Chocolate Sugar Cookies

One of the reason I love the holidays is because it gives me an excuse to bake lots and lots of cookies (not that I really need a reason).

Ingredients:

2 c. melted butter (4 sticks)

4 one-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate

2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 t. orange zest (I left this out)

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cream of tartar (critical)

1 t. salt

4 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. white sugar in small bowl (set aside)

Melt the butter and chocolate squares (3 min in microwave).  Once melted, stir them smooth, transfer to a large mixing bowl, and add the powdered and white sugars.  Stir thoroughly and set the mixture aside to cool.

When mixture is cool enough so it won't cook the eggs, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition.  Mix in vanilla, orange zest, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Mix.

Add flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.  Once flour has been thoroughly mixed, roll into one-inch balls.  Dip balls into bowl of white sugar to coat.

Place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet and flatten with the palm of your hand.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes. 

Makes approx. 7-8 dozen

*This recipe is out of Joanne Flukes Apple Turnover Murder.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's one I got from my MIL shortly after I married and probably the only one I use for chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes four dozen cookies. You can either half it if you want less, or freeze the leftover dough or cookies.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups flour

1 t. baking powder

1t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 c. unsalted butter

1 c. granulated sugar

1 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

12 oz. chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

2. Add dry ingredients--begin with 3 cups flour and add in more flour until doughy.

3. Mix in chocolate chips and walnuts.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool.

Snowball Cookies

Snowballs are one of my favorite holiday cookies, unfortunately, I lost my recipe, so I've been looking at other recipes to try and recreate it. This is one I found off of Cooks.com. The only difference is I substituted chocolate chips for nuts. The cookies were good, but they didn't quite have that melt-in-your-mouth quality, that I was hoping for, so I think I'll keep looking and tweaking.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients: 1 c. butter, 1/2 c. confectioners sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 2 c. sifted flour, 1c. chocolate chips. Additional confectioners sugar to sprinkle on top or roll cookies in.

Directions: Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Roll dough into golf ball sized balls. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Cool slightly and then sprinkle or roll in confectioners sugar.