Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

One last Christmas post before the big day! These cookies are a favourite of mine around this time of year. My mom always made some and we would spend an afternoon decorating them together. Although, I’m sure I complained quite a bit. These cookies are quite time consuming because of the decorating, but they are totally worth it in the end. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cookies
200 g cream cheese softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter softened
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg yolk (you can save the white and make a DIY face mask)

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, butter, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and salt with an electric mixer.  Stir in flour with a wooden spoon, until well blended. Refrigerate dough for two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 ̊F or 190 ̊C. Working with about a third of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 3-5 mm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place your cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place in the oven for about 6-7 minutes. Make sure to keep a close eye. These cookies should be taken out as soon as any browning begins to happen. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack. Make sure that they are cooled completely before icing them. I waited until the next day. These cookies can also be kept in the freezer and take out about 30 minutes before eating.

Glaze
powdered sugar
food colouring
water or milk

For every one cup of powdered sugar you use add about a tablespoon of milk or water. You want the glaze to be thick enough that it won’t drip off the cookies, but thin enough to squeeze out of a bag. Add the liquid to the powdered sugar and stir until combined with a rubber spatula. Add in your desired amount of food coloring last and mix again. Spoon the icing into a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in tip. Instant piping bag!

Makes a ton of cookies!

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

It’s Christmas baking season! With only a few weekends left before Christmas, there isn’t much time for baking. Today, I dedicated the afternoon to baking these yummy treats. Hopefully, I will have time to bake more cookies in the coming week. I originally wanted to make reverse chocolate chip cookies, but I only had about a half cup of white chocolate chips left. Oh no! Time to get creative! I decided to add some chopped up Hershey’s Cookies and Cream bar, some smashed up peppermint candies, and finally I topped the cookies with candy cane bits before placing them in the oven for a festive touch.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Hershey’s cookies and cream bar, chopped
4 mini candy canes, smashed
15 peppermint candies, smashed (If I had more candy canes, I would have used those)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ̊F or 177 ̊C. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing completely. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Fold in chocolate chips, Hershey’s chocolate pieces, and peppermint bits. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Push the balls down slightly and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups

Here is another delicious apple recipe. This time it’s a sweet and savory treat for those colder afternoons. I have been looking for excuses to use my favorite treat from HomePlus, salted caramel sauce, so I combined them with my other favorite thing, homemade cookies. Check out the recipe below!

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups (Adapted from Life, Love& Sugar)

Cookie Cups
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 jar of salted caramel sauce
2 large apples
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
pinch of nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush some canola oil over the muffin tin to grease the pan or spray with cooking spray if you have it. Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Make balls out of about 2 tbsp of dough and press into the bottom and up the sides of each muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes. After you remove them from the oven, use a spoon to push down the middles of the cookies reforming the cup shape. Place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Once the cookie cups have cooled spread about a tbsp of salted caramel sauce into each cookie cup. Set aside. Cut apples into small chunks leaving skin on. Place in a pan with sugar and nutmeg and toss to coat. Add butter and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Top cookies cups with apple and drizzle with more of the salted caramel sauce.

Makes 15 cookies cups.