Readers Bring their Best for our Fourth Annual NCM

Bake Your Best Christmas Cookie Contest

Santa himself visited on the day of our fourth annual Newnan-Coweta Magazine Bake Your Best Cookie Contest – and he came away from the table content and happy!

As we have in years past, NCM kicked off the holidays in September with guest judges invited to taste and rank cookies submitted by our readers.

This year's grand prize winner was Carol Grizzard, whose delicious Fruitcake Cookies wowed the judges so much that, for the first time since our contest began in 2018, a traditional cookie beat out decorated cookies for the grand prize.

Each year, we invite readers to submit cookies in one or each of two categories, Decorated and Traditional, and our judges vote for the first, second and third place winners in each category. Then, they choose the grand prize winning cookie from the two first place winners.

Grizzard won first place in the Traditional Cookie category. Judges called her cookie “absolutely delicious” and deemed it pretty for the holidays as well with its red and green fruit pieces.

Our grand prize and other winners received baskets filled with gift cards, candles, artwork, jewelry and other prizes donated from our gracious sponsors, who are listed on the opposite page.

“I went through my basket and just loved it,” says Grizzard.

Recipes for our winning cookies:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Submitted by Carol Grizzard

Fruitcake Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup each candied red and green cherries and pineapple

In a bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and oats; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in coconut, dates, cherries and pineapple. Shape into 1-inch balls, place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on rack.

1st Place Decorated

Submitted by Karin Francis

Christmas Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Royal Icing

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar 3 to 4 minutes, slowly increasing speed to medium, until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until mixed..

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until a dough forms. Scrape sides of bowl and knead dough 3 to 4 times to combine everything.

Divide dough in half and cover one half. Place the other half on a floured surface and roll to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake one batch at a time for about 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pan and place on wire rack. Allow to cool.

Peppermint Royal Icing

2 pounds confectioners’ sugar

5 tablespoons meringue powder

3/4  cup warm water

Couple of drops of peppermint oil

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder at low speed until combined. Slowly add warm water and peppermint oil, beating until fluid, about 1 minute.Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until stiff, 4 to 5 minutes. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for
3 days.

Divide icing into bowls to add necessary colors for decorating. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until border consistency is reached. Place some in a pastry bag with a small round tip. Continue adding water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until flood consistency is reached. Place in large squeeze bottle.

Using border icing, pipe an outline along edges of cookie. Using the flood icing, fill in the center. Using a wooden pick, remove air bubbles and make sure there are no gaps in the icing. Continue decorating as needed or desired. Let icing dry for 2 to 3 hours.

2nd Place Traditional

Submitted by Hannah Kupfer

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies 

1 cup cold salted butter, cut
into pieces

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cold large eggs

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1/2 cup Dutch Process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2  cup crushed peppermint

1 cup white melting chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and both sugars for 2 to 3 minutes. Add cold eggs, peppermint extract and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy.

Add flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt just until incorporated. Mix in chocolate chips and crushed peppermint

Scoop batter onto prepared sheet pan with scoops 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Pull from oven and let cookies finish baking on pan.

Once cookies have cooled, slowly heat melting chocolate. Use a spoon to stripe the tops of cookies.

2nd Place Decorated

Submitted by Beth Johnson

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Sift flour and salt; set aside. Mix together butter and sugar for approximately 5 minutes. Whisk together egg, vanilla, almond and lemon; add to butter and sugar mixture.

With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture. When cookie dough is mixed, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out designs. Place on cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Icing Recipe

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons water, adding more if necessary for consistency

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/2  teaspoon almond extract

Mix ingredients. Add preferred coloring, and decorate cookies.

3rd Place Traditional

Submitted by Maximus Smith, 9

Molasses Ginger Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

4 tablespoons molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first six ingredients and set aside.

Cream together shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses. Slowly mix in dry ingredients.

Chill for at least one hour (but dough will keep for a couple of days). Shape dough into balls and roll in sugar. Use red or green sugar for an added Christmas touch. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

3rd Place Decorated

Submitted by Pam Beavers

Linzer Cookies

1 cup whole almonds

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2  teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of 2 small lemons

Choice of jam

Confectioners’ sugar

To toast almonds, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on cookie sheet and toast 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant. Let almonds cool completely. In food processor, grind almonds with ¼ cup granulated sugar until finely ground. In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt together. Stir in ground almonds. In mixing bowl, beat butter until pale in color. Add remaining granulated sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest. Gradually add flour/nut mixture. Divide dough into quarters and wrap each piece in plastic. Refrigerate at least an hour and up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a flour sack cloth, put additional flour on the cloth. When dough is soft, flatten it onto the cloth and sprinkle a little flour on top of dough; roll dough to ¼-inch thickness. Use 3-inch cookie cutters (round, star and heart are traditional) to cut cookie bottom, and then cut second cookie as the top. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center of the top cookie for the jam to show through. Repeat with remaining dough, chilling dough as needed.

Bake cookies about 12 minutes until edges are golden brown. Let them cool a little and then transition to wire rack. Once cooled, spread cookie bottom with jam, leaving a narrow border. Dust each cookie top with confectioners’ sugar, and then place the top cookie on the jam-spread bottom cookie. Using a spoon or decorating tip and piping bag, fill the cutout center with more jam. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in airtight container for several days. NCM