Christmas Cookies

Every year our family enjoys making Christmas cookies together.  This is usually an all day process starting with mama mixing the dough, letting it chill out in the fridge, daddy rolling out the dough when he gets home from work,  the kids cutting out the shapes, decorating them and of course eating them!!!  

This year with the kids getting older and with their love for helping out in the kitchen we did a BIG chunk of the work yesterday morning...but we saved some for daddy to do when he got home from work as well. 

This year I bought the kids new Christmas aprons to wear in the kitchen with me while they did some Christmas baking. 

The first thing they did was mix the dough.  I love the kitchen aid for baking with kids.  Seriously just add the ingredients and turn it on. 

Peterson Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1.  Beat first 5 ingredients together until creamy.

2. Blend together the dry ingredients and add to mixer. 

3. With hands form the dough into two dough balls, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out on a well floured surface. 

5. Cut with cookie cutters.

6. Bake in pre heated oven (350) for 7-8 minutes.

7.  Let cool on a cooling rack before decorating. 

Of course baking with kids (or anyone who LOVES eating cookie dough) can be a challenge but we have a rule when we are baking if they keep their hands away from their mouths they will always be rewarded for it at the end with a little bit of the dough.  

When we finished making our dough into balls for the fridge I caught lady J getting her little sample. 

As we waited for the dough to chill in the fridge I thought it was a great opportunity to have a cookies and milk party with them.  They each got to choose a Christmas treat to enjoy with their chocolate milk. 

I love how they think they are so funny!

Next was time to roll out the dough and bake some cookies. 

Eben was brave enough to learn how to put the cookie pans into the oven and take them out all by himself.  Here they are happy with the out come of their cookies. 

After work when daddy got home it was time to decorate.  This year I decided to try out Royal Icing.  I am not sure that I am fan of it or not yet.  Maybe I will need to try different recipes to find one that I really like. 

We let each of the kids decorate 5 cookies...cause really who can eat cookies with that much icing and sprinkles??? 

Abraham really wanted to get in on the action so we let him have his own container of icing and just one cookie to decorate.  He was so happy to be at the table with his siblings taking part in what we were doing almost as much as he enjoyed eating the goods.