Rolled Ginger Cookies

Made by Jennifer Johnson

The girls LOVED these.  It may have to do with just how cute they are, don't ya think?

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 T vinegar
4 cups flour 
1 1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
2-3 t ground ginger (I only used 1 t for my taste...)
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cloves (I only put in 1/4 t)

Cream shortening and sugar.  Beat in egg, molasses, and vinegar.  Sift together dry ingredients;  blend in.  Chill 3 hours.

Roll dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured surface.  Cut in shapes.  Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.  


Bake at 375 for 5-6 minutes.  Makes about 5 dozen.

Christmas Almonds

Nutty delight recipe from Parenting magazine December/January 2004

Goody bag mix-ins by Jennie (moi)

Making these yummy nuts has been our little tradition for the past 4 years! We love to put them into goody bags for Christmas each year. We always have so much fun delivering them to friends and family!

Christmas Almonds
1 package (16oz) whole almonds, raw
Butter (to grease pans)
1 egg white
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread almonds in a single layer in baking pan. Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly roasted. Remove from oven and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 F degrees.

Generously grease 2 large baking pans with butter. DO NOT use spray, it will taste funky!

In a large bowl, whisk egg white until foamy.

Whisk in sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in almonds; toss until well coated.

Spread half of the nut mixture onto a baking pan, spreading them out in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and stir. (Nuts will be very sticky now but will become crisp as they cool.) Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, until nuts are a pale golden brown and appear dry. Remove from oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes.

When nuts begin to harden, quickly loosen them from the pan with a metal spatula and spread onto waxed paper to finish cooling. Separate into individual pieces or small clusters now, otherwise they will be too hard to do later.

Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes 5 ½ cups

*To stretch the goodness even further, mix nuts with mini pretzels and M&M’s in a goody bag. Place 2 large handfuls of pretzels, 1 handful nuts, and 1-2 handfuls of M&M’s in a bag. Putting the M&M’s in last will make them fall through the nuts and pretzels so you won’t need to shake your bag to mix them!

We usually double the almond recipe, use 2 bags (16oz) pretzels, and 2 bags (16oz) Holiday colored M&M’s. This will make 20 goody bags!

Pretzel Wreath

These are yummy just as a treat, but they can also be an edible ornament! This idea came from The Pampered Chef. Lydia came over and we made them together. Brynlee was great at dipping the pretzels!

Sweet & Salty

need I say more?

1 bag Mini Pretzels

1 pkg Almond Bark

Colored Sprinkles

Yield 26 wreaths

Break almond bark into chunks and put into a small deep bowl. Melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted completely. Make sure your stirring utensil is completely dry, even one drop of water can ruin the consistency of the chocolate.

Dip the bottom half of each pretzel into the chocolate mixture. Place coated pretzel onto a piece of wax paper. Arrange 5 coated pretzels into a circle, with the chocolate touching each other in the center. Repeat this again for the second layer on top. Sprinkle toppings as desired. Let cool, about 15 minutes.

*Helpful Tips*

-Don't use any other type of chocolate except the almond bark or candy melts (candy that is designed for melting). These have certain fats that have great melting qualities, whereas they are removed for chocolate chips.

-If the almond bark starts getting stiff and cold, melt it again in the microwave.

-Don't have any sprinkles? No problem. Just use one drop of food coloring to 1/2 cup of regular sugar and stir! Get a variety of colored sprinkles for a fraction of the cost of the bottled stuff! Store the remaining sprinkles in an air tight container for future use.

Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

The recipe that I use is:

1/2 cup ground cinnamon,
1/3 cup applesauce, and
1 Tbs. Tacky glue

Mix in bowl and stir until well blended. Work mixture in hands for three minutes to form a ball. If it is too dry, add applesauce, if too wet, add more cinnamon. Knead ball on cinnamon-sprinkled surface until it holds together well. I roll this out and use cookie cutters for the shapes. I also use a drinking straw to cut a hanging hole. These can be air dried for 24 to 48 hours. Turn several times. They can also be baked in a slow oven.


Learn how to make these delicious cinnamon smelling ornaments here. They cost about $1 to make 25 ornaments. They're great for giving away to friends and are easy for the kids to make!

Plus, they make your house smell wonderful!

The star pictured above is one that I got from my single's ward Relief Society 5 years ago and it still smells wonderful! (Rachel, I think you were Relief Society President at that time)