Christmas Cookies

Ready for some Christmas baking? I know each and everyone has their own favorite Christmas cookie recipe. This is mine! Why I love it? Well, it's super quick, contains no eggs or other allergens and it is very very yummy! They make super cute Christmas gifts too. Let's get started?

You will need:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 sticks butter (8 oz, aprox. 226g) at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- mixer
- cookie cutter
- your favorite cookie decorating items (optional)

First mix the flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter at room temperature and vanilla extract.








Blend everything on medium until it has a "sand-like" consistency.





Now here comes the tricky part. I say tricky, because it doesn't seem like all this "sand" will ever turn into a ball... Trust me, it will take a little kneading and patience, but the butter will definitely do its job.






Oh, and don't forget, a little helping hand may come in handy!





 Try to keep all the dough to one side of the bowl and when it looks more or less like the picture, you can continue to knead on your working surface.






You should end up with something like the picture on the right side. Roll the dough back and forth until it is nice and smooth.







Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 15 minutes.






Use a rolling pin to stretch the dough over a clean surface sprinkled with flour. Open till it has reached 1/4'' thickness.




Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Place them in a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and bake for 10 - 15 minutes. You have to keep a close eye, I ended up burning a batch :(

These taste wonderful the way they are. But if you are up for some Christmas decorating fun, you can use cookie icing and add sprinkles to your heart's content!

This was the first time I ever attempted cookie decorating. It was fun and aesthetically the result was quite satisfactory. However, to be honest, I don't really like artificial food coloring... so I'm not sure I will be using them again... I'd rather go with something more natural. Oh well, at least I will have a memory of this experiment documented in the blog.

And guess what? Using a free shape Silhouette offered a few days ago I made this little gift bag, perfect for my cookies!

You can find a printer-friendly version of this recipe here:

http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/63471409/christmas-cookies/detail.aspx

I'll be back on the 26th, enjoy the holidays!
Gisela