Working Mom's Recipe of the Week

This time of year I love baking cookies; it's the only time of year I bake cookies. We have a couple basic ones we love at our house and they are great to make with your kids. For each, you can use store-bought cookie dough or your favorite cookie dough recipe.

Rudolph Peanut Butter Cookies
1 batch peanut butter cookie doughred M&M's - it's fun for kids to separate the red from the other colors (and sneak a few in the process)mini chocolate chipspretzel sticks

Form cookies - Roll a ball of dough in your hand and press flat onto a cookie sheet. Each cookie should be about 2" in diameter. You kids can add eyes (mini chocolate chips), noses (red M&M's) and antlers (pretzels). Bake based on the recipe for the dough.


Spicy Kisses
1 batch spiced cookie dough - you can use regular sugar cookie dough and add 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg, 1/2 t ground ginger and/or 1/4 t cloves
white chocolate Heresy's kisses - kids can unwrap the kisses

Form cookies - Roll a ball of dough in your hand and place on a cook sheets. Flatten a little with your hand, then use an unwrapped kiss to flatten it further. Bake based on the recipe for the dough, but move the oven rack one down from the middle to prevent the kisses from burning on the tops.


Candy Canes - requires chilling
1 batch sugar cookie dough, separated
red food coloring
peppermint extract

Add 3-4 drops of red food coloring and 1 t peppermint extract to 1/2 the cookie dough and mix thoroughly. Wrap each ball of dough, white and red, in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min or so. To form candy canes, use a-bit-more-than-1-T of dough from the white and a-bit-more-than-1-T of the red. Roll between your hands or on a cutting board, until it's about 8 inches long. Twist the two together, lay on the cookie sheet and shape into a candy cane. Bake according to the recipe for the dough.