This one is a family tradition! These cookies have all the flavors of the holidays – cinnamon, ginger, cloves – and are rolled in sugar before baking, so we only bake them at Christmas, but we look forward to them every year!
While not necessary, dipping them in this recipe for Spiced Dip takes the flavor to the ‘next level’!
MAKE IT A MIX
Using quart sized zip lock bags, package up the dry ingredients to stock your pantry with several of mixes that you can grab on a busy day. When ready for fresh baked cookies, grab the mix add a few fresh or liquid ingredients and cookies can be ready quickly!
GOT KIDS? Bring them into the kitchen to help make up a batch of these homemade mixes.
- Set it up like an assembly line, assigning 1 person to each ingredient and pass the bags around the table, OR…
- Set it up as a round table process. Line up all of the ingredients with their measuring utensils, place a stack of bags at the front of the ingredient line and let each person go down the line to make a full mix.
MAKE IT A GIFT
HOME BAKED GIFTING: Bake up several batches of the cookies, whip up a batch of this spiced dip using cool whip and gift them with a a unique cookie plate or cookie jar!*
Some of my favorite ways to gift cookies include*:
- Using canning jars
- Using cello bags that can be tied with a ribbon
- Bakery style boxes wrapped with twine
HOMEMADE MIX: Put the mix ingredients in a quart sized canning jar. Use ribbon or twine to attach the cookie recipe and deliver a thoughtful homemade gift.
Even better… add a small bag of this spiced dip blend to the jar along with the printed recipe to make the dip with cool whip. They will ask you for this gift every year!
MAKE AHEAD TIP:
I love to keep pre-made balls of cookie dough in the freezer. It makes it so easy to be ready for a quick treat for guests, a simple dessert for a dinner party and especially a fast solution for home baked goods for kids and family.
If planning to gift homemade cookies and time is short, make the dough and freeze the cookie balls one day and plan a baking day closer to when you want to deliver the fresh baked gifts.
GOT KIDS? This is a great way to bring them into the kitchen with you. Let them help you make up the dough balls for freezing and then let them grab the frozen balls for baking when they want the cookies or make homemade cookie gifts. They can proclaim, “I made these myself!”
THE HOW TO:
- Follow the directions for making the cookie dough.
- Fill a baking sheet covered with parchment or wax paper with 1 tablespoon sized balls of dough [the dough balls can be placed close together].
- Cover this with plastic wrap and place the baking sheet into the freezer long enough to freeze each of the dough balls, making them firm. [NOTE: if your freezer will not hold a full sized baking sheet, just follow these steps using any plate or dish that will fit]
- Remove the frozen dough balls from the baking sheet and fill gallon sized freezer bags, placing the dough balls in a single flat layer.
- Label the bag with the cookie type and baking instructions.
- The baking instructions are exactly the same as if making from scratch. You may or may not need to add an extra minute or few to the baking time.
- The bags of frozen dough balls can be stacked on top of each other in the freezer and kept up to 6 months.
To make it easy for you, here are some printable recipe cards with all of the ‘make a mix’ tips and variation suggestions.
Enjoy!
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