Is Your Mouth Watering Yet?

written by Tammy Walls

It’s Christmas (Cookie) Time!

^“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts…” Acts 2:46 (NIV)

There’s just something about holiday baking….whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter….that fills my heart with joy. Cooking is cathartic for me. Give me some bread dough to knead and I am in my element. Fill my house to overflowing with friends and loved ones, waiting for the dinner bell to sound, and my soul overflows, as well.

I don’t remember a time in my life that homemade Christmas cookies weren’t a staple throughout the month of December. And, don’t get me started on the healing properties of cookie dough…. Oh my goodness. When a recipe says “yields 24 cookies”, I can count on 20, tops. I like to go ahead and take care of my portion before baking them. After they come out of the oven, everyone else can have theirs.

When our youngest daughter was in 1^st or 2^nd grade, another classroom mom invited me to a cookie exchange. This would have been around 1995 and I’d never heard of the concept. What a glorious sight…. A dozen different types of cookies, not only to sample, but also to take home with me! One of those lovely creations was from the 1994 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest and it became an instant favorite for my family. They’re crazy delicious and remarkably easy to make. Sooo…. if the Christmas cookie bug has bitten you, here’s the recipe:

 

Fudgy Bonbons

1 (12-oz.) pkg. semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

1 (14-oz.) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

60 Hershey Kisses

2 oz. white chocolate baking bar or vanilla almond bark

1 teaspoon shortening or oil

Heat oven to 350°. In medium saucepan, combine chocolate chips and butter; cook and stir over very low heat until chips are melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add condensed milk; mix well.

In large bowl, combine flour, chocolate mixture and vanilla; stir until well blended. (It’s okay to use a mixer, if you’d like) Shape 1 tablespoon dough (use measuring spoon) around each chocolate Kiss, covering completely, to form a ball. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cookies will be soft and appear shiny, but will become firm as they cool. Remove from baking pans and place on wire rack.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine white chocolate and shortening; cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

 

These pack very nicely in festive, air-tight containers and will bring lots of happiness to teachers, neighbors, mail carriers, etc. Oh, and spouses. They make spouses very happy, too….

If you’d like more cookie recipes, just let me know! My email address is twalls@brb.org. I’ll gladly share the results from my “test kitchen”.

Have a very wondrous, very Merry Christmas!