Magic Christmas Cookie Mix

 This is a recipe that came on a bag of Pilsbury flour in the 80's. My mother cut it out, tried it and it became a Christmas staple for our family. It starts with a basic cookie mix of flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and salt, then has a bunch of variations: sugar cookies, gingerbreads, peanutbutter kisses, candied fruit squares, snickerdoodles and press cookies. The original recipe makes a HUGE basic mix that will allow you to make six of the following variations. My mom did the math and divided the recipe into 1/2 and 1/4 if you don't need 6 kinds of cookies. I included those measurements here as well for convenience. 

This week mom was visiting and she was looking for the recipe to make cookies for our neighborhood Christmas party. She searched my blog and was shocked and surprised it was not up here yet. We found our old family recipe box, dusted it off and dug out the recipe...it definitely needs to be blogged before it falls to shreds 😆

You know the recipe is golden when...

Magic Christmas Cookie Mix

Basic Cookie Mix:

12 cups All-Purpose Flour (1/2 - 6 cups, 1/4 - 3 cups)

7 cups Sugar (1/2 - 3 1/2 cups, 1/4 - 1 3/4 cups)

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder (1/2 - 1 tablespoon, 1/4 - 1/2 tablespoon)

5 teaspoons Salt (1/2 - 2 1/2 teaspoons, 1/4 - 1 1/4 teaspoons)

4 cups Butter (1/2 - 2 cups, 1/4 - 1 cup)

Directions: In a large bowl, combine four, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender cut the butter into the mixture until the pieces are smaller than peas. This mix can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Bring the mix to room temperature before using in the recipes.

Tim is making sure we get a hippopotamus for Christmas

Sugar Cookie Cutouts:

4 cups Basic Cookie Mix

2 Tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 Egg

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Using a mixer, combine all ingredients at low speed until well blended. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. On a well-floured surface roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness; cut with a floured cutter. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 - 16 minutes. (if it takes you a long time to cut out your cookies or your kitchen is really hot you may want to chill your cut cookies on the sheets for 30 minutes before putting them in the oven) Cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet, then cool completely on a rack. Decorate as desired

Here are our ninja-bread men before they get decorated

Ginger Cut-Outs

4 cups Basic Cookie Dough

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger (we like to add some cinnamon and nutmeg too)

1/4 cup Molasses

1 Egg

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using a mixer, combine all ingredients at low speed until well blended. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. On a well-floured surface roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness; cut with a floured cutter. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 - 15 minutes. (if it takes you a long time to cut out your cookies or your kitchen is really hot you may want to chill your cut cookies on the sheets for 30 minutes before putting them in the oven) Cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet, then cool completely on a rack. Decorate as desired

Snickerdoodles: (my dad's favorite)

3 cups Basic Cookie Mix

1 Tablespoon Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 Egg

1 cup Raisins

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees

2. In a large bowl, combine mix, milk, vanilla & egg at low speed until a well blended dough forms. Fold in raisins by hand. Chill dough for 1 hour.

3. In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

4. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes. Makes 3 dozen

Press Cookies: our favorite shape to use is the tree

3 cups Basic Cookie Mix

1/3 cup Sour Cream

Colored Sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees

2. With a mixer, combine basic cookie mix and sour cream until well blended. 

3. Fill cookie press and form cookies on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar.

4. Bake 8-11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute then remove from cookie sheet. Makes 3 1/3 dozen.

Candied Fruit Squares: (my favorite)

3 cups Basic Cookie Mix

1 egg

2 cups (16-oz) diced, mixed candied fruit

1 cup Shredded Coconut

1 cup Chopped Nuts

1 cup Chopped Dates

1 can (14 oz) Condensed Milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. With a mixer, combine basic cookie mix and egg until well mixed. 

3. Press cookie dough into 15x10 inch pan (rimmed baking sheet).

4. In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Carefully  spread over the cookie base and press down gently. 

5. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. Cool in the pan then cut into 54 bars.

Snow-Topped Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Candy Canes: (Tim's variation)

4 cups Basic Cookie mix

2 Tablespoons Cocoa

2 Tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 Egg

1 cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup crushed Candy Canes

Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Using a mixer, combine mix, cocoa, milk, vanilla and egg on low spead until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips and candy cane pieces.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2-inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Coconut-Cherry Chews

3 cups Basic Cookie Mix

1 cup Shredded Coconut

2 teaspoons Almond Extract

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon water

1 Egg White, beaten

1 - 1 1/2 cups Coconut

Red Candied Cherries, halved

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees

2. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

3. Using a mixer, combine cookie mix, 1 cup coconut, almond extract and egg at low speed until well combined. 

4. In a small bowl combine water and egg white. 

5. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; dip in egg white mixture; roll in coconut. Place 2-inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Place cherry half in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Bake 11-14 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.

Chocolate Pinwheels

4 cups Basic Cookie Mix

2 tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 Eggs

2 Tablespoons Cocoa

2 teaspoons Orange Peel (or lemon peel, or warm spices, or 1 tsp mint extract, or 2 tablespoons pulverized freeze dried berries)

Directions: 

1. Using a mixer, combine basic mix, milk, vanilla, andd egg at low speed until well blended.

2. Divide dough in half. Blend cocoa into half of the dough. Blend orange peel, or other desired flavoring into the other half. 

3. Roll out each dough between two pieces of parchment paper into a large rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top piece of parchment from each dough. Place flavored dough over the chocolate dough, and press gently together to seal. 

4. Starting with the long edge of the rectangle, roll both doughs up like a jelly roll. Wrap dough roll in cling wrap or wax paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. 

5. Slice the dough into  1/4 inch slices. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 11-15 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

Peanut Butter Kisses: (My Brother's Favorite)

3 cups Basic Cookie Mix

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 Egg

granulated sugar

Milk Chocolate Kisses

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees

2. Using a mixer, combine  basic cookie mix, peanut butter, vanilla, and egg at low speed until well blended. 

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 10-15 minutes. When you take the cookies out of the oven, immediately place a chocolate kiss candy in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Makes 3 dozen.