Parent Volunteer Gifts - Mini Cookie Jars

Every year I make something at the holidays to thank all of the parent volunteers that help in my classroom.  I've made fudge, banana bread and caramels over the last few years.  This year I decided to do something new.  I made mini sugar cookies and put them in canning jars.

I have a sugar cookie recipe that I found a few years when I was having my niece over for our first Auntie and Ruby cookie decorating day.  It is from Food Network. It uses granulated and powdered sugar, which I think makes them a little fluffier.  It also calls for orange zest, which adds a nice flavor to the cookie.

Sugar Cookies
From: Food Network 
 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Directions:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and orange zest mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.  
Roll dough between lightly floured parchment, or waxed paper, until about 1/3-inch thick. Transfer sheets to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, place them on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. (Gather the dough scraps together, pat into a disk, chill and reroll.)
Refrigerate cookies while preheating the oven to 375 degrees F, for at least 30 minutes.
Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

 

I've tried a few different royal icing recipes, but I came across this one recently from  Sweet Sugarbelle and will probably stick with it.  

Royal Icing

From: Sweet Sugarbelle

  

Ingredients

• 4lbs {two bags} confectioner’s sugar
• 3/4 c. meringue powder
• 1 1/3-1 1/2 c. warm water
• 2-4 tbsp. oil-free extract or flavoring

Instructions

1. Add the dry ingredients first. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like.
3. Continue to mix it at medium-high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes. Mixing times are approximate, keep your eye it icing and stop mixing as soon as it becomes stiff.

 

I spent a Saturday night working on them, but I'm really happy with they way they turned out.  My husband thinks I'm crazy because I enjoy doing this, but now I'm looking for more excuses to make decorated cookies.   

Cookie Exchange

I've heard about cookie exchanges for years and have seen a lot about them on Pinterest lately.  I decided to host one this year.  I thought it would be a good excuse to get some friends together around the holidays and we all would end up with some great cookies.

Along with the cookies, I made some appetizers and holiday drinks.  Although its not that cold in California in December, I thought hot chocolate would be a yummy drink.  It also gave me an excuse to make some cute marshmallow stir sticks.  I put out some Kahlua if people wanted to add it to their drink.  It's my favorite!

I also made a Candy Cane Cocktail.  This was delicious.  It was a mixture of strawberry vodka, cranberry juice, and creme de menthe.

I had some appetizers for people to snack on and I made a dessert for everyone to eat while at my house. 

These Peppermint Oreo Rice Krispie Treats were amazing.  They had Trader Joe's Peppermint Jo Jo's in them. On top they had crushed candy canes and were drizzled with white and semi-sweet chocolate. 

All the cookies that my friends brought were delicious also.  I put out all of my white platters for them to put the cookies on before we did the exchange.
 

I found some super cute mini spatulas at Target that I got for a party favor.  I tied a mini cookie cutter to each one also. 

For the exchange, I made Peppermint Meringue Drops.  I found the recipe last year in Sunset Magazine.  I made them twice and everyone loved them, so I thought I'd make them again.  I always thought that meringue cookies would be difficult, but they were pretty simple to make. 

Peppermint Meringue Drops
From: Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp. coarsely crushed peppermint candies

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 250°. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a deep bowl with a mixer, using whisk attachment if you have one, just until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and salt. With motor running and mixer on high speed, pour in 1 tbsp. sugar and beat 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat until all sugar has been added. Scrape inside of bowl and beat another 15 seconds. At this point, meringue should form straight peaks when beaters are lifted. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/3 cup candies with a flexible spatula.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, using a bit of meringue at corners as glue. Using a soup spoon, drop meringue in rounded 1-tbsp. portions slightly apart onto sheets, scraping off with another spoon. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. candies.
3. Bake until meringues feel dry and set when touched but are still pale, 30 to 35 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Turn off oven, open door, and let cookies stand about 10 minutes. Let cool on pans.
4. Make ahead: Up to 2 days, stored airtight.

I realized after I made these that they might not last very long, so I started searching for another recipe that I could also make.  I found a recipe for a soft gingerbread cookie.  Luckily I had all of the ingredients.  They were good and I'll definitely make them again next year.

White Chocolate topped Ginger Cookies
From: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 tsp. Ginger, Ground
1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground (I used fresh)
1/4 tap salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation:

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my cookies up close:( 

The exchange was fun.  Hopefully everyone will want to do it again next year.  It was a nice way to start the holiday season.