The Best Money-Saving Christmas Cookie Trick: One Recipe, Ten Variations
Whether you’ve been invited to a cookie exchange and are at a loss for a unique cookie to share or just want to bake enough treats to fill a holiday cookie tin, there’s a way to do it hassle-free and inexpensively. The trick is to rely on one recipe, but to spin it in a variety of directions by changing just a few ingredients.
Jenny McCoy, a pastry and baking arts instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, recommends following a basic drop cookie recipe, like the Toll House chocolate chip cookie base or her recipe below, and going wild with options. “A drop cookie recipe can be made into anything. You can add a mixture of dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, a few handfuls of oatmeal,” says McCoy, whose favorite cookie combination is freshly grated lemon zest and dried cherries.
Even swapping out vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of another flavor can be enough to turn the cookie into a new creation, according to chef Michael Bump, the executive pastry chef for Forking Amazing Restaurants. “With almond extract, the flavor holds up well through the baking process, and you’ll get a cookie with a nice strong flavor,” he says. “Peppermint extract gives a nice nostalgic holiday feeling, but you lose a little bit of the potency or flavor in the baking process, so it’s more of a hint of peppermint than a bold peppermint flavor.”
And here are 10 ideas for all your holiday cookie-baking needs:
Oreo Candy Cane Cookie
One of the most popular holiday cookies at Cookie Good, a custom bakery in Los Angeles, is an Oreo candy cane cookie. “Our Oreo candy cane cookie takes a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe and stuffs it with Oreos and crushed candy canes,” says baker and co-founder Ross Canter. For best results, mix in 1 cup chocolate chips, 5 ounces chopped Oreos, and 3 ounces crushed candy canes into the drop cookie dough recipe.
Double Peanut Cookies
Decrease the amount of butter by about 2 tablespoons, replacing it with peanut butter. Then mix chopped peanuts into the batter.
Confetti Cookies
Probably the easiest path to a cookie with wow factor is to decrease the amount of sugar and add rainbow sprinkles into the batter. Bake for a confetti rainbow cookie.
Sandwich Cookies
To turn two sugar cookies into a peanut utter and Jelly sandwich cookie, combine cream cheese and peanut butter. Layer the cream cheese mixture plus strawberry or grape jelly onto one cookie and top with another. For a double cookie extravaganza, McCoy suggests using a cookie butter, like one found at Trader Joe’s, as the filling between two cookies.
Snickerdoodles
Bump says a version of a Snickerdoodle cookie can be made with a shake of cinnamon and sugar over each cookie right out of the oven or by rolling the cookie into the cinnamon and sugar mixture before baking. “Since it’s a sugar cookie dough as the base, it’ll be less chewy and soft than a traditional Snickerdoodle, but it’ll still have great flavor,” he says.
Junk Food Cookie
Anything goes in a junk food cookie, according to McCoy, from Rice Krispies to crushed potato chips to pretzels to peanuts. Or even all of the above. Raid your cabinets and add 1 cup total of chopped goodies per cookie dough batch for a treat all your own.
Tiramisu Cookies
Substitute almond extract for vanilla extract; add some cocoa powder into the cookie base and stir in white chocolate chips. Serve as is or to bring it up a notch, make tiramisu sandwich cookies by sticking two cookies together with a filling of mascarpone and powdered sugar.
Iced Cookies
McCoy says this dough can also be turned into a slice-and-bake cookie dough. Roll into a cylinder shape, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze for a couple hours. Slice for evenly round cookies and decorate as desired. Bump says to add personality with a simple powdered sugar icing, which is powdered sugar thinned out with milk, flavored with extract, and possibly colored with food dye. “If you’re looking for that holiday fun flavor, add some peppermint extract to the icing, and it will yield a fuller flavor than if you baked it in. You can also add lemon extract or zests, really any citrus zest — orange, lemon, lime — would be great in a basic powdered sugar icing.”
Chocolate-Dipped with Sea Salt
Bump says another fun fix is to dip the top half of the sugar cookie into dark chocolate and then sprinkle with sea salt. “The added sea salt makes it almost more like a shortbread cookie, and again, it looks great,” he says. Other toppers include chopped nuts or candies.
Pink Peppercorn and Cocoa Nib Cookies
McCoy loves the combination of crushed pink peppercorns and cocoa nibs mixed into a sugar cookie batter. “Pink peppercorns are a little spicy but not as intense as black peppercorns, and they look very pretty,” she says. Cocoa nibs, which are unsweetened chocolate, offer a good crunch factor to this festive cookie.
Drop Cookie Dough Recipe
By Jenny McCoy, pastry chef instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City
Makes about 20 cookies
8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup mix-ins, such as chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Stir in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt until smooth. Add your preferred mix-ins and mix until just combined.
Roll cookie dough into heaping tablespoon-size balls. Arrange on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
For chewy cookies, bake until very light golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. For crispy cookies, bake until a bit darker golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets.
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