Recipe: Press Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
red and green food coloring

With an electric mixer mix the butter, egg, and almond extract.
Add the sugar, flour and salt and mix until combined.
Divide the dough in half and mix red food coloring in one batch, green in the other.
Wrap the dough in saran wrap and chill overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
With a cookie press space evenly on a cookie sheet, decorating with sprinkles and red hot candies.
Bake 4 minutes and then rotate the trays and bake an additional 4 minutes.

Recipe : Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups and 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and ginger together in an electric mixer, or by hand.

In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.  Pour them into the wet ingredients, and then add the chocolate chips, mixing well.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, place onto buttered baking sheets, and refrigerate for twenty minutes.  Remove from refrigerator, and bake 10-12 minutes until done.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.