Here's part 2 with two more for you!
Christmas Cookies...
Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story. All recipes below are from the Taste of Home magazine.
...with Leni and Lynn Sr.
A knock sounded at the back door. Lynn Loud Sr. set down the bowl of cookie dough he had been mixing and went over to answer it. As he expected, he found his son standing there and waiting.
"Hey there, Lincoln." Lynn said, smiling at his boy. "How's everything over at Mr. Grouse's?"
"Pretty good. We're having lots of fun. Did you find the tupperware platter?"
Lynn Sr. nodded. "I sure did. Tell Mr. Grouse he doesn't need to worry about returning it any time soon. And that I wouldn't mind it if he saved a few of the cookies he's making. From what you told me, they sound tasty."
"I think we can arrange that. We should have more than enough. I can even bring them now, just give me a minute."
Lincoln started the return walk to their next door neighbor's and Lynn Sr. shut the door as he left. He picked up his bowl and set it into the refrigerator, taking out a large jar of maraschino cherries next. Setting the jar onto the counter next to his other baking ingredients, the father of eleven went over to peek into the living room where most of his kids were watching a movie.
"Okay, who wants to help their old dad make some cookies?" he asked. "The sooner we get them in the oven, the sooner they'll be ready to eat!"
"Sorry Dad." Lynn jr. said. "But the game is on in ten and I'm not missing the Lions play against the Bears. Maybe next time."
"That's okay, honey." Lynn Sr. said. "Just do me a favor and let me know if anything interesting happens. I picked Matthew Stafford for my fantasy team and I'll be darned if I lose to Kotaro again this season! Anyway, is anyone else interested in helping me?"
To his disappointment there was a lack of volunteers out of his other children. Even with their movie nearly over, leaving the television to their athletic sister, most of them seemed more interested in heading off to do their own things. However, there was one hand that shot up to offer assistance.
"I'll help you Daddy!" Lola said sweetly.
"Aw, thank you, Princess. Let's get your hands washed and then we can get to work!"
"Oh no, I'm not offering to help you make them, silly." Lola giggled. "But I will be your official taste tester when they're done. Just call me in and have a glass of milk ready for me too, please and thank you."
Lynn Sr.'s smile fell, replaced temporarily by one of unamusement. A sigh escaped his lips as he turned back to the kitchen where it would seem he'd be working alone that afternoon. As he took out a large, clean bowl to use he set to work on making the next batch, recalling its steps from memory. First he added some softened butter and sugar to the bowl and began to beat it until the mixture was blended and creamy. Next he reached for the jar of cherries, and found another hand had already taken hold of it.
"Ooh, are you making those yummy chocolate cookies with the cherries?" came Leni's sweet voice.
"Sure am. They're your mother's favorite, after all." he said, turning to face his daughter. "Honey, you look beautiful!"
Leni smiled proudly at the compliment. "Thank you! I just finished it! It's totes the perfect outfit for making cookies with you!"
The teen did a little twirl to give her father a better look at her new ensemble. It was a forest green dress that came down to her knees. She also was wearing red and green striped stockings, a pair of earrings shaped like little wreaths and in place of her sunglasses was a headband with holly attached to the right side.
"Well it's nice to know someone want's to help out. So, how about you put on an apron to keep that gorgeous outfit clean, wash your hands and then we can get these babies ready to go in the oven?"
Leni nodded and put on one of her father's spare aprons. The frilly pink thing clashed with her current attire, but it was worth it if it meant keeping her outfit from getting stained. That and getting to make cookies with her father. She wouldn't dare miss out on that opportunity at this time of year.
"Okay, so , like, what do you need me to do, Dad?" she asked cheerfully after washing up.
"How about you mix the flour and baking cocoa in a separate bowl while I add the cherry juice and vanilla to this one? Then when it's ready, you can slowly pour your bowl into mine so we can move onto the next step?"
Leni nodded and did as her father requested. Once she had added her blend of flour and cocoa to his mixture, he had her cut up some of the maraschino cherries to add in next along with shredded coconut and some mini chocolate chips.
"Okay, this looks ready to go. Are you ready to get your hands dirty, sweetie?" He asked.
"Um, actually, can I skip this part?" Leni asked, holding up her hands. "I just did my nails this morning."
"That's fine. I can handle rolling the dough." Lynn said, holding out a wooden spoon to her. "But could you use the handle to poke into them once I set them down? Make sure to push it in nice and deep so there's room for the topping after they've been baked and cooled."
"Sure! I can do that much!"
She took the spoon from her father and watched as he took small portions of the chocolatey dough from the bowl and rolled them up. He set down each one onto a baking sheet with some space between them, making sure to keep them all roughly the same size, about one and one quarter inch. Leni waited for him to finish the first sheet of a dozen before she used the spoon handle to make indentations into each cookie. And a couple minutes later the two had four baking sheets all ready for the heat of the oven.
"And now we wait." Lynn announced, checking his watch. "It's just a shame that the other bowl of cookie dough still needs to sit in the fridge a while longer. Otherwise we could have started on them next. Oh well, let me see how many cherries we have. I think there's a second jar in the cupboard that we haven't opened yet. Maybe we can do another batch of these in the meantime."
He opened up the cupboard by the fridge and began checking for another large jar of maraschinos. And while he searched, a knock sounded at the door. Leni went to answer and found her brother there, a napkin in his hand with two cookies sitting on it.
"Oh, hi Leni." he greeted. "Nice outfit."
"Thanks, Linky!" Leni chirped. "What are those?"
"These are some of the cookies that I've been making with Mr. Grouse. I brought them over for Dad to try. Want one? I brought an extra just in case Dad wanted seconds."
"Good thinking, son." Lynn said, closing the cupboard with an unopened jar of cherries in hand. "Although I'll be offering that one to my lovely assistant here. Unless she doesn't want it."
"Are you kidding?" Leni asked, eyeing the freshly baked treats in her brother's hands. "Those look totes delish! Of course I want to try one! Thank you again, Linky!"
Lincoln handed over the cookies, smiling excitedly. "No problem. I have to get going back to Mr. Grouse's though. We're going to be baking for a little longer and then I'm helping him clean up. But I should be home in time for supper."
"Alright, just make sure not to fill up on too many cookies." his father said. "I don't care how good they are, you aren't going to spoil your dinner."
"I won't." Lincoln promised. "I'll be back soon. Hope you like the cookies!"
The boy headed off again, leaving his older sister and father to their own baking. Leni took a bite of her cookie and cooed softly as the flavor made her taste buds dance in delight. Lynn Sr. popped his cookie into his mouth whole, finding it just as enjoyable as his daughter had.
"Mmmm, that's really good!" he said. "I like how there's coconut in the filling, it adds a nice texture to it!"
He swallowed the treat, licking his lips and making a mental note to ask his neighbor for the recipe. Leni finished hers as well and the two Louds returned to work, starting on the next batch of cookie dough. Roughly ten minutes later, the cookies inside the oven were done. Lynn Sr. pulled them out, deeply inhaling their intoxicating scent.
"Oh yeah, these beauties are ready to cool!" he noted aloud. "Leni, could you put the new ones in while I move these onto a wire rack?"
"Like, okay."
The blonde put the next set of baking sheets into the hot oven while her father carefully removed each cookie one at a time to set aside for cooling. By the time he was done with all of them, the sound of his wife's voice announcing her return caught his attention.
"Ah, perfect timing. Looks like we just got some extra help."
End of Part 2)
Just a quick thank you to those who have favorited, followed and reviewed so far. I hope that these new recipes are to your liking!
Eggnog Cookies (Makes about 7 dozen)
Ingredients needed:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup eggnog
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
5 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Colored sugar
1) Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggnog, baking soda and nutmeg. Gradually add flour and mix well. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to about 1/8 in. thickness. Using floured 3 and 1/2 inch cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes; place on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush cookies with egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar.
3) Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Enjoy!
Chocolate Covered Cherry Delights (makes 4 dozen)
Ingredients needed for cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
For the topping:
3/4 cup vanilla frosing
48 maraschino cherries with stems, drained and patted dry
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. shortening
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Gradually beat in cherry juice and vanilla extract. In another bowl, whisk flour and cocoa; gradually beat into the creamed mixture. Stir in the coconut, cherries and chocolate chips.
2) Shape the dough into 48 balls (about 1 and 1/4 inch); place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press a deep indentation in the center of each with the end of a wooden spoon handle. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until set and the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
3) Fill each cookie with 3/4 tsp of frosting. Top with the whole cherries. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle melted chocolate over the cherries with a spoon. Let stand until set. Enjoy!