Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

There are so many Christmas cookie recipes colse to but often so petite time to bake during the busy holiday season.

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

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Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

The solution? A great tasting basic cookie recipe that Fast and in effect turns into such a collection of easy to make Christmas treats, friends and family will think you poured over all your popular Christmas cookie recipes.

Let's start with the basics.

Basic Cookie Dough Recipe

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter (or margarine) at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, join all the ingredients except the flour. Beat with an galvanic mixer, scraping the sides of the bowl any times, until the composition is light and fluffy. With mixer at a low speed, add the flour gradually, beating just until everything is well blended.

Place the composition on a baking sheet using a tablespoon portion and press down with a spoon to flatten a bit. Or roll our and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake at 350ºF for about 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.

This basic cookie composition is also the base for the following cookie recipes (all baked in a preheated oven at 350ºF).

Orange Cookies

(Makes about 32)

Add 1 tablespoon of grated orange zest to the recipe. Shape into a log that is about 1 1/2" in diaMeter and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Slice dough into 1/4" thick slices. Place on cookie sheet. Cookies can be decorated with candies, rolled in colored sugar, or cut into pretty holiday shapes before baking. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cherry Coconut Chocolate Squares

(Makes about 54 squares)

In addition to the basic dough you will need:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups flaked coconut

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, well drained and coarsely chopped

Line a 13"x9" baking pan with foil.

Stir cocoa powder into basic dough mixture. Press evenly into the ready pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the crust looks dry.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, almond excerpt and baking powder until well blended. Stir in coconut and cherries. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top just begins to brown and a toothpick inserted near the town comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Lift it out on to a cutting board using the foil ends and cut into 1 1/2" squares. Squares can be stored in an Airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Coconut Pineapple Cookies

(Makes about 36)

In addition to the basic dough you will need:

1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1/3 cup pineapple preserves (use raspberry or apricot if you prefer)

Add 1 cup of the flaked coconut to the basic dough composition and mix well. Shape the dough into 1 1/2" balls and roll in the remaining coconut to coat them. Place the balls 1" apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make a deep indentation in the town of each cookie with your fingertip.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookie is firm and the coconut is lightly toasted. When cooled, fill each hole in the town of the cookies with the preserves.

You can vary this basic dough to make a wide collection of Christmas cookie recipes. Add other flavorings like maple, ginger or cinnamon. Add chopped dried fruits like apricots or dates. Or bake them plain in holiday shapes and decorate with colored icing.

Christmas is such a fantastic time of year. Here's hoping these quick and easy Christmas cookie recipes help keep the pressure off the cook.

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes - One recipe with Many Variations

Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

Here are some great juicer recipes that you can make with a Jack Lalanne power juicer machine. Included are the phenoMenal condition benefits these juicer recipes can Supply.

Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

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Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

Power Juicer method #1 - Bountiful Berries

- 2 cups of blackberries
- 1 cup of blueberries
- 1 cup of raspberries

Wash berries, juice, enjoy! Berries are very easy to juice. They require very diminutive prep time because they need no chopping or topping, just wash and juice.

Berries are a great source of an antioxidant called anthocyanins that are great for heart health. These anthocyanins are also found in the skins of red grapes and are a key ingredient in the supreme heart salutary properties of red wine. Anthocyanins help our hearts by their follow upon our major arteries. Anthocyanins, along with vitamin C, help to build strong and flexible artery walls. This helps to safe us from developing arteriosclerosis, a condition that is the amount one cause of heart disease.

Berries, especially raspberries and strawberries, are a great source of an antioxidant called ellagic acid. This antioxidant is one of the most potent of anti-cancer substances. A study that analysed the diets of 1300 elderly population in Massachusetts found that strawberries offered distinguished security against cancer developMent. Researchers found that those elderly population who ate the most strawberries were 2/3 less likely to die of cancer than those who eat the least!

Power Juicer method #2 - Lean Greens

- 4 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- handful of spinach
- handful of kale

Wash vegetables through and top the carrots before juicing. Try to use organic if you can this will eliminate pesticides from the juice. Pesticides consist of toxic heavy metals like lead and arsenic and other chemicals that can be carcinogenic. If you use non-organic carrots then it is great to peel them because most of the pesticides keep in the skin.

Spinach and kale are great for eye health. These two leafy green vegetables are a great source of two antioxidants called lutein and zeaxanthin that join in the lens of our eyes. They safe the eyes from harmful oxygen molecules (free radicals) that are delivered via Uv light. This helps to safe the eyes from premature aging and diseases like cataracts, glaucoma and age linked macular degeneration.

Spinach and kale are also a great source of vitamin C, great than oranges even. Vitamin C is a key nutrient for the permissible functioning of the immune system, creates collagen to keep our skin salutary and reduces inflammation and pain in arthritis sufferers.

Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Recipes

Raspberry Cookie Recipes - Get Ready For a Flavor Explosion!

Raspberry Cookie Recipes - Get Ready For a Flavor Explosion!

Sometimes you have to be inventive to get your children to eat fruit. You seldom have to persuade them to eat cookies. So why not bake up something extra that is wholesome for them and easy for you? Get them complex in baking. If they prefer, use other berries or fruits. Or add more nutrients and vitamins by adding a spice. Try 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon or 1/4 teaspoon cardamom. ExperiMent with extracts. Use vanilla, coconut or a little peppermint, if you can't find a raspberry passage or don't want to run to the store.

Raspberry Drop Cookies

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease (or cover with parchMent paper) a flat cookie sheet. Baking time will be 12 to 14 minutes, depending upon whether you use fresh or frozen raspberries. The frozen ones have more moisture (try draining them first) and may take a little longer to bake. Only one bowl is necessary.

Cream: 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
with 1/2 cup powdered sugar
and 1/2 teaspoon raspberry extract

Add: 1 cup flour
Stir in: 1/2 cup chopped raspberries

Cream the first three ingredients for 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour and stir in the raspberries. Drop with a cookie scoop and bake 12 to 14 minutes. Cookies should have golden edges.

This batch will make just 16-18 cookies when using a tablespoon scoop, so you may want to double the method or make two batches using a dissimilar fruit in each. Your child can mirror what you do. Excellent for those independent kids, who want to do it themselves. Since there are no eggs, it is all right if you or your children want to flavor test the raw dough. I often use a non-hydrogenated vegetable oil/butter blend with about a third less fat. It works great. You can use bleached or unbleached flour, but the unbleached is less sticky and thus pops out of your cookie scoop easier.

This is a great way to use up those leftover raspberries, blueberries or even strawberries. I recently wowed a friend with my blueberry version using a coconut extract. Cut the blueberries in half and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Form about 80-89 fat for each raspberry cookie, depending on the type of butter you use.