My fondest holiday memories involve rolling out sugar cookies with my mom and grandmother. We would begin baking on December 23, and it was an all day/all night affair in order to be ready for our dinner and family Christmas party. We always set out a few cookies and a carrot for Santa, and of course, in the morning all that would be left would be some crumbs.

This cookie recipe makes a very soft, thick sugar cookie and is ideal for making with the kids. My holiday stress secret is to make a huge batch a couple weeks ahead for Christmas and then freeze it. I pull it out whenever kids want to bake. When I became a parent, I learned the hard way that it is WAYYYY more easy to make the dough ahead of time. In truth, the kids enjoy the rolling, baking and decorating, not the assembly and chilling part. What sets this one apart is how easy it is for kids to work with, and how consistent the dough is for working with the rolling pin.

I had used my mom’s recipe for a long time, but I experimented with this one from thekitchn.com  and have never looked back.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
• 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Step one:

Mix flour, salt, baking powder in a large bowl.

Big Fat Batch = Big Fat Bowl

Step two:

Cream the butter and add sugar in a large bowl.

Add the egg and blend until golden yellow. Add the cream cheese, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract.

Step three:

Add the flour mixture in gradual increments to the butter/sugar blend until well-blended.

Buttery, crumbly goodness

Step four:

Refrigerate the dough for two hours.

To Bake:

After chilling the dough, and rolling it/cutting it out into desired shapes, bake for 9-12 minutes. The bottom of the cookies most likely will not brown.

Notes:

The dough will keep in the freezer for up to a month, if you are planning to mix it ahead.

Decorating ideas:

• Spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting after cookies cool and add sprinkles.
• Drizzle with melted chocolate
• You could cut out thin cookies and layer with nutella or jam

Homemade apple pies are easy; It’s the crust that is always tricky for me. If I have time, I make the dough from scratch, but I often cop out and by the ready-made variety. Homemade dough gives you that ethereal, light quality but it can be time-consuming and easy to make it too tough.

One note though, avoid the shells you find in the freezer – I feel like they always break and no matter how hard you try, the taste of a rolled-out dough baked in the oven is impossible to replicate. I tend to by the rolled-dough you see pictured above. For my dough recipe, scroll down to the end of the post. What follows is my tried and true apple pie recipe.

Serves: 8 people

Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

You will need:

• 7 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples. This will be about 7 small apples. (I like granny smith, gala or empire or a combo)
• 1/2 cup white sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbs all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbs butter
• For the crust, you will need enough for 2. One for the top; one for the bottom

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Step 2: Combine apples, sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix around until the apples are coated and there is no loose powder.

Step 3. Place the mixture in a dough lined 9 inch pie plate. Dot with slices of butter.

Step 4: Assemble the top crust and press edges with your fingers in whatever pattern you wish.

Vent the top of the pie.

Step 5: Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes, reduce the temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 50-60 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender. Cool upon a rack and serve. If the crust gets too dark, cover it gently in foil.

Extras:

• I like to coat the crust with melted butter and sprinkle it with brown sugar and an extra dash of cinnamon.
• Serve it with some vanilla bean ice cream.

Homemade dough recipe:

This recipe makes enough for 2 or a double crust pie.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water.

Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter. Mix (use a hand mixer or processor) until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal ( a few pea size pieces of butter is ok)

Step 2: Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cold water. Mix until the dough is crumbly, but holds together when squeezed with your fingers. If necessary, add a tiny bit of water at a time until you get the right consistency. To do not overdo it, or your crust will get tough, not flaky. ‘

Step 3: Transfer half of the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a circle roughly 3/4 inch thick. Wrap tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour until firm. It will hold up for 3 days and can be frozen for 3 months. Repeat with the second half.

When I am top of holiday game, I will pre-make a few batches and freeze them until Thanksgiving and Christmas.