Christmas Cooking Day

I had just mentioned that I had not done much Christmas cooking with the kids - well, we made up for that Christmas Eve!!!  Laura Beth spent the night at Gran and Grandad's the night before and woke up to help Grandad make Nana Willis' tea cakes.

Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

(Nana Willis via Mrs. Dixon)

Beat together: 3 eggs

2 c. sugar

4 T buttermilk

1 c. shortening

1 t. vanilla

Sift together and add to first mixture. Add more flour if needed.

4 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. soda

1/2 t. salt

Refrigerate about 30 minutes for easier handling.

Roll out on lightly floured baord, cut and space far apart on greased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 400 degree oven until lightly brown for 10-12 minutes.

I was not able to get any pictures of this cookie expedition but I know the outcome was great! So glad the third generation of the family is making these special cookies!  We all think of Nana when we think of these cookies!

After lunch, LB came back with us to the house and we made our first Kisses Pie (see the following post for the easy recipe)!  Then, Carter was ready to make his cookies.  He had been patiently waiting to make his chocolate chocolate chip cake mix  cookies.  He did it all by himself, too! I was super proud of him and his efforts!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies

1 chocolate cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 c. chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together.  Place on cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

We added a bit of crushed peppermints to the tops of some of the cookies to make them more festive!

Carter and his cookie creations!

Then, Chuck (my youngest brother) is in from LA.  He picked up some pomegranates and we made my dear friend's, Kristen, recipe for Chocolate Chip Pomegranate Cookies. The kids were a huge help and really did a great job with the cooking process of these cookies.

Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies

1 c. butter, room temperature

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. pomegranate juice (or pomegranate/blueberry juice, which was all I could find. Delicious, but EXPENSIVE)

1 c. milk chocolate chips

1/2 c. pomegranate arils

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt - combine dry mixture and wet mixture. Add pomegranate juice and mix once more. Fold in chocolate chips; fold in pomegranate arils last. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours - but the longer, the better.

When dough is ready to be baked, gently scoop dough out and onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Some arils will burst in the process, but it all ends up O.K. =) Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool a bit before eating.

These cookies are best eaten right after baking. After about a day, the pomegranate arils start to shrink and aren't juicy anymore.

Mixing up part of the recipe

My great help!

LB is an amazing cook for being 8 years old!

Pomegranate seeds with the dough in the background!

Adding them in!

The final product was wonderful!!! So wonderful I don't have pictures to prove it!  Go to Kristen's blog to see her final product - they obviously have more will power than we do!!!