Holiday Baking!

Short house re-cap and I'll move on to the cookies...

We've been crazy busy lately getting things done with the house and I'm now proud to list the things we've gotten done:

-Trees trimmed and limbs hauled off
-Master Bedroom walls and trim painted
-Master Bathroom walls, cabinets and trim painted
-Hallway door frames and trim painted
-Guest bathroom cabinets and trim painted
-New desk bought and constructed
-All doors painted and installed new knobs
-Basement trim and chair rail painted
-Basement walls painted

Short list of things to be done:
-Guest bathroom painted
-Guest bathroom re-tiled
-Basement bathroom repainted
-Crownmolding in master bedroom and basement

Moving on to today, it was a wonderful Sunday to stay in and relax!

I cleaned yesterday and we are taking a break from house chores until after Christmas so I made cookies:

Here are the recipes!

Chocolate Spice Cookies (recipe: Perfect Light Desserts by. Malgieri and Joachim)

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c dutch process cocoa powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
4 T unsalted butter
1 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c molasses
2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or foil

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and set aside
3. In another mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a large rubber spatula. Beat in the applesauce and molasses.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients to make a soft dough
5. Drop a tablespoon of the dough on prepared pans
6. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, changing the position of the pans about halfway through baking. Exchange the top pan and the bottom and also turn them back to front at the same time. The cookies will still be fairly moist when they are done. Avoid overbaking them or they will be dry and hard.
7. Slide the papers from the pans to racks to cool the cookies.

Cream Cheese Icebox Cookies (recipe: Joy of Cooking)

Whisk together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
Beat in:
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Refrigerate until slightly firm. Roll dough into balls in your hand and then flatten slightly with a jar. Before baking sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or whatever decorative baking thing you have on hand. Bake one sheet at a time for 11 minutes. Let cool slightly before moving to a cooling rack.

ENJOY!