Christmas Cookie Recipes!

One of my favorite Christmas activities is baking Christmas cookies (who doesn't love it?) sneaking cookie dough behind mom's back and the smell that consumes the house are my favorite things. My mom always makes a ton of cookies and gives them away to various people but also makes a ton for my family. Her specialties are Italian lemon cookies, snicker doodles, and peanut butter blossoms. 

Recipes:

Italian lemon drop cookies: 

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F, for cookies, cream together sugar and shortening and eggs and lemon extract and beat well. Add flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. The dough will be soft and sticky. With a small cookie scoop, drop dough onto a slightly greased cookie sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until firm or lightly brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool completely on wire racks. 

For frosting, combine confectioners' sugar, water and lemon extract and mix until smooth. Frost the tops of each cookie with a metal spatula and allow cookies to dry before stacking. 

Snicker doodles:

1/2 cup of butter flavor Crisco

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt 

3 teaspoons milk

1/4 sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Creme together Crisco, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, add butter to mixture and then milk. combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes roll into balls about 1inch, dip in sugar and cinnamon place on cookie sheet and bake at 375. 

Peanut butter blossom cookies:

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

 Preheat oven to 325 and combine all ingredients into a bowl. Roll dough into 24 balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Press down with a fork bake for about 15 minutes. Add a Hershey kiss on top.

(All recipes can be found on food.com)

1.