Cookies for Santa! The perfect Cut-Out Christmas Cookie

WHO else has tried forever and ever to find the perfect cut-out Christmas cookie?? I have tried so many recipes. You know, the cookie that holds its shape perfectly.. that you can cut into shapes and that is perfect for decorating. The cookie that stays soft in the middle, but firm and crunchy enough to be durable for icing and transportation and gift giving?!

LET me tell you... I have found it! When I finally perfected this recipe, the cookie angels sang and the cookie Gods shined their precious lights down upon me.

Santa would love these. I have been dying to share.

These are not just any cookie..

The BEST part? (other than the lengthy rambling I did above...) they are CHOCOLATE! Yes that is right, Chocolate sugar cookies. See? Cookie Gods. and Angels. Heavenly. I mean it.

These will be the perfect cookies for santa! With or without icing.

I used my KitchenAid, lots of flour, and my favorite cookie cutters! Read more of the details and the recipe below.

I hope you are all having a fabulous week of Christmas festivities! Let me know how these turn out!

XO

Full Recipe

2 cups butter

2cups sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

1 1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1. Cream together butter and sugar using stand mixer with attachment. If you really want your cookies to hold their shape, do not over mix the butter and sugar. Just cream together until combined.

2. Add your eggs one at a time, still only mixing until combined. Add your vanilla and mix until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

4. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients (in mixer) one cup at a time. Beware- this can get messy :) It seems like a LOT of dry ingredients, but it ends up being just right! You will know when your dough is right, it is a thick consistency, all is combined, and it sticks to your mixer. Be SURE to scrape the edges of the bowl between each step to ensure everything is incorporated evenly.

5. Place dough in plastic wrap and set in the fridge for one hour.

6. Roll dough out on heavily floured surface. Flour is going to be your BEST friend when rolling out and cutting this dough. Roll it out until it is about a half an inch thick. Each time you go to use a cookie cutter on the dough- rub the cookie cutter in a little flour to keep from sticking.

7. Once you have all the shapes you want, place them on a cookie sheet and BACK into the fridge for 10 more minutes. I am telling you- best tip ever! It helps the dough keep its shape.

8. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes!

9. Don't forget to save some for Santa, with a glass of milk, too!

Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

Two words: three. cheese.

THREE CHEESE. doesn't that sound like a dream?

This recipe has become one of my favorites! This time of year I really look for hearty warm, stick-to your-ribs kinda dishes. This is definitely one of them. The recipe makes a large batch and it heats up really well the next day.

Two for one, yes!

There are three steps in the cheese-shell process.

1. Make your filling.

See why they are called three cheese stuffed shells? Ricotta, Mozzarella, & Parmesan.

Mix those together with an egg and some fresh herbs (key word fresh.)

2. Stuff your (cooked) pasta!

Lay the shells in marinara sauce.

3. Top with more marinara and lots more cheese, and bake!

Pull them out when they are bubbly. Serve with a salad and garlic bread! I promise, everyone in your family will love these. 

Hope you are all having a great week!

XO

Full Recipe

3/4 box jumbo shell pasta

Your choice marinara (I made from scratch)

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1 1/4 cup Mozzarella (and additional for topping)

1/4 cup Parmesan

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbls fresh parsley

1 egg.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook shell pasta according to box directions until al dente.

2. Pour 1/2 marinara in bottom of baking dish.

3. Mix cheese, egg, and herbs together. Spoon cheese mixture into cooked shells (around a heaping tablespoon in each shell.)

4. Lay stuffed shells in the marinara sauce in baking dish. Top with rest of marinara sauce and Mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake covered for 30 minutes until bubbly.

Cake Batter Christmas Cookies / Saving your Christmas cookie dough

I am a Christmas obsessor. I wait all year to pull out the Christmas decorations, the lights, pick out a tree, and watch Christmas movies. My tree is (finally) up and decorated, the stockings are hung... more details on this later.

Nothing, I mean nothing, gets me more in the Christmas spirit, than Christmas cookies! Of course I have my go-to favorites that I make all year, but I love that this time of year gives me the excuse to try new ones, (and eat them too.)

These were pretty low on the difficulty scale.. Just throw in your ingredients and mix em' up! Sorta.

Cream your butter and sugars, add your dry ingredients... and your favorite additions.

Be better than me and sift your dry ingredients to avoid lumps... :)

These technically don't fall in the "Christmas" cookie category (like gingerbread or molasses)... but with red and green M&M's? Pretty damn festive if you ask me ;)

I had a bag of M&M's... and picked out all the red and green ones.....

Not a red or green in sight.

.......... Desperate times call for desperate measures :).

These turned out so rich and buttery. The cake mix really gives them an extra kick.. these will be pretty hard to beat!

My best Christmas cookie tip: what to do with all of that extra dough? I never end up using it all, most recipes yield around 60 cookies, too many in my house.

Lump your extra dough on a piece of cling-wrap. Use the cling wrap to push the dough and begin to roll into a log.

Lay the cling wrap rolled log onto a sheet of foil and roll again. Twist the ends, and voila!

Throw in the freezer and it's ready to slice and use, all year long ;) 

Great for gifts too!

I think these will make Santa very happy.

So much more holiday fun coming soon! Hope you wall had a fantastic weekend.

XO

Full Recipe

1/14 cup flour

1 1/4 cup yellow cake mix

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup of butter (1.5 stick), softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/12 tsp vanilla extract

Semi-sweet choc chips/M&Ms

1. Sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda.

2. In a kitchen mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract.

3. Slowly add your dry ingredients one cup at a time, on low, until a smooth dough forms. Add chocolate chips and M&M's.. as much or as little as you'd like!

4. Place dough in the fridge for half an hour to chill.

5. Roll dough into 2-inch balls, bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

6. Don't forget to save some for Santa!