Kids Cuisine

When it comes time to do the holiday baking, often times I’m at a loss for ways to let my children help me in the kitchen. Any cookie that require sprinkles usually gets their attention, but other than that, they quickly lose interest in rolling and cutting, or dropping dough onto sheets before baking. What’s a Mom to do with two willing helpers?

First of all, let them choose the cookies to make. Yes, this can be a scary prospect, but I did just this yesterday, and the results were delicious. I pulled one of those Christmas Cookie magazines off the shelf and handed it to my son. I asked him to look through it and pick the one he wanted us to make together. He was so excited! He carefully looked at each and every pictur, before settling on a cookie that took me by surprise. I had expected icing in some form at least, so I was shocked by his choice of a simple snowball cookie. When I asked him about it, he said he thought they looked like little donuts and that they looked delicious.

The ingredients were few, so there wasn’t much to mix together, but once the cookies had baked and cooled enough to handle, my son was more than willing to help me roll them in the powdered sugar. I’m not sure if the cookies got more sugar or if Zander got more sugar, but he enjoyed helping with the cookie process, and we were able to try a brand new cookie that we both enjoyed. The cherries and walnuts in the snowballs are a delightful new twist to a standard holiday cookie, and Zander highly recommends them.

Cherry-Walnut Snowballs
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1 cup butter — softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts — toasted
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Drain maraschino cherries on paper towels; pat dry to remove excess moisture, set aside.
3. Beat butter in a mixing bowl for about 30 seconds, or until nicely softened. Add powdered sugar, almond, and vanilla extract; beat well. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer.
4. Stir in any remaining flour, nuts, and cherries.
5. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly browned.
6. Cool cookies for 5 minutes on cooling racks. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar to coat. Place back on the racks and allow to cool completely.
7. If desired, roll cookies in additinal powdered sugar before serving. Makes about 48 cookies.
8. To store: Place in an airtight container, separating layers with pieces of waxed paper. Store at room temperature for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw before serving.