baking

It’s a lot of fun preparing for the Christmas season.  There’s always so much to do.  Parties to attend, gifts to buy, and more.  I want to share some of my favorite Christmas recipes with you.  They are fairly easy to make and they don’t cost a lot of money.  They are great for serving at parties and if you package up a variety of your baking, they make great gifts as well.  Invite a friend over to bake with and it will make your time even more enjoyable.  Sometimes it’s also fun to do a “bake swap”.  Each person involved bakes something different and then you arrange a meeting and exchange your baking.  That way you end up with a wide variety of goodies without making each kind yourself.  Happy baking!

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine

1 ½ cups icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp almond extract

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

Mix the ingredients together and knead the dough into a ball.  Cool the dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours and then roll the dough out with a rolling pin and cut the cookies into various shapes with Christmas cookie cutters.  Sprinkle red and green colored sugar on top of your cookies to make them more festive.  Bake at 325 F for 5-7 minutes.

Short Bread

¾ cup butter

½ cup sugar

2 cups flour

Mix the ingredients together and knead the dough into a ball.  Cool the dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.  Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.  Sprinkle the tops with colored sugar or with small pieces of maraschino cherries.  Bake at 325 F for 4-6 minutes.

Fantastic Fudge

4 ½ cups sugar

1 can evaporated milk

½ lb margarine

3 cups chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the sugar and evaporated milk in a heavy pot.  Boil for exactly 7 minutes.  Add vanilla and then dump in the margarine and chocolate chips.  Mix thoroughly and spread the fudge into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.  Let it cool in the fridge until it sets and then cut it into squares.  Keep unused portions in the fridge.