Recipes for a cookie exchange

NO-BAKE FAVORITES

This is my signature holiday cookie. The recipe is my mother-in-law's and, over the years, it has proven incredibly popular. Last year, I made 60 dozen booze balls. And no, that's not a typo.

Doris' Booze Balls

1 6-ounce package of semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons white syrup

1/2 cup bourbon (the cheaper, the better)

2-1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts, but pecans work, too.)

Additional confectioners' sugar to roll the cookies in

Melt the chips slowly in a large pot, then remove from heat. Add syrup and bourbon. Combine crushed wafers, powdered sugar and nuts and add to the chocolate mixture. Blend well. Allow the batter to cool and set up, about 30 minutes. Form into balls and roll the balls in powdered sugar. Seal in an airtight container and store in a cool place (they don't need to be refrigerated). They seem to get stronger with age and can be made a month in advance. The balls absorb confectioners' sugar, so depending how far in advance you make them, you may want to recoat them before serving.

Yield: 2-3 dozen.

A News Tribune colleague often made these colorful no-bake treats for our annual cookie exchange.

Diane's Christmas Wreaths

6 cups of mini-marshallows

1/2 cup butter

4 cups corn flakes

1 teaspoon vanilla

Green food coloring

Cinnamon red hots

Place marshmallows and butter in a microwavable bowl and melt, in 1-minute increments, stirring after each minute. (It shouldn't take more than 3 minutes to melt.) Add vanilla and food coloring. Add corn flakes and mix until coated. Spray wax paper with nonstick spray, then drop batter by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Cluster three cinnamon red hots on each cookie and allow to cool, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the wax paper as soon as they are cool. Don't stack them; they'll stick together. Also, make only one batch at a time; they firm up quickly.

Yield: 1-1/2 to 2 dozen.

A friend's sister has collected and perfected no-bake cookie recipes during her years in the military. It takes few ingredients and little time to whip up a batch.

Laura's Ting-A-Lings

24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

2 cups peanuts

9-12 ounces of chow mein noodles

Melt both chocolates together in a microwavable bowl. Stir to combine. Add peanuts. Slightly crush the chow mein noodles so they're not too long. Add them a handful at a time until they are well coated with chocolate. Spoon onto wax paper and chill in the refrigerator or freezer. Remove from wax paper and store in a plastic container. Cookies don't have to be refrigerated.

Yield: 4-5 dozen.

TRADITIONAL FAVORITES

This recipe comes from the classic Betty Crocker Cooky Book, circa 1963. If you've never seen this cookbook, it's worth browsing for its treasure trove of cookie ideas. The cookbook was reissued in 2002.

Minty Meltaways

1 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2-1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Green and red food coloring

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix butter, sugar and mint extract. Stir flour and salt together; blend into the butter mixture. Separate the dough in half; use the food coloring to tint one batch red and the other green. Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. The cookies do not spread. Bake about 8 minutes or until set. Optional: You can dip them in powdered sugar, cover them with sprinkles or frost them.

Yield: 2-3 dozen.

Tip: I like to double this recipe and make an entire batch in green and another batch in red.

I discovered this recipe on the Web site www.cooks.com . It's a quick way to whip up gingerbread cookies, a traditional favorite.

EZ Gingerbread Cookies

1 package (1 pound, 1.5 ounces) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

2-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup dark molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Follow the package directions to make the sugar cookies, then add all the ingredients listed above. Chill the dough an hour. Roll out the dough on a floured board, then cut into desired shapes. Bake for 8 minutes. When cool, frost or decorate as desired.

Yield: 3 dozen.

This is a co-worker's family recipe -- a traditional holiday cookie made by her mother and grandmother.

Kipfeln (German Crescents)

Dough

4 cups flour

1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 dozen beaten egg yolks

Filling

1-1/8 cups sugar

1 dozen whipped egg whites

3 cups ground walnuts

Mix flour and butter with your hands. Add egg yolks and continue until it's well-mixed. Dough will be firm. Refrigerate 1 hour.

In another bowl, whip egg whites. Fold in sugar and then ground nuts.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make crescents: Roll dough into a ball the size of a walnut. Roll out on lightly floured surface until one-eighth-inch thick. It should be somewhat round. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling on the center of each round. Take one side of the pastry and fold it over the filling. Roll it the rest of the way, then pinch the ends to seal and curve into crescents. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 20-25 minutes. Dust with sifted confectioners' sugar while warm.

Yield: 5 dozen.