Oh my goodness, guys. Can you believe I haven’t made any decorated cookies since May?? That’s crazy. I’m not sure I’ve gone that long between cookie batches since I started decorating cookies. I mean, seriously decorating cookies. Decorated sugar cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my family since I was in high school (or maybe before.)
Anywho.
I’m not going to say much in this post because it’s already my bedtime and I’m pretty much just desperate to get some kind of Christmas-related post on here, since it’s ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!! Goodness. Where does my life go?
So here are a bunch of pretty cookies. Sorry, no tutorials, but the techniques aren’t really any different than other ones I’ve shown you. They’re not drastically different than last year’s. We were running out of creativity.
First off, we used a recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Nutmeg Maple Butter cookies. Seriously, they’re so good. I’d eat them on their own all season long. Just a tip if you’re making decorated cookies– don’t roll them too thick. They need to be 1/4- 1/8″ thick or they’ll spread and get all weird-shaped.
Christmas trees! One difference this year is that we’ve tried the layered cookies. I put these on after baking, but some other bakers put theirs on before baking.
Presents. These are new this year. Still not really sure the best way to decorate them.
The wreaths are also new this year, though they’re just done on a plain round cookie. Stiff icing with a leaf tip to make the overall shape.
Oh, these guys are new, too.
Candy canes. Wet-on-wet technique.
Snowflakes. Basically the same as last year, only with a darker, more maroony red.
The ever-traditional Love, Joy, Peace.
Or, as I prefer, Love, Joy, Peace, Sean.
giggle.
Sorry, I don’t know why that cracks me up.
Little Man was SO excited to decorate cookies this year, which was nicer than last year when he mostly didn’t want me doing it at all. He did the star first, which is pretty impressive if you realize he’s only 2. I helped him a bit, but he made all the swirls himself. He was very deliberate and concentrated very hard, with his little tongue stuck out to the side as he worked. 🙂 The “ginga-bread boy” was next. Then he became smitten with sprinkles, as you can tell on the stocking. The round green one was last and makes me laugh. I love the 500 holly leaves with one single berry. And the finger-swipe on the side so he’d have an excuse to eat some frosting.
Next year we’ve decided to plan ahead more. We won’t make as many shapes (we did stockings & bells, too, but we decided we hate decorating those) and we’ll only have a couple of designs for each shape. That’s how we work for everything else we make cookies for, so I don’t know why we don’t do it at Christmas. It takes us forever this way. So they’ll definitely be more awesome next year. 🙂
Really hoping to have a couple more Christmas posts this week, but, well… it’s the week before Christmas. So, madness.
(WordPress’ spell check suggestion for me this post: “new”– did you mean ‘knew’? WHAT THE HECK??? Seriously, WordPress? Seriously. I’m pretty sure I know the difference, thanks.)