Christmas Cookie of the Season!

I showed you my decoration of the season, and now I’m going to share with you my Christmas Cookie of the Season, based on the popular Dr. Seuss story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

          You remember ol’ Grinchy, who stole all gifts, decorations, and even the Roast Beast from Whoville, right?  And then (spoiler alert) he learned his lesson:

          I love the message of that story, and the idea that his heart grew three sizes as his Scrooge moment unfolded and he changed his ways.  Redemption is not only a great theme for literature, but for life. 

          So here’s a fantastic green cookie (key lime flavored!) with a red heart in the center, perfect for giving this Christmas.  You could even include the book or a DVD of the movie with a basket of these goodies.  It’s also a hit at potlucks.  AND… this easy recipe is based on one I created myself, and won 1^st Place in a Bisquick contest a few years ago:

          GRINCH COOKIES

          Here are the ingredients:

          ½ Cup butter or margarine, softened

          ¾ Cup packed brown sugar

          2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

          1 egg

          1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla

          6 drops green food coloring

          2 & 1/3 Cups Bisquick Original baking mix

          6 oz. white chocolate chips or white chocolate cut into chunks

          1 Tbsp. finely grated lime rind (two limes will do it)

          Red heart-shaped candies or red hots

Here I need to stop and tell you that my winning recipe was called Key Lime-White Chocolate Cookies and had no heart decoration.  If you don’t like lime, leave it out.  And if you want a killer strawberry-flavored cookie, use strawberry extract and red food coloring.  And if you want to leave out the white chocolate chips, these will still work. And if you prefer mint to lime, use mint extract instead.

          Directions:

          Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and food coloring in a large bowl.  Beat in Bisquick, white chocolate, and lime rind.

 Drop dough by rounded teaspoon-fuls onto an ungreased baking sheet (you don’t need it, but I always use parchment).  Press them down just a little, and press a heart-shaped candy into each cookie.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until set but not brown. Let cool for 1 minute, then remove to rack to cool completely. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

          And then, package them up and tie on a tag like this one:

          You’ll be the hit of the party.  I promise.

          Watch my Youtube Mom videos for more holiday fun—how to wrap a gift, tie a bow, decorate your home—everything you need to know to make the season easier!