Christmas Baking

Saturday morning when I woke up, before I had my very first cup of Starbucks, I said to myself, "Today I can't allow myself to get lost in the world of mortals, werewolves and vampires... I seriously NEED NEED to get the Christmas baking done." Seriously... there were TONS of baking to be done!

After two days of continuous baking, I have made batches of everything:

1. Chocolate Lollipops for Joe's nieces and nephews (this is by far the easiest thing to make, though it is time-consuming)

Melt chocolate wafers, pour the chocolate into the moulds, freeze for 20 mins.

From Drop Box

2. Mrs. Fields' Chocolate Cookies

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 12-oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. in a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract
3. in another bowl, mix together all dry ingredients
4. combine wet and dry ingredients
5. stir in chocolate chips
6. place golf-ball sized dough portions, 2 inches apart on an ungreased cooking sheet.
7. bake for 9-10 mins

From Drop Box

3. Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread Cookies
1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1 tbsp poppy seed
1 tsp of finely grated lemon zest

Preheat Oven to 325F
Cream butter and add brown sugar. Beat together for 5 mins
Bet in egg yolk, sift in flour, poppy seed and lemon zest. When combined, roll into teaspoon-sized balls, flatten with a fork on the cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 mins or until brown. Remove from oven and cool.

From Drop Box

4.Lemon Bars (I made this because Joe loves lemon bars!)
Base:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
Filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Blend base ingredients and press into a square pan 8" x 8:. Bake at 325F for 20 mins

Mix filling ingredients and pour over base. Bake for 25 mins until nearly set.

Remove from oven. When cool, divide into squares.

From Drop Box

*** Joe had a small square, and he said, "This is different than what I had when I was a kid, but it IS way better!!!!" See it is not hard to make a guy happy... the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! :-) My mom is right! HAHAHA

5. Banana Oatmeal Cookies -- Joe loves this the most! :-)

From Drop Box

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter (very soft)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mashed banana (1 medium banana)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
In a small bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and banana, then vanilla extract.
On low speed, add in flour mixture
Stir in oats and chocolate chips
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepare baking sheet.
Bake for 11-14 mins at 350F.
Let cookies cool for 5 mins on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack
Makes 2 dozen cookies.