Before giving you this delicious Christmas cookie recipe I thought I'd divulge my naughtiest Christmas memory ever. I've always been an impatient girl. I couldn't STAND waiting to find out what we were getting for Christmas. I often went on gift hunting expeditions in my parents room. I'd look under their bed (found some nail polish there once), and their closet. It's no wonder I don't remember when I stopped believing in Santa. I probably found my Santa gift before Christmas. Anyway, once when I was young (not super young, mind you. I think it was in Jr. High) I was extra naughty. When everyone was gone for an evening (Nathan may have been an accomplice, I'm not sure if we did this together or if I was alone), I very carefully unwrapped one of my presents. It was a Mickey Mouse watch! Something I really wanted. I carefully wrapped it up again so no one would know. I put it back under the tree and was very surprised and excited on Christmas morning when I opened it.
I've gotten much better since then. We have a Christmas box of presents from my in-laws sitting half opened in our house and I haven't so much as peeked at it. We began opening it when it arrived since it was from NY. When we got it partially opened, we realized it was their gifts and we stopped. It's too big to really take with us to Snowflake so we'll open it here on Thursday night since we're leaving Friday. Patience is a virtue I'm finally beginning to get.
Onto the recipe. I made these last night. Oh man are they good. Allrecipes.com is one of my favorite places to find good food.
Big Soft Ginger Cookies
Submitted by: Amy Sacha
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 640 members Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 50 Minutes
Yields: 24 cookies
"These are just what they say: big, soft, gingerbread cookies. They stay soft, too. My oldest son's favorite."
INGREDIENTS:
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 butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar
DIRECTIONS:
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. (this dough is not for rolling out or cutting into shapes. it is perfect if you follow the directions. )
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.
3 comments:
Oh common, you can't tell me I'm the only kid that searched out and/or opened Christmas presents before Christmas. I need to hear your stories so I feel a little better about my childhood naughtiness...
hum...I remember the nail polish...sorry mom! Was it your idea or mine? I don't remember doing it ever again though... Did you tell me about the watch? hum...j
All you ever found under our bed was nail polish?!! Wow, that was the main hiding place. By Christmas it was usually packed. I remember getting everything out about a week before Christmas every year and counting. It was imperitive that everyone have an equal amount of presents. Usually around 9 or 10 each. With 7 kids that's up to 70 things under the good old bed.
If you are not part of our family, you have to envision that the mattress and box springs set inside a wooden box so it was impossible to just look under the bed. These girls had to physically life a mattress and box springs. Then put it back and arrange the blankets so it didn't look suspicious.
Occasionally when we had something too big to hide in the house or the shed we took it over to Grandma and Grandpa Grider's and then made a trip over there at 9 or 10 PM on Christmas eve.
And so many toys required assembly that we would always check out our back window to see who made it to bed first, the Slade's or us. It was generally after 1 AM for both of us.
Great time of year for memories. Merry Christmas!
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