1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt

For decorating:
Colored sprinkles
Colored sugar
Chocolate sprinkles
Baking cherries
Or your favorite topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F before baking.

Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture.

Bake all cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.

To form the cookies you can do one of the following:

Roll out the chilled dough and cut with cookie cutters. Sprinkle with your desired topping, if desired. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.

Form dough into logs 2 inches in diameter and slice 1/8 inch thick when chilled. Sprinkle with your desired topping, if desired. Bake for 8 minutes.

Put unchilled dough into a cookie press and press into desired shapes chill shaped cookies before baking. Bake chilled cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.

5 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 egg whites
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat the egg whites in a bowl.

Add the powdered sugar to the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Then add two well-beaten yolks and the vanilla extract.

Sift the flour twice with the salt then fold into mixture.

Line a pan with paper but do not grease it.

Press the batter through a pastry bag onto it, forming strips four inches long and one inch wide.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and bake in a 350 degrees F oven for ten minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the butter, brown and granulated sugars. Add the peanut butter and egg; beat well.

In a small bowl, combine the sifted flour, salt and baking soda. Stir with whisk to combine. Gradually stir into butter mixture, mixing well after each addition to blend. Add vanilla and mix well.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet about 2-inches apart. Flatten each ball with a fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

Makes 3 dozen.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Egg yolk
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup natural raisins
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in yolk, almond extract and salt.
Mix in flour just to blend thoroughly.
Mix in raisins almonds to distribute evenly.
On lightly floured surface, roll into a 12″ long.
Wrap securely and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.
With sharp knife, cut 1/3″ thick slices, and place 1″ apart on baking sheets.
Bake in pre-heated 350 degree F oven 15 to 20 minutes until cookies are set and bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool completely.
Decorate as desired with melted semi-sweet or white chocolate, and top with colored sprinkles, raisins, nuts, or candied fruit pieces.
Allow to set before storing in layers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container.

Cream shortening and peanut butter until blended; gradually add sugars; beat until fluffy.
Add egg and beat thoroughly.
Sift remaining ingredients together; divide in half and add to creamed mixture, one at a time, mixing till well blended after each addition.
Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and place 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.
Flatten with a fork by making a criss-cross pattern.
Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

(makes about 3 dozen)

1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 pound butter
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting

4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup boiling water
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and butter until it becomes fluffy.
Add eggs, milk, vanilla and lemon extract and mix until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt.

Add dry ingredients to the wet in batches, stirring well. Drop spoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheets.
Bake at 375 degrees F until edges begin to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

To make frosting, put confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Stir in enough water to make the mixture thick and spreadable. Remove half the frosting to the top half of a double boiler over simmering water. Add chocolate and warm the mixture until chocolate is melted and the frosting is smooth. Remove from heat. With brush, coat half the cookie with chocolate frosting and the other half with white frosting.

Makes 2 dozen large cookies or about 4 dozen small (mini) cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a deep bowl, beat egg whites on low speed of an electric mixer until frothy. Beat on high speed until stiff. Gradually beat in sugar and then almond extract.Fold in wheat germ. drop mixture by 1/2 teaspoonsful onto a cookie sheet that had been sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray and dusted lightly with flour. Put the cookies in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 200 F. bake 1 hour. Turn off heat, and leave cookies in oven to cool. Makes 10 servings, 5 cookies each.

3/4 cup sugar
10 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
Frosting of your choice

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, baking powder, and salt with an
electric mixer at low speed until blended. Increase speed to high and beat
until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add milk, vanilla extract, and
egg then beat until combined. Don’t worry if mixture looks a little lumpy.
Stir in flour until blended. Shape dough into 2 balls, flatten each slightly.
Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until dough is easy
to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, with floured
rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough 1/8 inch thick, keeping remaining dough
refrigerated. Using your favorite (floured) holiday shaped cookie cutters, cut dough
into as many cookies as possible, reserve trimmings. Place cookies, about
1 inch apart, on 2 ungreased large cookie sheets. Roll trimmings and cut
out more cookies.

Bake cookies 12 to 15 minutes until golden around edges, rotating cookie
sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking time if you
have used both upper and lower oven racks. Remove cookies to wire racks
to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

When cookies are cool, prepare frosting and use to decorate cookies as
desired. Set cookies aside to allow frosting to dry completely, at least 1
hour. If not using right away, store in tightly covered container.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Beat butter, sugars and egg whites until fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in combined oats, flour, raisins, cocoa and baking powder. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until just set. Cool l minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack; cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown.