Christmas in July at Cook n Craft Academy!

So we started this day camp by asking our students...how many days until Christmas?  Do you know?  Some of them were actually really close and some were just adorable with their guesses!  The correct answer (as of yesterday) was 167 days (let's start shopping now and forget the rush in December!)  However if you were at Cook n Craft Academy yesterday---Christmas was then!  We baked 3 different kinds of Christmas Cookies, and made Frozen Hot Chocolate.  It was so much fun to see the kids create and decorate their favorite sugar cookies.  Here's some fun pictures, and the recipes for our delicious cookies.  And here's to Christmas....around the corner!


SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE:

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions

WATCH

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges.  Let cool....ice as desired. 

SNOW BALL COOKIES

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons water

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped PECANS
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and water. Add the flour and pecans , mix until blended. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Shape dough into balls . Place on an unprepared cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from pan to cool on wire racks. When cookies are cool, roll in confectioners' sugar. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

HOLLY COOKIES

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½ cup	butter
3 cups	miniature marshmallows
½ teaspoon	almond extract
½ teaspoon	vanilla extract
1 teaspoon	green food color
4 cups	cereal (2 cups cornflakes and 2 cups cinnamon toast crunch.)
add	red hot candies Melt butter, add marshmallows, stirring until all marshmallows are melted. Add extracts and food coloring; stir until it is a uniform green color. When mixture is smooth, add corn flakes; mix well but gently so as not to crush the cornflakes. Form into 3" mounds on sheets of waxed paper, decorate with red cinnamon candies . Let cool.