Let's face it, most of us are burning the candle at both ends around the Holidays. There is so much pressure to find the perfect gifts for everyone, the biggest, brightest shiniest decorations, and the absolute perfect foods to bring to dinner parties and serve on your table.
I'd like to introduce Carolyn K, a food writer for the Blog Content Guild in her first guest column for Third Story Bake Shop. She's got a plethora of really easy tips to incorporate into your busy Holiday season to make your cookie platter beckon to your guests, and give them something to make a New Year's resolution about.
Free Meal Planner: Planning For Holiday Cookies
With the holidays right around the corner, you may be using a free meal planner to help you keep all the recipes straight that you will be juggling this season. If you want to make some seasonal cookies, you may be surprised at your lack of options. Well, there’s gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and, err, that’s about it. Instead of boring yourself to death with the same old cookie, why not jazz up a holiday classic? Here are a couple of ways to make sugar cookies fun again.
- Use Some Color
Tint your cookie dough using gel paste food coloring once the flour is incorporated into the mixture. Split your mixture up into several parts before adding the flour. Then, sift flour into mixture. Before mixing, use a toothpick to put in some gel. The amount of gel needed will depend on the amount in the mixture. Try to spread gel out in multiple places in mixture. That way you don’t have to over-beat the dough to completely mix in color. Green coloring is great for Christmas tree, holly, or wreath cutouts, while red can add a punch of color to star or Christmas present cutouts.
- Chocolatize Your Recipe
This year, make a batch of chocolate sugar cookies. Just add about 1/2 cup of good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder to egg mixture before adding flour. Then, when you’re rolling out your chocolate cookie dough, use the cocoa powder and flour to make sure dough doesn’t stick to rolling pin. This will add some cocoa dust o the already chocolatey mixture. Decorate with chocolate ornaments or peppermint sticks.
- Shape Your Dough
Maybe instead of using cutouts this year, you can shape your dough differently. Try braiding your dough, then sprinkling with sparkling green and red shimmer. You could also roll your dough into logs, then garnish with sliced pecans and walnuts. Put a pinwheel effect on your dough by rolling dough into a rectangle, dusting with sugar, cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg, then rolling it up into a log. Cut slices and bake!
Thanks Carolyn!
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