25 Days of Christmas Cookies!-2012

The Idea:

So you know how some TV channels have "25 Days of Christmas" and they play a different Christmas movie every day? Well, I've decided I want to try to make 25 Days of Christmas Cookies, where I make a different type of cookie every day of December through Christmas Day. My plan is to make a combination of traditional favorites and try out new recipes. Lucky for me, this year I'm at school so I have lots of classmates who are willing to help me get rid of the cookies after I've made them. Unfortunately, I've already missed my 25 cookie goal for this year. As you can see the date on this post is the 5th, so I will post the recipes I've already made and then keep track of the new ones from here on. On December 1st and 3rd I was on call, so no cookies were made those days, but I have been able to make some so far. Now the goal is to see how many I CAN make.

What I use (pics to come):

Kitchen Aid mixer-he's beautiful and I love him
Non-stick baking sheets
Gallon ziplocs bags-great for storing cookies overnight (that's the longest they stick around) and making disposable piping bags (just put ~6 layers of scotch tape on the tip to help it keep it's shape)
Silicon Spatulas-lifting (best way to decookie a baking sheet) and mixing
Ice cream scoops of various sizes-they're great for making uniformly sized cookies and it makes prep time faster
Cooling racks-are awesome, and you can get ones that stack which save counter/table space
Chef Tap-really neat phone app that downloads recipes and autoformats them, very handy when cooking and grocery shopping

Random Tips:

-After creaming the butter and sugar and adding eggs I usually beat the mixture on medium/high speed for 1-2min until the color lightens.  It aerates the dough and makes for lighter cookies.
-Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing them.  They usually harden and hold their shape when you remove them instead of squishing.  Either way they'll taste the same, I think they're just prettier if they stay round.
-Read the whole recipe first.  That way you'll know to go ahead and let your butter for the icing sit out and get soft before you start making cookies.