A really good cookie

... with a really stupid name. "Snickerdoodles." They sound like one of those horrible poodle hybrids that dog breeders are always making. Half poodle and half horrible teenage girl. But nope, they're actually a tasty cookie and REALLY easy.

I hesitate to say that they're a good Christmas cookie - I think of them as one, but I'm lazy. They're not decorative and you can't freeze them but they have a singularily pleasant buttery tenderness and a gentle cinnamon taste - just the thing with a cup of coffee.

To make the cookies:
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then set it all aside. Cream together the butter and sugar (you'll need an electric mixer) until it's pale and fluffy and then add the eggs. Mix that all together and then add the flour mixture, GENTLY mixing together with the electric mixer on a nice sedate speed.

Now mix together 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar in a little bowl. Shape the dough into 20 balls and roll in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them on the cookie sheets, giving them enough space to spread out quite a bit.

Bake cookies, turning your sheets around half way. They're done when they have golden edges - about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on the sheets and then remove. They don't KEEP well, so just eat them. (but if you have to, you can keep them in airtight containers for up to 3 days.)

Muriel's Peanut Butter Fudge

Mad sent me this recipe and it sounds GOOD. I've never made peanut butter fudge before so now I have something new to look forward to for Christmas.
Mix in a saucepan:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
1/4 cup butter
Boil together until it's at the crackling point (roughtly five minutes.). If you have never made candy before, I am too faint-hearted to instruct you in how, but it IS doable. But tricky - as Mad warned in her email: "It's all about seeing and hearing the right moment. If you take the pot off the stove too soon you have runny fudge. If you leave it a minute too late, your fudge is too hard to work with."
Let cool for a minute and then beat with an electric mixer.
After about a minute, stir in 3/4 cup peanut butter and a tsp. of vanilla. Spread into a greased 8" pan. Let it cool and then cut into squares.
(Mad also added that you could add walnuts or coconut. Well, you could. Stir them in at the same time as the peanut butter and vanilla, if you must.

Brown Sugar Christmas Cookies

This is a nice recipe for VERY Christmasy cookies, and they're also simple - a good cookie for people who don't normally make cookies.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening (I know - nasty. But cookies hold their shape much better when part of the fat is shortening. Use Crisco vegetable shortening.)
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup red, green and white Christmas M&Ms (or Christmas Smarties, if you want to avoid nut products. M&Ms bake better.)
(1 cup chopped pecans. Add them if you like - I always skip nuts because I hate them.)

Preheat your oven to 375.
In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining flour, the chocolate bits and the pecans with the wooden spoon.

Drop dough by teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookies sheet. If desired, you can flatten them slightly with fingers. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack (or you can do like my mom and transfer them to a clean dish towel on the kitchen table, which is easier and they don't fall through) and let cool. This recipe makes 60 cookies. I've never tried doubling it, but it shouldn't be a problem. Store them in an airtight container, with the layers separated by waxed paper.

Gingerbread Hearts

You do NEED a good gingerbread cookie recipe, right?

In a large mixing bowl, beat together:
3/4 cup butter, softened with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.
Add:3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 2 tablespoons fresh, if you have it)
1 1/2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once in a while.
Beat in: 1 eggand 1/3 cup molasses (that's where the iron comes from).
Beat in as much of 2 3/4 cups flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Divide dough in half, cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

Grease a large cookie sheet OR line with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until it's 1/4 inch thick. Flour your cookie cutters and cut our dough.
Bake in a 350 oven for 10 minutes or until the cookies look dry. Transfer to a wire rack (or a clean tea towel on your table, whatever) and let them cool down before stuffing them into your mouth.