All-Purpose Holiday Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the dry ingredients and the oil
together in the large mixing bowl. Beat remaining ingredients until
light and fluffy. Add to the mixing bowl with the mixture and stir
together. Allow the mixture to chill for at least two hours — overnight
is better. Divide the mixture into four sections for easier handling.
Roll the dough out on a generously flowered cutting board until it is
about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and place the
cut-outs onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until
cookies are stiff and a light golden color. Do not bake until brown or
the cookies will become hard and brittle.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies
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Gingerbread Men and Women
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup dark molasses
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 4 cups flour
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon powdered cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 4 teaspoons ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients except the flour.
Add the flour slowly, mixing each addition thoroughly. The dough should
be slightly stiff. If the mixture seems too dry, add a teaspoon or two
of water; if too wet, add more flour. Roll out the dough on a floured
cutting board to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters shaped
like little dough people to make the shapes. Place these on a lightly
greased cookie sheet and bake for ten minutes (time is only
approximate). Transfer the cookies to wax paper to cool. Give your
gingerbread people features by using colored frosting from a pastry
tube.
Makes 3 dozen medium-sized cookies
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Yule Log Cake
- 1 package commercial cake mix, preferably chocolate
- 2 cans (24 oz.) pre-made frosting in a dark brown color
- Several tubes of cake decoration frosting in green, red, and white
- Several toothpicks
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease and line a jelly roll pan with
wax paper. Mix the cake according to the package instructions and pour a
thin layer — no more than 1/4-inch thick — into the prepared jelly
roll pan. Bake the cake until just underdone. If you can't tell by
looking, then use the knife test. When the knife emerges not quite clean
from the center of the cake, and when a light touch does not bounce
back easily, it needs to come out. Check the cake at seven minutes, and
then every two minutes after that. DO NOT overbake or the dough will be
dry and hard to work with. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool
slightly. Then remove the cake from the pan by lifting out the wax
paper. With the dark frosting, coat the top of the cake. Carefully lift
one end of the cake and begin gently rolling it up as if you were
rolling up a map. When you are done, anchor the cake with tooth-picks
and let it cook for about 5 more minutes. Cool the cake for 30 minutes,
then frost it with the dark brown icing. Next, take the tubes of colored
cake decorating frosting and make holly and mistletoe over the top. You
can also use artificial greenery until it is time to eat the cake. To
finish, take a toothpick and etch lines into the frosting to resemble
tree bark.
Serves 8
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SOURCE: The Wiccan Garden, as taken from The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways by Edain McCoy and Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham