Christmas cookie giveaway Part I

Sometimes finding the appropriate Christmas gift is pretty much a nightmare, so this year I decided to give my sweet tooth friends a bunch of nicely packed Christmas cookies. Here are the recipes for my christmas tree classic sugar cookies and the coconut macaroons. I have to say it was the first time I made coconut macaroons and I was really happy when one of my labmates told me they were the best she'd ever tried!


Christmas tree sugar cookies

3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon of milk

Preheat the oven at 350 F

Beat together butter and sugar and when fluffy, add eggs one at a time. Add the milk and mix well. Add the flour one cup at a time and the baking powder and salt. Once the mix is ready chill in the refrigerator for 1 hr. Roll the dough to a thickness of about half an inch. Wax paper helps a lot on the rolling along with flour.
Bake for 10-12 min until slightly brown on the bottom. 

For the icing
Beat toghether 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and 2 cups of confectioners sugar. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. For color add food coloring. I sprinkled mine with green sugar.


Coconut Macaroons

2 egg whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven at 350 F

Beat the egg whites until white, stiff and fluffy. Remember that a clean bowl helps with that. Add the granulated sugar and keep beating until it has the consistency of icing. Add the vanilla. Stir in the coconut and mix with a spatula. Don't overmix to avoid the egg whites from deflating. I used a pastry bag to get more even coconuts but you can also drop them by tablespoonfuls on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 min, until tops are golden brown.