Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Contributed by Office Assistant Melissa True

1½ cup pumpkin ½ cup butter 1 cup sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla 1 egg

2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. baking powder 1 pkg. chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients. Drop by spoonful on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min.

Sugar and Spice Cookies

From Dallas Morning News Holiday cookie contest, 2010

Contributed by Newsletter Editor Susan Cluiss 1¼ cups all-purpose baking mix (i.e.

Bisquick) ½ cup masa harina (see note) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ cup butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 1 egg

Combine baking mix, masa harina, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in egg. Add combined dry ingredients and mix well. Chill dough for 1 hour or until dough is firm. Preheat oven to 375o F. Shape dough to form 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes and remove from rack. Makes 3 dozen cookies. Note: Masa harina is in supermarkets in the baking aisle near flour, or in the Mexican-food aisle. Tom Thumb and many Fiesta markets carry it.

Gingersnaps Contributed by Client Manager Cathy Page

1½ cups shortening 2 cups sugar 2 eggs ½ cup molasses ¼ tsp soda

4 cups flour 1 tsp salt 2 tsp ginger 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cloves

Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs and molasses, beat well. Mix soda, flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon & cloves and add. Roll in sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Tea Cakes Contributed by Organizer Rebecca Page

3 eggs 3 cups sugar 2 cups Crisco 1 tsp salt ½ cup buttermilk

2 tsp baking power ¼ tsp soda 5 cups flour 2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Mix Crisco and sugar, add salt, baking powder, and soda. Add buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs. Then add flour. Bake approx. 9 minutes.

Peppermint Cookies Contributed by Organizer Kym Calloway

1½ cups powdered sugar 1¼ cups butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup finely chopped candy cane flavored

Hershey’s kisses

Granulated sugar (For rolling cookie balls in)

About 30 unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 2. In mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 3. In large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, extract, and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping sides of bowl until creamy. Add the flour mixture mixing until blended. The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped kisses. 3. Shape the dough into ¾ inch balls and roll them in the sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 4. As soon as out of the oven, press a candy cane kiss in the center. Put immediately in the fridge or freezer so that they keep their kiss shape. I found that you can do this two ways. 1- You can just press the kiss into the cookie and it will melt in the center. It will still look really cute with the stripes but lose the kiss shape. I LOVED the way they tasted when I bit into the soft cookie with melted chocolate. 2- You can either put them in the fridge or freezer to keep the kiss shape, or I let my cookies cool for about 5 minutes and pressed the kiss down into it and put it in the fridge. It hardly melted at all. Both ways are awesome. I always warmed mine up anyway before eating so the chocolate was soft and gooey…. YUM these are so good! 5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to a week, if they last that long!

Snowball Cookies (from my mom)

Contributed by Organizer Karla Koehler 1 cup butter 1/3 cup sugar 2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour 1 cup chopped pecans ¼ cup powdered sugar

Beat butter for 30 seconds, add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add vanilla and 2 tsp water, beat well. Stir in flour and pecans. Shape into 1” balls. Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 min. COOL COMPLETELY. Shake a few cookies at a time in a Ziploc bag with powdered sugar till coated. Should look like a snowball. Store in a sealed covered container. Double batch makes 4 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Truffles Contributed by Organizer Dorrie Rayburn

1 pkg of Oreos 8 oz cream cheese Melting chocolate—either white or dark 1. Put package of Oreos in food processor and break up. 2. Add cream cheese a little at a time. 3. Refrigerate mixture for 1 hour. 4. Roll into 1 inch balls and dip into melted chocolate. 5. Freeze on a plate until set.

Nutty Graham Cookies Contributed by Organizer Susan Davis

Graham crackers 2 sticks butter (do not use margarine) 1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup slivered almonds 1 cup chopped pecans

Line your large rimmed cookie sheet with foil, lay out crackers side by side to fill pan. Use enough to make one full layer. If full-sized crackers leave a little space, fill it with crackers broken in half as the sheet needs to be fully covered. Melt butter; stir in sugar and add nuts. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring. Spread mixture evenly as possible on graham crackers. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut while warm. If they begin to cool before you have cut them, you can let them cool completely and break into irregular pieces. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing.

Anise Snaps (From my Italian grandmother Nicole Rezza)

Contributed by Executive Assistant Dana Bilbray

3 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cream of tartar ½ tsp salt (optional)

½ cup butter (left out to soften) 1¼ cup sugar 2 tsp Anise extract 2 eggs or egg substitute

Combine flour, soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl. Cream butter in another bowl, then add sugar and cream until fluffy. Add eggs to butter mixture, then add flour mixture, then Anise. Mix with spoon or by hand until well combined. Chill until firm. Shape into 1” balls and place onto ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies will only be about 1” wide when baked. Bake in 400 degree oven for 9 minutes or until light brown. Cookies will harden when cooled, so do not overbake. Cool and store in airtight container.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies Contributed by Founder, Owner, and President of Get Organized! Lorraine Brock

2¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ salt 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed ½ cup white sugar

1 cup salted butter, softened 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts 1½ cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In medium bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well, set aside.

In a large bowl blend sugars at medium speed with a mixer.

Add butter and mix until it forms a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until fully combined.

Add the flour mixture, macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips, and blend on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges

begin to brown. Move immediately to cooling rack.

Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies Contributed by Organizer Sarah Jacobson

1 cup butter, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 1½ teaspoons peppermint extract 2 egg yolks 16 drops green food color 2¼ cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt ¾ cup dark chocolate chips 3 tablespoons whipping cream 3 tablespoons butter 18 thin rectangular crème de menthe

chocolate candies, unwrapped, cut in half diagonally

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. 2. In large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and the powdered sugar with electric mixer on

medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract, egg yolks, and food color until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using end of handle of wooden spoon, press a deep well into center of each cookie.

4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Reshape wells with end of handle of wooden spoon. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

5. In medium microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, cream, and 3 tablespoons butter on high 1 minute, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

6. Fill each well with about 1 teaspoon chocolate mixture; garnish with candy piece. Let stand about 1 hour until chocolate is set.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Bites Contributed by Organizer Theresa Byrd

1½ cup flour ¾ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ½ cup butter, soft 1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla 24-36 peanut butter cups, minis

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. 3. Cream together butter and peanut butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and

vanilla. Gradually add in flour mixture. 4. Roll dough into one inch balls and roll in sugar. Press one mini peanut butter cup in center

and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Oatmeal Scotchies Contributed by Organizer Paula Johnston

1¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine ¾ cup granulated sugar ¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel

of 1 orange 3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL

HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. COMBINE flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars. You can also add walnuts, which is how I like them!

Peppermint Meltaways (a Land O Lakes butter recipe)

Contributed by Organizer Stacy Lincecum

Cookie: ½ cup powdered sugar 1 cup Land O Lakes butter, softened ½ tsp peppermint extract

1¼ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup cornstarch

Glaze: 1½ cups powdered sugar 2 tbsp Land O Lakes butter, softened ¼ tsp peppermint extract

1-2 tbsp milk 2-3 drops red food color Peppermints or candy canes, crushed

Combine sugar, butter, and extract in large mixer bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add flour and cornstarch; beat 1-2 minutes, cover, and refrigerate until firm (30-60 minutes). Heat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1” balls and place 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, remove and let stand for 1 min., then remove to cooling rack. Combine sugar, butter, extract & milk to make glaze of desired consistency; add food coloring, drizzle over cookies, and sprinkle with hard candy.