Thursday, December 10, 2015

#DairyChristmas Cherry Mint Sugar Cookies

Christmas is right around the corner and that means Christmas baking is in full swing. If you are looking for a new cookie recipe to mix it up, look no further. My Cherry Mint Sugar Cookies are sure to be a hit this holiday season.


Mom and Granny make just about everything from scratch, including cookies. This year, I bought myself a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas (yes, it's pink!) and it arrived early. Perfect!! The timing really was perfect and just in time for a cookie exchange at work.



Holidays are super busy. Even more so if you are on a farm and specifically a dairy farm where cows need to be milked twice or three times a day. For more about what holidays on a dairy farm entail, click here.


On our farm, things are a little slower than during hay season in the summer, but they never really stop. When you own livestock, those sweet creatures do not understand what the holidays are...or what weekends or evening "off work" hours are for that matter.

When I talked with the fam this week, they told me all about the flooding that Western Washington is facing right now. Fortunately for us, we are on the plateau, but many friends in the valleys have it a lot worse. On any farm with livestock, flooding means dropping everything to get those animals to higher ground. Sometimes this means putting them in a trailer and moving them. Sometimes it's herding them somewhere. It can't wait. Keeping the sump pump working is a job in itself. I've heard of many dairy people who have slept in the milk house or barn to keep this going. Despite a flood, cows still need to eat and need to be milked. That never stops. Keeping animals comfortable (and in this case above water so they don't drown) is top priority. This is one of those times when have a contingency plan of what to do in this situation comes in handy. However, it doesn't matter how much you prepare for it, when it happens something will usually happen that wasn't in the plan. We were lucky. Our yard and side walks to the house are mostly flooded, but our barn and the main field the cows are in this time of year are higher ground. Keep those farmers in your thoughts right now, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Feeding the cows is one of my favorite things to do when I go home for the holidays. Other family members get a break and I get to help; win-win for everyone! I'm sure the cows especially love that I am constantly taking photos of them. I tell them they are famous, but they don't seem as thrilled haha. They just want their hay. And probably to eat in peace without the paparazzi following their every move (that would be me!).


One of the many things that I love about being involved in farming and advocating for agriculture is all of the awesome people I've met that are passionate about doing the same thing. My new friend Sadie from Dairy Good Life reached out to a bunch of us recently asking if we'd be interested in doing a community post. How fun! So, be sure to check out these posts from other dairy friends. Just follow the hashtag #DairyChristmas.

Back to those cookies! I'm sure the cows would gladly steal a few if we'd let them. Here's the recipe.



Cherry Mint Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 sugar
  • 3/4 cup dried cherries, crushed andes mints, sprinkles
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Whisk all dry ingredients in a large bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer with the paddle attachment for this and it was really quick, but you can use a regular whisk for this or a hand mixer). (i.e. leave the butter, vanilla extract and egg out of this mix)
  4. Add butter (slightly softened) and mix slowly until crumbly.
  5. Add vanilla extract and egg and then mix until you have a cookie dough consistency.
  6. Add a little flour to your hands so the dough doesn't stick to you as you create small balls of cookie dough. You can use a cookie scoop for this, but I don't.
  7. Bake for 9-12 minutes. I like them soft and don't like when the bottom of the cookies are burnt or extremely brown, so keep an eye on them. This part is primarily due to preference.
  8. Store in an air-tight container or freeze.

    Makes 20-24 cookies. I usually make them small, but make whatever size cookies you like best

    Affilitate links were used in this post

Country Fair Blog Part
        
Thanks to my friend Laurie of Country Linked for selecting these cookies as one of her favorites from the December County Fair Blog Party! 

2 comments:

  1. So professional style for making cookies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll try this recipe afternoon, although it is not Christmas yet. Love it!

    ReplyDelete