December Recipes have Arrived!

I hope you all enjoyed the pies from November. I asked Laura to pick this months recipe (remember it is more or less based on the order you joined the club). She picked two as the majority of you have and I'm very excited for both of them. Here is what Laura had to say....


"Oh the pressure of having to choose a recipe for December!  For this month I am torn between tradition and something new.  I have decided on two options since the recent months have offered more than one recipe choice.  One leans far traditional, the other is not your typical holiday baking.

    My traditional recipe is not something new to me, (Sorry, Christina, for breaking the rules.) but it is tried and true in my kitchen at Christmas time.  They are the absolute best sugar cookies!  The sour cream makes them extra moist and the cream cheese frosting make a tasty combination.

    The second option, Zucchini & Red Onion Flatbread, is a recipe I came across in a recent Bon Appétit issue.  To me it sounds like a great light meal with a nice salad in this season laden with cookies, fudge, candy, chocolate....  I'm anxious to try it and hear what you all think!

Happy Baking!"

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

Cookie Dough:

Mix ingredients in this order, adding one at a time.

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. margarine

2 egg yolks

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. sour cream

5 c. flour

Make dough and chill at least 2-3 hours or over night.

Roll out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes, depending on how soft you like sugar cookies.  I tend to bake and average sized cookie cutter 9 to 10 minutes.

After the cookies are completely cool, decorate with the icing recipe below.

Icing Ingredients:

2 lb powdered sugar

1/2 c. margarine

8 oz. cream cheese

1 T. vanilla

water, to desired consistency

food coloring, if desired

Sweet & Savory

I finally made my pretzels this past weekend. Better late than never, right?

I have to admit, I've never been a big fan of the plain pretzel. It just seems so boring. The only one that ever stole my heart was the cinnamon sugar version from Auntie Annie's. So... I figured I should give that one a try (you can refer to Christina's blog for that recipe), but even that sounded a little bland for the easy bake cOven. There's a lot of pressure to be at least a little gourmet here. Hence, the need to try out a second, more savory flavor. I took a pizza crust recipe from my favorite cookbook, From the Earth to the Table by John Ash, and adapted it to a pretzel. I added sun dried tomatoes, and a mix of fresh herbs including basil, thyme, and chives, to the original recipe and then topped them with goat cheese (because goat cheese makes everything better), some cherry tomatoes, and a few more sprigs of thyme. I think they turned out quite well!