Christmas Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Christmas Peanut Butter Monster Cookies, there is just something very holiday-ish about these cookies. I have always enjoyed the colors green and red together. These cookies will brighten up any holiday table.
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Where Did the Green and Red for Christmas Come From for these Monster Cookies?
Besides the color of these green and red M&Ms. When it comes to Christmas what do you think of first? There are some that think of wrapped presents sitting under the Christmas tree, which is adorned with beautiful white or colored lights. Others think of family time or time spent with friends celebrating the birth of Jesus. There are others that might think of Santa sliding down the chimney, where stockings are hung.
If you were to put the images of Christmas onto paper in the form of a drawing, I am pretty sure there are two crayons you’d use more than any others: red and green. Over a hundred years, red and green have been the traditional colors of Christmas. But do we know why?
Why We Have Green and Red for Christmas.
Christmas trees are green, Santa’s suit and Rudolph’s nose are red. These present days holiday decorations and characters weren’t the motivation for the colors we associate with Christmas. To find their background, we have to go farther back in time.
It isn’t known for certain how and why red and green became so closely affiliated with Christmas. There are a few popular ideas. Many Christians think that red and green were inspired by the birth of Jesus. Christians celebrate this birth on Christmas.
Green represents the every lasting life of Jesus Christ, just as evergreen trees remain green for the whole winter. Red represents the blood shed by Jesus while he was on the cross.
Academics date the tradition of red and green at Christmas back to the 1300s when churches would present Miracle Plays. These were religious plays that were to educate a largely uneducated public who could not read the Bible.
One Miracle Play that was presented on Christmas Eve was called The Paradise Play. Which was about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Those that know the story know that God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden “apple” from the Tree of Good and Evil. But they chose not to listen and were kicked out of the garden.
Since apple trees were empty in the winter, churches would bring in pine trees and attach apples to the branches to serve as the Tree of Good and Evil. People started to replicate this in their own homes, establishing the custom of the Christmas tree and using red and green as Christmas colors.
Christmas Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup unsalted sweet cream butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cup flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup red M&M’s
- 1 cup green M&M’s
- ¾ cup Christmas sprinkles
- 1 medium ice cream scooper
- 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Using a standing mixer, beat together the sugars, butter, shortening, butter, and eggs until combined and smooth.
- Using a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt until combined.
- Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet until a dough forms.
- Fold in ¾ C white chocolate chips, ¾ C red M&M’s, ¾ C green M&M’s ½ C sprinkles.
- Using the ice cream scooper, scoop out some dough onto the tray and bake in the oven for 7 minutes.
- Remove tray from oven and sprinkle some of the remaining chocolate chips, m&m’s, and sprinkles on top.
- Place back into the oven and continue to bake for an additional 2-3 minutes or until a light golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool before enjoying!
Notes
Nutrition
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