This year, the 12 Days of Christmas is getting a special TEENPLICITY twist – 12 Days of TEENPLICITY! From Saturday, December 12th through Wednesday, December 23rd, we will be posting a new holiday-themed feature each day! Including interviews with this season’s merriest entertainers as well as tips for the best holiday treats, we hope this celebration will bring some joy and good cheer to all during a very tough year.
As part of this special event, the 11th Teenpliciday features Teenplicity team members Mary and Brie attempting to make Christmas cookies. Will it all go according to plan? Watch the videos below and read the recipes to see how we made them, and then you can decide for yourself!
As we wind down from our 12 Days of TEENPLICITY celebration, chef Taylor Pusha gave us the words we needed to keep going. She told us, “I say no matter how many failed attempts you have, to always keep going because those failed attempts are going to get you to be an amazing artist, an amazing baker. It’s just going to make you successful overall because you learn from a lot of your mistakes.” And were mistakes made! But what matters is that we had fun and we hope as you try these recipes, you do too!
Brie’s “Sparkle in Your Eye-der” Butter Cookies
Credit to Easy Peazy Meals and Bread Booze Bacon for whose recipes inspired this.
Ingredients:
For cookie
- 1 cup butter, softened + cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon (tbsp) vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp instant hot apple cider mix
- 2 tbsp sparkling apple cider
- 3 cups flour (or 2 – 2 1/2 cups…honestly just do you, pure vibes!)
- 1/2 teaspoon tsp baking powder
For royal icing
- 2 oz egg whites
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions:
Beat butter and sugar at low speed until blended. Increase to high, beat until light and creamy.
At low speed, beat in egg, vanilla, and cider mixings. (It’s gonna look kinda weird with butter chunks, that’s fine just beat until it’s as combined as possible)
Beat in flour and baking powder until dough is formed.
Divide dough into four pieces, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
After the hour is up, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll one piece of dough 1/8 inch thick (or honestly as thick or thin as you want them to be, it’s your cookies! I didn’t do 1/8 inch thick I don’t think!) Cut dough into cookies and place at least one inch apart on either a nonstick cookie sheet or a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
To make the icing, mix the egg whites and vanilla until frothy.
Gradually add sugar and mix on low speed. Turn to medium-high and beat until mixture forms stiff peaks, takes about 5 to 7 minutes.
Wait for cookies to completely cool, then ice the cookies and leave them alone to set for an hour.
Brie’s tips: Without the icing, the cookie tastes like a butter cookie, but with the icing, it kind of overpowers the flavor with its sweetness. However, they are Christmas cookies so if you’re into that then go for it! It’s almost frosted animal cracker energy which is good. If you’re looking for a different topping, sprinkle the cookies with cinnamon sugar before putting them in the oven, then bake for 10-12 minutes. I also think a buttercream frosting with sparkling apple cider in the mix and some dried apple powder sprinkled on top and a little cinnamon in the dough would taste amazing and really bring out that apple flavor!
Mary’s “Chocolate Crinkle” Cookie
Credit to CafeDelites and Cooking Classy for whose recipes inspired this.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
Instructions
Use two bowls. In one bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and canola oil.
Add in the vanilla extract and mix.
Beat into the mixture the eggs, one at a time.
In the other bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Gradually stir the bowl with dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, and salt) into the wet bowl (sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs) until the dough forms. Do not overmix it. Refrigerate for at minimum 4 hours or overnight.
After refrigerating, take the dough out. Get a bowl and put the confectioner’s (powdered) sugar in it. Roll the dough into balls. Use one tablespoon for small cookies (which will create 20 – 24 cookies) or two for large cookies (which will make about 12 cookies).
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Once the oven is heated, put the cookie tray in and let it cook for 10 minutes and thirty seconds to 11 minutes.
Let cookies cool for 3 – 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling tray.
Cookies are good to eat warm or cool, though I definitely recommend alongside a cup of hot chocolate! Enjoy!
Do you have a recipe that you’d love to share? You can let Teenplicity know what you’d like to see on Twitter or anonymously on Tumblr! Or you can directly contact Mary Ayers on Twitter and anonymously on Tumblr or Brie Garrett on Twitter and Tumblr!
