Hello to all my fellow KLIMBERS out there! As usual this KLIMB INC. Mom has been busy Klimbing Life! Volunteering at school, doctor appointments, and school conferences. I hope everyone is doing great and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Molly and I are busy again cooking in the kitchen. I thought we would share three of our favorite holiday cookie recipes. Gingerbread, Whipped Shortbread Cookies, and Snowball Cookies. All made without eggs, tree nuts, or peanuts! For these recipes you need ”chilling time”. I like to make my dough the night before and then when my Klimb Kids are ready the dough is made and we can enjoy cutting and decorating them! They also are great to make ahead and freeze. I always freeze or refrigerate my cookies because they stay fresher longer especially since we don’t use eggs in our recipes. I found that cookies get stale if I don’t refrigerate or freeze them. I hope you like these holiday cookies! I know my Klimb Kids did!
My favorite website for recipes is www.allrecipes.com. You can put in the ingredients you DON’T want in the food, so it is a way of getting allergy free recipes quickly.
My Klimb Kid, Hunter asked if we could make Gingerbread Cookies this year. He loved this recipe! Here is the recipe we used:
Soft Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread Men by my Klimb Kids
3/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8 cup softened butter
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. allspice (I doubled the spices for more flavor! So I used 1 tsp. instead of the 1/2 tsp. listed here.)
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, allspice, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla. Stir them into wet mixture until all the dry is absorbed. Cover dough and chill for at least 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out into desired shapes. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove to cool on wire racks. Decorate with safe frosting and candies! For the cookies we didn’t decorate, I sprinkled the tops with sugar before putting them in the oven.
Whipped Shortbread Cookies (from www.allrecipes.com)
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. milk or milk substitute (rice or soy milk)
12 maraschino cherries, cinnamon candies, sprinkles
Mix ingredients except the cherries or candies for 10 minutes. I even mixed a bit longer to really whip this cookie batter up! If you have a Kitchen Aid this makes it a lot easier! Chill the dough overnight. I wrapped mine in wax paper formed into a roll for easy cutting. Let thaw a bit before cutting and placing cherries, sprinkles, and candies in center of cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 – 17 minutes.
These are light and melt in your mouth good!
SNOWBALL COOKIES (Really fun to make with your Klimbers!)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine softened
Gingerbread and Snowball Cookies
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
36 Safe Hershey kisses Brand Milk Chocolates (READ PACKAGES for Allergy info.) I used Milk Chocolate and Peppermint that were safe for my allergy Klimb Kid.
Powdered sugar
Beat butter/margarine, granulated sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Add flour. Blend well. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Remove wrappers. My Klimb Kids like to do this! Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape it around chocolate Kiss! Roll it into a ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet. My Klimbers love this part! Bake for 10 t 12 minutes. Cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar. Let cool completely. Store in container. I store in refrigerator. Can roll in powdered sugar again before serving if you want.
Happy New Year! Koach 
