Christmas Goodies

Several of my blogger friends have been sharing their recipes for favorite holiday goodies, so here are two of our favorites.

The ginger cookies are new to us. A bite will quite literally melt in your mouth, and, in a closed container, the cookies will stay just a little bit chewy. We have not put on the glaze, enjoying them just as they are. The Cherry Chocolate Banana Bread is DH's mother's recipe, and it tends to vanish, so you may want to make 2 loaves. The recipe comes from a community cookbook, 1968 edition.

Frosted Ginger Cookies
By Nancy Bolton-Rawles, Eagle Point, OR
Sunset Magazine, December 2006

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
¾ cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
3 Tbsp molasses
2 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp each salt, ground cloves and ground nutmeg
Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup granulated sugar with butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg and molasses.
2) In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and spices. Add to butter mixture and blend well.
3) Fill a shallow bowl with granulated sugar. Break off walnut-sized pieces of dough and roll into balls; roll balls in sugar. Arrange on greased cookie sheets and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks.
4) Meanwhile, make glaze. Combine powdered sugar with 1 Tbsp of water and stir till smooth, then stir in lemon juice. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

Prep and cook time: 35min
Makes 40 cookies


Cherry Chocolate Banana Bread
By Ruby Buchanan (DH’s mother)

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup ripe, mashed bananas
¼ cup maraschino cherries, chopped
¼ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and beat well. Sift flour and sold, then add alternately with bananas to egg mixture. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into oiled 4 ½ x 9-inch loaf pans; bake 1 hour. While still warm, drizzle with powdered sugar icing.
This recipe makes 1 loaf.