The Freshman Cook: December 2018

This post is sponsored in conjunction with Christmas Cookies Week. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the Christmas Cookies Week recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Welcome to the last day of #ChristmasCookieWeek 2018! I have one more recipe to share with you today, and then we will be done filling our cookie tin! I searched for a cookie that is pretty much universally loved by all, and also screams “Christmas”! I needed it to be a small cookie, so it could be what I like to call “a filler”. A filler cookie fills the holes in the cookie tin once the tin is filled with the larger cookies. There is usually room for filler cookies on the sides of the tin. Of course, fillers don’t always have to be cookies. They could also be candy that compliments the cookies, like caramels, peppermints or fudge!

I knew right away that I wanted to make small gingerbread cookies as my filler! They are one of my very favorite cookies, and it just wouldn’t be Christmas without them! So I decided to make these Gingerbread Cookie Stars. They are simple, small and have just enough of the gold and silver sugar to be festive! I think they fill our tin beautifully!

Gingerbread Cookie Stars

(printable recipe at end of page)

1/2 cup Shortening

1/2 cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/2 cup Molasses

1 Egg

1 tablespoon Vinegar

2 1/2 cups Flour
Decorative Sugars

Beat the shortening for 30 seconds on medium speed, then add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat to combine the ingredients. Scrape sides of bowl once combined.

Add molasses, egg, and vinegar. Mix with batter.

Add flour and mix in.

Once all batter is combined, divide dough in half, and wrap with plastic. Chill for 3 hours or until easy to handle.

Once chilled, roll out the dough to 1/8″ thickness. I rolled the dough between parchment paper because I like how easy it is to handle this way.

But you can also do it this way.

Cut dough with a star cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with decorative sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of your star. Cool on a cooling rack, and enjoy!

Now that I am done baking all the cookies to fill up the cookie tins I give to friends during the holidays, I thought I would share with you how the tin looks with the cookies in it. I am very happy with how they turned out, and I think everyone will enjoy every cookie!

Thank you so much for joining me and my blogging friends, as we worked our way through the tastiest week of the season! I hope you enjoyed all the recipes, and let me know if you make any of them! One question-What’s in your cookie tin?

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! Find it here!

Look at all these tasty goodies my blogging friends made today:

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

2 1/2 cups Flour

Decorative Sugars

  1. Beat the shortening for 30 seconds on medium speed, then add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat to combine the ingredients. Scrape sides of bowl once combined.
  2. Add molasses, egg, and vinegar. Mix with batter.
  3. Once all batter is combined, divide dough in half, and wrap with plastic. Chill for 3 hours or until easy to handle.
  4. Once chilled, roll out the dough to 1/8″ thickness. I rolled the dough between parchment paper because I like how easy it is to handle this way.
  5. Cut dough with a star cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with decorative sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of your star. Cool on a cooling rack, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Thank you #ChristmasCookiesWeek sponsors: Adams Extract, Sprinkle Pop, YumGoggle and Silpat for providing the prizes free of charge. The #ChristmasCookiesWeek giveaway is open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. All entries for the winner will be checked and verified. By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. Four (4) winners will be selected at random from entries received. The prize packages will be fulfilled by and sent directly from the giveaway sponsors. #ChristmasCookiesWeek bloggers are not responsible for the fulfillment or delivery of the prize packages. Bloggers hosting this giveaway and their immediate family members in their household are not eligible to enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or any other social channel mentioned in the #ChristmasCookiesWeek posts or entry.

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