Friday: Baking Day

In an effort to increase my readership from 3 loyal (and the best) followers I am going to do a Friday cooking segment each week. I have wanted to do this for a while so I am putting this task on the done list this week.

Short of it being past the holiday season, this post about baking seems fitting. I meant this to be a more timely post but the holidays slipped away. What better way to spend those dreary weekend afternoons than baking (knitting is a close second but I'll get to that later!)? 

One of the many wonderful parts about being married is the double amount of recipes and cooking advice you get. In fact, one of my bridal showers included a recipe card in the invitation so friends & family could pass the good eats along to me! I love having new recipes to try and keep both family's traditions alive. For the holidays I made two different types of cookies, one from my family's stash of recipes and one from my husband's.

From my husband's side I made Jello Cookies. I had never made this kind of cookie before, I even had to make a trip to the local cooking store to buy supplies I didn't own. Below is the recipe I used along with the equipment needed (Note: I used the cookie press written in the instructions. Unfortunately I have yet to experiment without the press so I can't vouch for those cookies!) 

Grandma Norma's Jello Cookies

4 cups sifted flour (ah, for the non-baker normal all purpose flour is fine!)
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 3 oz. package of jello
1 1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
1 egg

Sift flour with baking soda. Set aside.
Cream Butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar & jello to butter. Mix well. Add egg & vanilla. Gradually add flour/baking soda mix to all ingredients are mixed well.
Push dough through cookie press with desired shaped at the end.
Press cookies directly onto a ungreased baking sheet.
Decorate as desired (even a little jello on top is good when baked!)
Bake at 400 degree Ferienheit for 7-8 minutes or until gold brown on the edges.

From my side of the family I whipped up some sugar Christmas cookies that my grandmother makes. Her cookies are always delicious and no matter the season a beautifully frosted cut out cookie reminds me of childhood. These cookies are easy to make and the dough refrigerates easily. I use the same recipe throughout the year so this is one of my essential cookie recipes.

Grandma Nancy's Sugar Cookies

Cookies: 1 cup butter, softened but not melted
1 1/2 powder sugar 
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking sode
1/4 teaspoon salt


Mix all ingredients together until soft dough forms. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours or until ready to make cookies. The dough should be a tough ball that is not sticky (I recommend letting the dough sit over night to ensure ease of cut outs!)
Roll out dough with floured rolling pin on a floured surface. 
Makes about 2 dozen cookies depending on cut out size.
This dough is great for cut outs!


Frosting: 1 stick margarine, softened
2 lbs. confectioners sugar (you can add as much or as little as you want. This is the base for the frosting so it really depends on how much frosting you need. I start with about 1/2 of the 2 lb. bag to start with.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
milk to texture & taste
food coloring if desired

Mix all ingredients except milk. Add milk to create texture of frosting you desire. Add food coloring if desired. This frosting makes enough for about 24 cookies. The frosting can be frozen for future baking as well!