Charlene's Cookies
I learned from an infamous cookie baker that the most important thing you can do is beat the butter/shortening and sugars for four minutes. Beat the butter/shortening first until creamy. Then add the sugars and beat for four minutes. The crystals of the sugar dissolve and the mixture becomes light and fluffy. It makes a real difference in the texture of the baked cookie.
Using eggs at room temperature helps the baking process. If taken right out of the refrigerator, you can put them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
My lifelong habit is to do the easiest things first. Applying that to the baking of Christmas cookies, I start with Swedish Almond Rusks. The flavor improves with aging so that is the perfect beginning. Next, I bake the bars – Spice Bars and English Toffee Bars. They don't create much of a mess and you get dozens and dozens of cookies. Next, are cookies that require being rolled into a ball – Peanut Blossoms, Sesame Twists, and Minted Candy Canes. Then I bring out the rolling pin and get to work on the remaining recipes. The above cookies can be frozen or stored in containers. Pecan Balls are the only cookies I bake and keep fresh.
Cookies that are rolled with a rolling pin are more work. After the initial rolling and cutting out the cookies there is always dough remaining. Squeeze it into one patty and return it to the bowl with the unrolled dough. After all the dough has had its initial rolling and cutting, take the remaining patties and reroll them and cut out more cookies. It's best not to use the remaining dough more than once. As you have to add more flour to work with the dough and that affects the texture of the cookies. Dough that has to be rolled needs to be chilled. Making the dough the day before and storing it in the refrigerator is a good idea.
All finished cookies can be frozen or stored. If freezing, wrap the cookies in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. The 18" aluminum foil is excellent for this purpose. Cookies that are stored at room temperature should be wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a plastic container. When layering cookies separate the layers with waxed paper. Swedish Almond Rusks and Butterscotch Shortbread are the only ones I store and don't freeze. When I was a school secretary the school photographer always delivered the students' pictures to the office. The pictures were separated by 10" x12" cardboard. One day I looked at those pieces of cardboard which were being discarded and thought, "I can use those." I covered them with 12" aluminum foil which I used to support all the cookies being wrapped to freeze. Cookies are fragile and this flat surface is ideal. I've been retired for 21 years now and still have those pieces of cardboard.
The above are suggestions only. Do what works best for you and enjoy the cookies, the most precious gift you are giving.
Have fun and enjoy,
Charlene