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 Rita, Lisa and Darcy (joining Lynn Sr. and Leni)
Vanzilla pulled into the driveway, slowing to a stop in front of the garage. Rita Loud exited the vehicle, taking a grocery bag that had been sitting in the passenger's seat up front. The side door to the van also opened, Lisa Loud hopping out, followed shortly after by her friend Darcy Homandollar. The three went over to the front door, Rita unlocking it and letting the girls inside.
"We're home." She announced, removing her winter hat and scarf. She looked into the living room and found the majority of her children there, all doing their own things to pass the time. "I thought your father was going to make cookies. Hasn't he started yet?"
"He did." Lynn jr. said, her eyes glued to the television screen. "He's in the kitchen right now."
"And nobody is helping him?" Rita asked, crossing her arms. "You know he likes to make them with you kids!"
"It's okay Mom, Leni is in there with him." Luan said, flipping through her book of holiday related jokes.
"Yeah, and besides, we'll help him after their done." Lola said. "He needs someone to taste test them."
"How helpful of you." Rita said with a dry yet joking tone. "Well it looks like we'll just have to go in and have all the fun without you. Right, Lisa?"
Lisa nodded. "Affirmative. Although it may be fortuitous that there's such a lack of interest in assisting Father. Past occurrences have shown that multiple individuals attempting to work in the kitchen can be more chaotic than beneficial."
The young genius made her way into the kitchen along with her mother and friend. They were greeted by smell of the fresh chocolate cookies cooling on the wire racks next to the stove. Darcy went over and tried to peek over the counter at them.
"Ooh, those look yummy! Can I have one please, Mr. Lisa's daddy?" she asked sweetly.
Lynn Sr. offered the kindergartener an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid that those aren't cool enough yet, Darcy. And we still need to finish them too. But I promise you that you can try one after they're all done. So how about you and Lisa help me make some more?"
"Okay!" Darcy chirped. "That sounds like fun!"
"Quite." Lisa added, adjusting her glasses. "And I took the liberty to look into finding some recipes that are easy and also do not require the use of the oven."
"Interesting." Lynn said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I've never done something like that before. Can't wait to see what you've got in mind, kiddo."
"But how are you suppossed to make cookies without an oven?" Darcy asked, tilting her head.
"Simple. We shall instead refrigerate them once the dough has been prepared." Lisa explained. "It will take a while longer for them to finish, but the results should be every bit as satisfying to one's pallette. Shall we begin?"
"Ready whenever you are." her father said. "In fact, how about I just stand to the side and watch? It seems you knew what you're going to be doing, so you can be the head chef."
"Well, if you insist. But I will still require a bit of assitance as we will be utilizing the microwave to melt some of the ingredients. Mother? Would you be so kind?"
Rita nodded and helped the girls situate themselves at the kitchen table after they had washed their hands. From the grocery bag she took out a bag of semisweet chocolate chips, a bag of chopped pecans, a small jar of red nonpareils, a package of chocolate wafers, another package of vanilla wafers and a pack of black licorice. She set them all down in front of Lisa and Darcy on the table along with a few mixing bowls, the measuring cups and a couple of spoons. Lynn Sr. stood by the counter, leaning back and watching while Leni took out her phone to record a video of the two youngsters together.
"Now then, we shall first need to melt three-quarter cups of softened butter along with approximately eight ounces of semi-sweetened chocolate." Lisa stated, setting the required items into a bowl and holding it out for her mother to put into the microwave. "Once they have been melted, we will need to stir them until blended and smooth. Would you like to conduct that step, Darcy? Or would you rather crush the vanilla wafers that we will require afterwards?"
Darcy thought for a moment before smiling brightly at her friend. "We can take turns doing both!"
Lisa, having anticipated such a reaction as a possibility, gave a small smile in return. "Very well. Here, these ten wafers are for you and I shall take the remaining ten. We'll need to place them into a plastic sandwich bag before we initiate the crushing procedure. Otherwise we are likely to create a mess and lose a portion of a vital ingredient."
The two set their wafers into separate bags and zipped them shut. Next they used their hands to crush the wafers as much as possible, Darcy grinning the entire time from how fun it was. By the time they had finished, Mrs. Loud had finished melting the chocolate and butter in the microwave. She took out the bowl and set it down on the table for the girls to begin stirring. Lisa started, using quick and strong strokes to mix the melted concoction. Then she allowed Darcy her turn, the energetic girl attempting to mimic Lisa's actions.
"Very good. Now we let the mixture sit a minute so it may cool and then we add our crushed wafers, followed by some pecans. Then we may pour it into a square pan lined with foil and set our cookies into the refrigeration unit for two hours."
"Two hours?!" Darcy asked in surprise. "But that's a really long time! Even naptime at school doesn't take that long!"
"I know, but that's why we started with these ones. While they are setting inside of the refrigerator, we shall start on the next ones. And I have good reason to believe that you'll get even more enjoyment out of creating those. However, we need to finish that which we have started. So, let us continue with their preparation. The mixture should be ready by now."
Lisa had Darcy continue to stir while she added in the wafers and pecans. Once all of the ingredients were mixed, she had Darcy pour them into the pan and Rita placed it into the fridge to begin cooling. Lisa had her mother melt some more chocolate in the microwave while she and Darcy began to crush up some chocolate wafers like they had done with the vanilla ones. They mixed them into the freshly melted chocolate along with a little sour cream and then covered the bowl with plastic wrap.
"Splendid. Now we allow these to sit with the other bowl for up to an hour."
"Boo!" Darcy said with a small pout. "I thought these were gonna be more fun!"
Lisa smiled nervously. "Yes, well, perhaps it would have been wise to inform you that these also require a lengthy cooling period. But it only takes one hour at most. The time may actually be somewhat less than that expectation. And while we wait, perhaps we could engage in play?"
"Or..." Lynn sr. cut in, pulling out some of the cookies that he had baking in the over. "You girls can help me and Leni top off the cookies we made a little while ago! Those ones should be ready by now. And then we can do the same with these ones once their cool too!"
"Okay!" Darcy said, smiling again.
He took out the other two baking sheets and began to move the hot cookies carefully onto a wire rack while he had Leni set the cool ones down in front of Lisa and Darcy. Leni set down a container of vanilla frosting and a jar of cherries for the younger girls while Rita melted some more chocolate chips in the microwave, this time with shortening as instructed by her husband.
"Now, each of these cookies needs three things to finish them up." Lynn said to the ladies at the table. "First, we add nearly one teaspoonful of the frosting to them. Then they each get one whole cherry on top. Lastly, we're going to drizzle some chocolate over them and voila! Give them a little bit to set and they're ready for eating!"
Lynn gave a quick demonstration for the girls before letting them take over. Darcy took hold of the cherries and Lisa took the frosting. The two began to top off each cookie with their respective ingredient and Rita drizzled the melted chocolate over them afterwards.
"Now they look really yummy!" Darcy said, licking her lips.
"Indeed they do." Lisa agreed, feeling her mouth water a little. "Darcy, I must apologize for my error in judgement. I hadn't taken into account that the duration between the preparation stages of my cookie recipes may have been longer than you would have liked."
"That's okay, Lisa. It isn't your fault. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."
"Perish the thought. But I shall reiterate, once we can proceed with the cookies we started a short while ago, you shall find it was worth the wait. I specifically selected that recipe as I predicted you'd find them most appealing."
Darcy blinked in confusion, trying to make sense of her friends vocabulary choices.
"What I mean is that you'll definitely like them when they've been finished."
"Oh! Yeah, I'm sure that I will!" Darcy said, pulling Lisa in for a hug. "You know lots of stuff, so if you think I'll like them then I believe you!"
Rita and Leni looked at the cute scene with adoration in their eyes. The two kindergarteners then each got to try one of the finished cookies, as did the adults and teenager in the room. Lynn called in Lola, willing to let the princess fulfull her title of taste tester. Lana also followed, eager to have a cookie for herself. But the fact that none of the other Loud girls came in left him a little perplexed.
"Don't any of your big sisters want one?" he wondered aloud.
"Luan took Lily upstairs to give her a bath and Lynn is so obsessed with her silly game that she's lost in her own little world." Lola said.
"What about Lucy?" Rita asked. "Doesn't she want one?"
"She went out for one of her evening strolls with Fangs." Lana said, snagging a fresh cookie. "She said she'd be back in time for dinner."
"Her loss." Lola said, "These are good! I just need some milk to go with them."
Lola opened the fridge and immediately saw the bowls and pan of dough. She quirked an eyebrow and turned to look at her father.
"What's all this stuff?" she asked.
"That bowl on the right is the eggnog cookie dough that we'll be baking soon enough." Lynn said. "The other two are your sister Lisa's cookies."
"Ooh, more chocolate!" Lola noticed after taking a closer look. "So, what kind of cookies are they, Lisa?"
"You're more than welcome to join us if you wish. We should be able to continue with them soon enough."
"I guess." Lola said with a shrug. "If it means I get to have more cookies, then why not?"
A short while later, Lisa took out the bowl of dough and brought it to the table. She also had more chocolate wafers crushed up into a shallow bowl and the black licorice had been cut into small strips no longer than two inches each. Darcy and her siblings watched closely as she took a teaspoon and scooped out a little of the dough which she then rolled into a ball.
"Watch closely." She told them. "For I am about to show you the final steps in this particular cookie making process."
Lisa gently tapered off one end of the dough ball, giving it a more pointed appearance. Then she rolled the dough in the crushed wafers, coating it evenly. Next she took two nonpareils, two slices of almonds and a single strip of the cut licorice. She placed the nonpareils atop the tapered end and then set the sliced almonds upright not too far behind them at an angle. After that she stuck the licorice in the round end and then showed off the finished product for all to see.
"Behold! A cookie in the shape and appearance of Mus musculus! Otherwise known as..."
"A cute little mousy!" Darcy exclaimed. "That's so neat, Lisa!"
"It's so cute!" Lola said. "I almost don't want to eat it! Almost."
"I want to make one!" Lana said. "Can you show me what you did again, Lis?"
"Affirmative. Here, take a little for yourself and follow along with me during each step. You as well, Darcy. Lola, will you also be contributing?"
Lola nodded eagerly and removed her princess gloves. She and Lana washed their hands and soon all four younger girls were busily crafting the little mice shaped cookies. And while they were occupied with that, Lynn Sr, Rita and Leni topped off the second batch of chocolate cherry delight cookies that had been cooling on the counter.
Once the two groups had finished with their cookies, Lynn Sr. began to put them away into airtight containers, allowing the girls to each take one of Lisa's mouse cookies to try first. He set the cookies into the fridge, taking out his bowl of eggnog cookie dough.
"Alright, this should be ready for rolling and cutting. Who wants to help me with the cookie cutters?"
"I do! I do! I do!" Came the chorused voices of Lola, Lana and Darcy.
"I shall also be of assitance." Lisa added.
"Like, me too!" Leni said.
The father smiled and began to clear the table off before laying down a layer of flour. Then he rolled out about half of the dough until it was ready for cutting and brought out the cookie cutters which were floured as well.
"Okay, everyone pick a shape and let's get to cutting these cookies!" he said, setting down seven different shaped cookie cutters.
"I get the angel!" Lola said.
"I call the reindeer!" Lana announced.
"I select the star." Lisa stated, turning to her friend. "Which one would you like, Darcy?"
"Ooh, ooh! The snowman please!"
"Yay!" Leni cheered. "I get the little Santa hat! So cute!"
Lynn held out the remaining two cutters for his wife. "Well Honey, which would you like? The tree or the stocking?"
"I'll take the tree, please and thank you." his wife answered.
"Then the stocking for me it is! Let's get to it! But no pushing, there's plenty for everyone to cut!"
The seven began to cut out the cookies from the rolled dough. Once they had gotten out as many as they could, Lynn took the remainder and balled it up so he could roll it out again. Then they started to cut out their respective shapes all over again and again until all the dough had been used up and was ready to bake.
"I can't wait to try those ones!" Lana said.
"Well after they cool we have to coat them with sugar. Then they'll be ready."
"Sweet! That's even better!" Lana cheered.
"Can I take some home to share with my mommy and daddy?" Darcy asked.
"Of course you can, sweetie." Rita said. "We'll make a nice big plate of them for you to bring home. In fact, how about we make some more?"
Darcy nodded eagerly. "Yes please! Can we do more of Lisa's mouse cookies?"
"Absolutely!" Lynn Sr. said. "I want to help with them this time too! But first, let's do a little cleaning up. Besides the flour all over the table, we do need to rinse out the bowls and utensils."
He gathered up the used items and brought them over to the sink. He ran hot water over them and gave them a once over with dish soap before drying them off. Rita took one of the clean bowls and set it down so Lisa and Darcy could mix up more of the dough and they could all share in making the next batch of Lisa's cookies together.
End of Part 3)
Well it seems like this chapter ran a little longer than the previous two. Sorry to say that I can't promise the same of the ones that will follow, but I hope that you all still enjoy the read. Here's this chapter's recipes for you!
No-Bake Chocolate Cookie Triangles (Makes 32 cookies)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
8 oz. semisweetened chocolate, chopped (A/N: Or just substitute mini chocolate chips like I do.)
20 vanilla wafers, coarsely crushed
1/2 cup chopped pecans ( A/N: Another idea could be sliced almonds or chopped walnuts instead of pecans.)
1) In a microwave, melt the butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in the wafer crumbs and pecans. Transfer to a greased, foil-lined 8-in. sqauare pan. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
2) Using foil, lift the cookies out of the pan. Discard foil; cut into triangles. Refrigerate leftovers.
Christmas Mice Cookies (makes 1 and 1/2 dozen)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs, divided
1/3 cup sour cream
36 red nonpareils
1/4 cup sliced almonds
18 pieces black shoestring licorice (2-in. each)
1) In a microwave, melt the chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in 1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs and sour cream. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour or until firm enough to shape.
2) Place remaining wafer crumbs into a shallow bowl. For each mouse, roll about 1 tablespoon crumb mixture into a ball; taper one end to resemble a mouse's body. Roll in wafer crumbs to coat. Attach nonpareils for eyes, sliced almonds for ears and the licorice strings for tails. Store in an airtight container inside the refrigerator. Enjoy!