bells At Moonglow (The Moonglow Christmas Series Book 2) Page 10