My Favorite Christmas Cookies

Well my favorite Christmas cookies are probably not what you would call... a "classic" Christmas cookie.  You know- snickerdoodle, sugar, macaroons, etc. etc.

Those are all great (actually I don't recall ever trying a macaroon, so I wouldn't be a fair judge...), but nope.  My favorite cookie was first made last year on my Mom, sister and I's annual "Holiday Baking Day."  Basically we get together and make about a bajillion cookies all day long.  And then sit around and complain about how our stomachs and feet hurt and we don't want to see another cookie for the rest of the year (although that's a lie).  It is one of my favorite days of the year!

 

Yesterday was our baking day and I was most looking forward to these cookies: Ginger-Lemon cookies.  More specifically, they are a soft, ginger cookie that is amazing on its own, with a lemon glaze/frosting.  The two flavors are amazing together!  The first time we made them, I definitely was not expecting them to be THAT good.  They are one of my very favorite cookies, ever! They are so soft and moist and the lemon frosting is the secret weapon!

Ginger Cookies with a Lemon Glaze

Yields: 24 cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

Lemon Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

4 teaspoons lemon juice

Mix together and after cookies are cooled, frost cookies.  If using sprinkles or other topping, decorate right after you frost it (before it slightly hardens and the topping will not stick to the frosting).

Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

So guess what.  I love dessert.  A lot.
Sometimes that's a bad thing.
Most of the times it's good though.

 

Because sometimes I end up making things like this.

Probably one of the best desserts I've had.

 

Last night we had my family over for Sunday dinner in our small little house.  I made some bomb enchiladas (recipe to come soon!), a black bean side dish, and this fabulous CHEESECAKE!

 

I had ever made a cheesecake before, and even though it wasn't hard at all to mix the ingredients, it was VERY time consuming! It needed longer to bake than the recipe called for and since it was hard to tell when it was done (center is still supposed to be "slightly" jiggly- what defines "slightly?!"), I just kept it in the oven until I was confident that it was done.

THEN it was time for refrigeration... for at least 4 hours! 

Meanwhile I whipped up some raspberry sauce that I thought would go well with it...

 

And then it was time to serve- out of the fridge!

 

It was BEAUTIFUL and better yet, it tasted fabulous! My whole family loved it and Forrest and I ended up going back for seconds after everyone left... shhh :)

Lemon Cheesecake
from Betty Crocker

 

Crust

1	box yellow cake mix
1/3	cup vegetable oil
1	egg
1	teaspoon grated lemon peel

Filling

2

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

3/4

cup sugar

3

containers (3.5 oz each) lemon pudding (from 4-pack container)

1/2

cup sour cream

3

eggs

2

cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping

  

Heat oven to 300°F. Spray bottom and side of 10-inch springform pan with baking spray with flour. Wrap foil around outside of pan to catch drips. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cake mix; set aside. In large bowl, beat remaining cake mix, oil, 1 egg and lemon peel with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly. Press in bottom and 1 1/2 inches up side of pan.

In same large bowl, beat reserved cake mix, the cream cheese, sugar, pudding and sour cream on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixed. Pour over crust.
Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes or until edges are set but center of cheesecake jiggles slightly when moved. Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer.

Remove cheesecake from oven; place on cooling rack. Without releasing side of pan, run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Cover loosely; refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Remove side of pan before serving. Pipe or spoon whipped topping around outside edge of cheesecake. Store in refrigerator. 


Raspberry Sauce
1 10-oz bag frozen raspberries
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Then remove from heat, cool, cover, and refrigerate.  

Serve on ice cream, toast, yogurt, or lemon cheesecake!  

The BEST Lemon Bars

So here's the thing.  I have not always been a fan of citrus fruits.  Go figure, we had about 20 orange trees in our backyard during my entire childhood.

However.... in the past year or so I have grown a fond liking to this particular species of fruit; so much so that I have to devote this post to my love.

I don't know about you, but even if you have a teensy bit of favor towards citrus, you should really give these lemon bars a try.  They are a must.  I adapted the recipe from a  blog called "Let's Dish."  It's really amazing, check it out.  They were originally "key lime bars," but we ran out of lime juice, and so the recipe turned into lemon/lime bars.  Next time, I will just completely leave the limes out to mourn by themselves in their outcast state because I love lemons too much.

Okay, these were REALLY good.  It was Fast Sunday last week and I wanted to make a yummy treat for our delicious dinner we had planned..  Low and behold these bars were perfect...  seriously.  My family could not stop eating them!  The whole 9x13 pan was gone within hours.  Hence, the reason you should make these RIGHT NOW.

The BEST Lemon Bars

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package vanilla cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 egg yolk
4 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 c. or so of powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Reserve 1 tablespoon cake mix.  Pour remaining cake mix, melted butter and egg yolk into a large bowl.  Blend for 1-2 minutes with an electric mixer until well mixed and crumbly.  Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  While crust bakes, whisk together 4 eggs, condensed milk, lime juice and reserved tablespoon of cake mix until smooth.  Stir in lemon zest.  Spread the lemon mixture over the warm crust.  Return to oven and bake an additional 20 minutes or until topping is set.  Cool completely and refrigerate until cold before serving.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and devour.