MEDIA > ARTICLES > HAVE A SWEET HOLIDAY!

Starlets Dakota and Elle Fanning may be experts at acting, but when it comes to helping in the kitchen - a favorite pastime for the adorable sisters - they can't handle anything too tricky. Lucky for them, their Grandma Mary Jane has a flair for finding Christmas goodies that are, well...a piece of cake to make! Here, we've collected some super simple-yet-scrumptious Fanning favorites that'll make it easy for you - and any little helpers you might have - to whip up homemade holiday treats the no-stress way!

When Christmastime rolls around, sisters Dakota and Elle - ages nine and five - can't wait to make the trip from Hollywood to Georgia so they can start baking with their Grandma Mary Jane. "I look forward to it every year. It's really, really fun," laughs Dakota, precocious star of The Cat in the Hat. While "Joy to the World" plays in the background (Dakota loves the song because her mom's name is Joy), the sisters help Grandma bake batch after batch of chocolate-chip cookies, iced sugar cookies, brownies and more. "I like stirring in the chocolate and putting in the chocolate chips," giggles Elle, who can next be seen in The Door in the Floor, starring Kim Basinger. "Sometimes I get to lick the spoon!"

Grandma has just as much fun as the little ones. Her secret? Allowing her granddaughters to pitch in on recipes that are crowd-pleasing and kid-pleasing - and yet incredibly easy. So where can you find recipes like these? Right here! We've rounded up all the Fanning sisters' favorites. Just make sure to set a few aside for Santa, Dakota cautions, 'cause everyone gobbles 'em up so fast, "they're always pretty much gone!"

When Dakota and Elle visit their grandma, these are the cookies they can't wait to help bake- and then gobble them up! We bet your kids will love 'em just as much.

Festive Chocolate Chip Cookies
The sisters both adore chocolate-chip cookies- especially with yummy extras like M&Ms or colorful holiday baking pieces mixed in. "When you mix them with the chocolate chips, they're so good", says Elle.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. (10 oz.) Nestle's Holiday Shapes & Morsels, divided
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour and baking soda: reserve. At medium-high speed beat butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until blended. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in reserved flour mixture. Reserve 1/3 cup Shapes & Morsels. Stir chips and remaining Shapes & Morsels into dough, at least 2" apart, onto ungreased baking sheets, flatten slightly. Press reserved Shapes & Morsels onto cookies. Bake 8 minutes or until golden around edges. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.
Makes 40 cookies. Per cookie: 153 cals; 2 g. protien, 9 g. fat (6 g. saturated); 24 g. chol.; 18 g. carbs.; 82 mg. sodium; 0 g. fiber; 11 g. sugar.
Your time in the kitchen: 15 minutes; ready to serve in 45 minutes.

Super-yummy Brownies
At Elle and Dakota's house, Santa's one lucky guy- He gets more than just the traditional plate of cookies. "When we make brownies I'll leave some of them out for him, too." says Elle.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup Hershey's mini Kisses from 1 (10 oz.) pkg.
1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting and red and green jimmies or sprinkles, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13"x9" baking pan with enough foil to overhang ends by 1"; coat with cooking spray. In pot over low heat melt butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and salt until blended. Stir in Kisses. Spread batter in pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumble clinging. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Using foil, lift brownies from pan to rack, cool completely. Remove foil, if desired, spread brownies with frosting; sprinkle with jimmies.
Makes 24 brownies. Per brownie: 311 cals.; 4 g. protien; 20 g. fat (12 g. saturated); 88 mg. chol.; 33 g. carbs; 171 mg. sodium; 2 g. fiber; 23 g. sugar.
Your time in the kitchen: 15 minutes; ready to serve in 1 hour.

Best-ever Sugar Cookies
Grandma and her girls turn out sugar cookies galore. "I love cutting them out," says Dakota. "We make some that are like ornaments and ice them with red, blue and dark green!" And our test kitchen made some of ours into princesses because Dakota loves them.!

Ingredients:
4 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6-7 Tbs. warm water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pkg. (16 ox.)
3 Tbs. meringue powder, such as Wilton's
Assorted colors concentrated food coloring, such as Wilton's
Heart-shaped confetti sprinkles and assorted colors decorating sugar crystals, optional

Combine flour and salt reserve. In bowl at high speed beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, five minutes. Beat in yolks, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low, beat in flour mixture. 1/3 at a time, until just combined. Form dough into 3 balls; flatten into disks. Wrap; refrigerate until firm, 1 hour. On floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 " thickness. Using assorted 4"-6" cookie cutters cut out shapes as desired. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets; refrigerate 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F; Bake 16-18 minutes or until set and lightly browned around edges. Cool 3 mintues. Transfer to racks; coool completely. Combine 6 Tbs. warm water and almond extract. At low speed beat confectioner' sugar meringue powderr and almond extract mixture until soft peaks form, 8-10 minutes, adding additional warm water if needed. Divide icing among seperate bowls; tint as desired. Transfer some of iciings to pastry bags fitted with small writing tips. Decorate cookies with icing, sprinkles and sugars as desired. Let stand until set, 1 hour.
Makes 20 cookies. Per cookie: 423 cals.; 4 g. protien; 19 g. fat (12 g. unsaturated); 82 mg. chol.; 59 carbs; 224 mg. sodium; 1 g. fiber; 35 g. sugar
Your time in the kitchen- 2 hours; ready to serve in 4 hours.

Dakota's Favorite Ginerbread Cookies
Dakota and Elle make their whole family into gingerbread people. "We dot the eyes with blue icing and make blonde hair with yellow," says Elle. Raisins work for buttons, earrings and necklaces!

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbs. orange juice
Raisins
Canned vanilla frosting
Assorted colors concentrated food coloring, such as Wilkin's
Assorted colors edible glitter, such as Wilkin's cake sprinkles

Cool baking sheets with cooking spray. Combine first 5 ingredients; reserve. At medium-high speed beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg, molasses and juice. Gradually beat in reserved flour mixture until combined. Cover. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Working with half of dough at a time on wax paper.roll out to 1/4" thickness. Using 5" gingerbreadman cookie cutter cut out shapes. For "hair" press dough through clean garlic press; attach to cookies. Decorate with raisins as desired. Bake 8 minutes or until set; cool 1 minute. Transfer to racks; cool completely. Tint frosting as desired. Decorate cookies with frosting and glitter as desired.
Makes 20 cookies. Per cookie: 178 cals; 3 g. protien; 5 g. fat (3 g. unsaturated); 24 g. chol.; 29 g. carbs.; 176 mg. sodium; 1 g. fiber; 10 g. sugar
Your time in the kitchen- 2 hours; Ready to serve in 3 hours, 10 minutes

Thumbprint Cookies
Peanut butter cookies are a favorite of both little Fannings. And when there's an extra treat baked in the middle? "I love that", says Elle.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Red and/or green fine decorating sugar crystals
1/2 cup jelly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, salt and soda; reserve. At medium speed, beat butter, peanut butter and granulated and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in reserved flour mixture. Using level tablespoons roll dough into balls. Roll in colored sugar. Place balls 2" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using thumb press indentations into center of each ball. Spoon 1 tsp. of jelly into each indentation. Bake 9-10 minutes or until set, cool 2 minutes. Transfer to racks, cool completely.
Makes 20 cookies- Per cookie: 94 cals; 2 g. protien; 4 g. fat (2 g. saturate); 14 mg. chol.; 14 g. carb.; 100 mg. sodium; 0 g. fiber; 8 g. sugar
Your time in the kitchen: 25 minutes; ready to serve in: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Ho Ho Ho! The Sweetest Santa ever!
If Dakota could only make one great big cookie, "It would be a big white beard and a red hat," she giggles. So we made one for her

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pkg. (18 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookies dough
1 can (12 oz.) whipped vanilla frosting, divided
Red concentrated food coloring, such as Wilton's
1/4 cup each red and white decorating sugar crystals
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbs. fine pink decorating sugar crystals
1/4 cup white nonpareil sprinkles
1/3 cup miniature marshmallows
1 large pink jelly bean
2 Junior Mint candles
1 red heart-shaped candy, such as Sweet Tarts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Knead flour into cookie dough until combined. On straight or foil parchment paper roll out dough to 1/4" thickness, about 16"x10'. On copier, enlarge phots of cookies and templates (printed under text) by 215%. Using templates as guides, cut out Santa head, brim, mustache and hat pompom, rerolling scraps as necessary. Transfer dough cutoffs on foil to baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes for smaller pieces and 18-20 minutes for head until golden. Cool 2 minutes, transfer to racks. Cool completely. Transfer 1/2 cup frosting to plastic food storage bag; reserve. Tint 1/2 cup remaining frosting red with food coloring; spread over 'hat' area. Sprinkle with red sugar to cover, shaking off excess. For cheeks, brush corn syrup in ovals onto face; sprinkle with pink sugar, shaking off excess. Spread remaining frosting over "beard", hat brim, mustache pieces and pompom. Sprinkle beard and mustache with white decorating sugar and brim with nonpariels, shaking off excess. Attach marshmallows to popcorn. Snip small corner from the reserved bag of frosting. Attach mustache cookies to hat with piped frosting, pressing to secure. For "nose," attach jelly bean with frosting. For "eyes", pipe circles of frosting onto cookie; top with mints for " pupils". Pipe frosting lines onto mints for "twinkle." Pipe on frosting "eyebrows." Attach heart-shaped candy for "mouth." Pipe swirls of frosting onto "beard."
Makes 16 servings. Per serving: 295 cals.; 2 g. protien; 11 g. fat (2 g. saturated fat); 9 mg. chol.; 46 g. carbs.; 163 mg. sodium; 0 g. fiber; 31 g. sugar.
Your time in the kitchen: 1 hour; ready to serve in 2 hours

Transcript taken from Woman's World magazine (December 16 2003 edition). All rights reserved.

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