Cookie Frosting

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring (optional)
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Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, confectioners' sugar, and milk until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and food coloring. Spread on or between cookies.

Serves 16

Soft Christmas Cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Cover dough, and chill for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are barely brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Use with frosting recipe.

Rolo Turtles

25 rolo candies


25 small pretzel


25 pecan halves

Arrange the pretzels on a cookie sheet. Place a rolo on the top of each pretzel. Place in the oven at 250 degrees until the rolo starts to melts, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a pecan half.



Freezing Pies Tips

Before freezing a pie or pie shell, make sure you tightly wrap it in plastic wrap or foil. Remove plastic wrap or foil before baking.

Pie Shells

– Baked stored for 4 months. Heat at 350º for 6 minutes.

– Unbaked stored for 2 months. Bake right out of freezer.

Fruit pies

– Baked stored for 4 months. Heat at 325º for 45 minutes.

– Unbaked stored for 3 months. Heat at 475º for 15 minutes, then at 375º for 45 minutes.

Cream, Custard pies & pies with meringue

– Cannot be frozen

Pumpkin & Pecan

– Bake before freezing. Stored for 4 months. Heat at 325º for 45 minutes.

Double Pie Crust

2 ½ C. flour

3/4 C. shortening

3/4 tsp. salt

8 to 10 Tablespoons (1/2 c. plus 2 T.) ice cold water

1. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl.

2. Gently cut in shortening with a pastry blender until pea sized.

3. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the cold water over flour mixture, tossing lightly with a fork or rubber scraper. Add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork, and press to the side of the bowl until all is moistened.

4. Divide dough in half, and gently pat into 2 lightly flattened balls. (Don’t over-work your dough at this point. You should just gently gather the dough into two slightly flattened pieces, not two tightly compressed dough balls.)

5. For a 2-crust pie:

Bottom - On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball from center to edges, to form a 12” circle. Fold in half or roll the pastry around the rolling pin. Unfold or unroll it over a 9” pie plate. Ease the pastry into the plate, and, using kitchen shears, trim the dough so that there is a one-inch overhang of pie dough. Fill the crust with the desired filling.

Top - On a lightly floured surface, roll the second ball from center to edges, to form a 12” circle. Place the top crust on the filling, and cut slits or shapes to allow steam to escape. Using kitchen shears, trim the pastry one inch beyond the rim. Fold the top edge over the trimmed bottom edge, and flute the edge to seal.

Bake pie as directed on individual recipes.

6. For a lattice top pie:

Bottom - On a lightly floured surface, roll one ball from center to edges, to form a 12” circle. Fold in half or roll the pastry around the rolling pin. Unfold or unroll it over a 9” pie plate. Ease the pastry into the plate, and, using kitchen shears, trim 1” beyond the rim of the pan. Fill the crust with the desired filling.

Top - On a lightly floured surface, roll the second ball from center edges, to form a 12” circle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pastry in 1/2” strips. Starting at the center of the pie, weave the strips over the filling to make a lattice. Press the ends of the strips into the rim of the bottom crust. Fold the bottom crust over the strips, and flute the edge to seal.

Bake pie as directed on individual recipes.

Apple Pie

Start with Pie Crust recipe

Filling

6 C. prepared baking apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)

3/4 C. packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

To use on completed crust 2-3 Tbsp. milk

sugar

1. Preheat your home oven to 425°.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.

3. Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Add apples to cinnamon mixture and toss to coat.

4. Pour filling into the prepared bottom crust.

5. Place top crust over filling as directed above. Brush the crust with milk, and sprinkle with sugar.

6. Using foil, fold a 12” square of aluminum foil into quarters. Cut out the center section, making a 7 ½” circle. Unfold the foil and place the square section over the pie. You may also use a long strip of foil 5 inches wide to wrap around the pie. When placing the foil on the pie, place the shiny side out to reflect the heat away from the crust. Loosely mold the foil over the edges to protect them from burning.

7. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly. NOTE: You may want to protect the bottom of your oven from the molten syrup in case it spills out of the pie during baking.

Raspberry Butter

½ cup soft butter

½ cup raspberries, crushed

1 Tbsp. sugar

1. Using wire whisk on KitchenAid, beat butter on high speed until fluffy, up to 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl occasionally.

2. Add raspberries and sugar.

3. Continue to beat, scraping bowl occasionally with a rubber scraper, until well mixed, up to 10 additional minutes.