For me, it just isn’t Christmas unless there are numerous types of cookies littering my countertop. I love to bake and Christmas cookies help to give me the spirit of the season. I just wish I could hand it out on the street so I wouldn’t end up eating so much of it. Oh well, after Christmas I’m going “sugar-free” for a month – that is bound to be entertaining. Expect some pretty grumpy posts as I work through my sugar withdrawals.
On Sunday morning, the trio and I made numerous cookies to add to our sugar cookie adventure from last week. We made buttons (these have become traditional – and look how much Bo has grown! The girls are older than he was in that first post. Wow…), lemon cake cookies, M & M cookies, butterscotch haystacks, and peanut butter blossoms. We will be taking a tray of cookies to Bo’s preschool program tonight. Today, I’m sharing the two easiest recipes that originally came from my mom. These are fast to throw together and perfect for last minute holiday baking.
Lemon Cake Cookies
- 1/2 tub Cool Whip
- 1 egg
- 1 box lemon cake
- powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 and line 3 cookie sheets with parchment. In a mixing bowl, combine Cool Whip, egg, and cake mix. Stir well. Roll into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 8-11 minutes. Cool. Super easy and can be made with any flavor of cake mix. Mike prefers lemon. I prefer chocolate.
Haystacks
- 1 package butterscotch chips
- 1 cup peanuts
- 1 large bag chow mien noodles
In a large bowl, microwave the butterscotch chips until melted, stirring every 20 to 25 seconds to prevent burning. Immediately stir in the chow mien noodles and peanuts and stir until well combined. Drop on waxed paper and allow to cool. These are also delicious with regular chocolate chips.
Seriously, it doesn’t get much easier!
Here are few photos of the kiddos making buttons. They all really seemed to enjoy it and were very good about not eating the candy.
We also plan to make gingerbread cookies, a gingerbread house (prepackaged – I’m not that crazy, yet), and candy cane cookies before Christmas.
What are you baking this year?
Each Monday, I’ll showcase a family and kid-friendly recipe to share with your family. Please let me know if you try one of my recipes! Enjoy!
Sounds delicious, but I don’t envy the cleanup! : ) I’m not much for baking, but I’ve made about 4 batches of the pretzel buttons from the recipe you posted a few years ago — I think the square pretzel snaps are a little easier to work with, though possibly not as cute. Everyone loves them, and now I make them for other holidays using the other seasonal M&Ms. I also like to make my mom’s poppyseed bread, which is really more like a cake, flavored with almond instead of the usual lemon.
The girls and I worked on another batch of pretzel buttons yesterday and had fun sorting the Hershey’s wrappers into different colors and making the least efficient assembly line ever. : ) Unfortunately N. ate way too many candies — she has a sneaky sweet tooth — and was sick at both ends last night. Both girls have had GI problems from eating gumdrops lately. Adding the cost of another set of sheets to the Christmas expenses…
I made 6 different types of cookies this year plus the buttons with Lizzie. Craziness! I think I found the baking therapeutic this year.
We made three kinds of cookies that the kiddos should typically eat, but they have not. I’m taking some to A’s teachers and bringing the rest to IL.