Day 2 of the 12 days of Christmas Cookies!

Howdy Howdy!

Here is the second recipe in my 12 days of Christmas Cookies! These are another one of my favorites! I always waited for Christmas to come so we could make them, and I was always trying to sneak tastes of the batter! LOL You know, QA!

Date-Orange Balls

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped dates (use real dates, not the ones like come in the trail mixes)

1 Tablespoon grated orange rind

powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs. Sift dry ingredients together and add gradually to the creamed mixture. Fold in the dates and orange rind. Chill for at least one hour. Flour hands, break off small pieces of dough, roll into balls and place on greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven (375*) for 10-15 minutes. Toss hot cookies in a lunch sack with powdered sugar. Cool on rack. Makes about 45 cookies. 

 I truly loved these cookies... course, all of them are my favorites from childhood. In the house I grew up in, we had a huge counter in our kitchen that Mom and I would use to cut patterns out on, and wrap presents too! but when Christmas came around, it was the cookie baking station! Out would come the old Sunbeam mixer from the pantry, the bowls and measuring cups and spoons... the flour and sugar canisters would appear.... The recipe box would be consulted, cookie recipes would be chosen and the cookies would begin to be baked! Often, we would cover the dining room table with opened paper grocery sacks to cool extra cookies on, once the cooling racks were covered in the kitchen. Mom and I would do our major baking over 2 days, getting up around 6 am and going all day for about 2 days running. Always smelled so good in the house... 

I remember one Christmas, during the sugar shortage in the 70's, Mom and I tearing sugar packets to make our cookies. Dad was a banker at the time and one of his accounts had been a restaurant that closed and we were allowed to go in an help ourselves to things in the pantry and larder before it went on auction. Dad got a couple, maybe 3? boxes of sugar packets and #10 cans of cocktail sauce and some other things, but I remember the sugar packets best. Gold and white Domino sugar packets, hundreds of them. LOL. 

Well, I will be back tomorrow with more cookie recipes and possibly a candy recipe as well! Take care, happy baking and happy crafting!!!

Karen