The theme for What’s Baking this month was a snow day treat. When I found out I was excited but as January approached we had no snow, how can you get in the snow day spirit without snow. To this day we still don’t have much snow in MN. Its been a weird winter thats for sure.

Snow day was a foreign concept to me after finishing school. But now that I am a SAHM that option is available ALOT more and it is wonderful. We actually had one last week because it was bitter cold. How do you entertain a 2 year old for a day stuck in the house. We normally make a fun breakfast, play play-doh and then bake something. I always pick something she can help with. These were no exception. She added most of the ingredients, and operated the mixer. I used the cookie scooper and she piled them on top of each other on the pan… Someday I am thinking of baking them that way.

These are delicious cookies, they remind me of a sugar cookie but better. I really like these and will be making them again.

Brown Sugar Cookies (From: Crisco)

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed browned sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Beat together shortening, butter, brown sugar. Then add egg and vanilla beat until mixed together. Add flour, baking soda and salt.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls or use small cookie scoop. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack after 1 minute.

I saw the cinnamon M&M’s I think my first trip to Target after they put up the Christmas items. But didn’t buy them, but my first thought was that would be good in a cookie. While shopping after Christmas I found them on clearance and had JUST saw this recipe that morning… how could I pass them up?

These cookies were good, but honestly I would do without the M&M’s the cookies themselves had GREAT flavor the cinnamon, oatmeal and chocolate chips were perfect to dunk in a big glass of milk. The M&M’s were fine but I didn’t taste a lot of cinnamon.

Cinnamon M&M Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (From: Picky Palate)

• 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 10 ounce bag chocolate chips
• 1 9.90 ounce bag Cinnamon M&M’s

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.

In a stand or electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla mixing until well combined.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl, mix to combine then add slowly to mixing bowl, mixing on low speed. Add cinnamon, rolled oats and chocolate chips. Mix until just combined. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Press cookies down about 1/2 inch to flaten slightly. Press 5 cinnamon M&M’s onto each cookie. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until baked to your liking. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack.

This is FINALLY the last of the Christmas cookies. This one can easily be a year round recipe though as sugar cookies can be made into any season. My cousins girlfriend suggest this recipe saying it was the best she has ever had. I decided to compare it because my favorite for a few years has been this one.

This one was good, but I still stick with the other one being my favorite. The dough is easier to work and I like the taste better. But some may like these better.

Sugar Cookies (From: Joy of Baking)

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.)  Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Note: If you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you can sprinkle the unbaked cookies with sparkling sugar. 

Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes (depending on size) or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours or overnight.)

Frosted cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. Store between layers of parchment paper or wax paper.

My Grandma had to have her gallbladder take out this summer and while sick she was unable to eat chocolate and was thinking she wouldn’t be able to after the surgery. She had a whole bag of Chocolate stars she gave to me. We are not big chocolate eating fans in this house… I know were crazy. But we just don’t nibble on Chocolate. So I saved the stars and made them for Christmas.

This recipe was better then previous ones I have tried, and is a winner in my book. I know Christmas is over and your most likely baked out, but save it for next year but in my book these can be eaten year round.

Peanut Butter Blossoms (From: Hershey’s)

When asked to pick my favorite Christmas cookie I have a hard time deciding between Spritz and Peanut Butter Delights. Both HAVE to be attendance at Christmas otherwise in my book it is not Christmas. This year we didn’t do either of these cookies at our cookie exchange so it was left up to me to make them if I wanted them. I made both… and haven’t stopped eating since. I promise to save enough for Santa.

I decided to try a new spritz recipe this year. It was simple to throw together and tastes like spritz and wasn’t as hard as previous dough to work with in the machine. A win in my book!

Spritz (From: Betty Crockers Cooky Book)

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp. flavoring (almond or vanilla)
• 2 1/4 cup flour

Heat oven to 400.

Mix butter, sugar, egg, salt and flavoring thoroughly, add flour in.

Using 1/4 dough at a time, force dough through cooky press on un greased baking sheet in desired shapes. Bake 6-9 minutes or until set but not brown.

I ofcourse wanted something new to bring to the cookie exchange. But I also wanted something as simple as I could as I took on WAY too much that week. So I went with these, and they did NOT disappoint!

You don’t need much frosting otherwise it’s overboard, but they do just melt in your mouth. Perfection in a bite if you ask me.

Christmas Meltaways (From: Daisy Cooks)

• ½ lb margarine or butter, creamed
• ¾ C. cornstarch
• 1/3 C powdered sugar
• 1 C flour

Mix together and beat until creamy. Roll (flour on hands helps) in round teaspoons. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Frost with:

1 tsp vanilla, 3 oz cream cheese (or substitute with butter), 1 c powdered sugar (add food coloring if desired). Dip top of cookies into frosting. Makes about 4 dozen.

You don’t want to overcook these cookies – and they don’t burn so pull them out as soon as the time is up. Also, I frost them when they are cool and using an icing bag might be the best trick because they are so fragile.

I first heard about the The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap on Twitter. I looked into it and you made three dozen never seen on your blog cookies, sent them to three different swappers and then received three dozen different cookies from three different people. Sounded fun enough. I signed up and got to searching for the perfect cookie. Sure I had a lot on my blog but it had to be new. I looked through some cookbooks and found Black Forest Cookies, I love me some black forest cake so I attempted to make those. I was less then happy with the four dozen cookies I got from that and sent them with Adam to work. Those guys will eat anything.

I started to run short on time and say these on pinterest. I decided they looked easy enough and reminded me of a shortbread which is one of my favorite kinds of cookies. I had trouble with the rolling of cookies, I rolled the dough to thin so I would of had tiny tiny cookies, thus getting what I got because I just rolled the dough to desired thickness. I will attempt to make again, correct. The flavor was excellent. The three dozen cookies I received were also excellent. I can't wait to participate next year. If you missed out this year but are interested in signing up next year you can sign up for e-mail alerts here.

Holiday Pinwheel Cookies (From: The Shine Project)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring.( I highly recommend the gel variety. You can buy it at any craft store. It is much brighter and you can use less)
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
• 3 tablespoons milk

My Mom recently starting biking her butt off… literally. I am so proud of the amount of miles she has put on her bike. I was joining until I hurt my knee and have been trying to slowly get back into it. She also has been watching what she eats, she told me she found these great cookies they were rather low in fat and calories.

She made them over the weekend, she said they were so simple to make and taste just like a gingersnap cookie.  I will be stopping by today to try one for myself!

Ginger Cookies (From:  My Kitchen Adventures)

Calories – 46,   Total Fat – 0.2g,   Carb. – 11g,   Protein – 0.8g,   Fiber – 0.2g

Pink lemonade is one of my favorite summer drinks. Not big on lemonade but pink yum! So when I saw these cookies I figured they would be perfect for a weekend get together.

This really pack a punch first bite I wasn’t so sure but it wore on me the more I ate. I would make the frosting less bitter next time.

Strawberry Lemonade Cookies (From: Eat At Home)

• Strawberry cake mix
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbs. water
• 1/2 cup pink lemonade mix

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and beat with a mixer till well blended. Drop by teaspoons onto a baking stone or cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbs. pink lemonade mix
• 3 Tbs. soft butter
• 1-3 Tbs. milk

Stir the powdered sugar and lemonade mix together in a small bowl. Stir in the butter. Add the milk gradually, until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. You want it thick, but smooth enough to spread. Frost cooled cookies.