Monday, December 10, 2012

Peppermint Christmas Cookies

DAYS EIGHT AND NINE:

We spread cookie-making over 2 days because it was a pretty long affair. And faaaaaairly messy. We rolled the dough and cut the shapes the first night, and iced and sprinkled the cookies the night after. Of course, this project is pretty much self-explanatory, but we had to chronicle our experience anyhow.

WHAT YOU NEED:
     - 1 roll of cookie dough
     - Christmas cookie cutters
     - 1/2 cup frosting
     - 1 Tbspn water
     - 2 Tbspn Peppermint candies, powdered
     - Variety of sprinkles
   
I suggest making the frosting ahead of time. It is my own concoction, so feel free to change it up as you see fit-  I just happen to love peppermint! Mix the frosting, water, and powdered peppermint candies (smash with hammer until powdered). Set aside. Preheat oven as package indicates.

Time for the fun! Sprinkle the table with flour and plop the dough on there. Show your toddler how to roll the dough and then let them experiment for a while. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour and try again.


When you are ready to cut out the cookies, show your little one how to do it a few times. If yours is anything like mine, this part won't go very well :) She had fun playing in the dough, sneaking bites, and poking at it with her fingers, though!

Time to bake and, if you are ambitious enough to do this all in one night, probably time for a hot chocolate break!

For us this was night 2, decorating. This night went a whole lot better than the cookie cutting fiasco! Give your child a spoon or smooth edged spatula (probably best to leave the knives away for this one) and a bowl of frosting. Let him paint the frosting on, making a huge mess in the process. The control freak in me had the night off, and I let Roo go to town and do this part all on her own. She was actually darn good at it, too.


It seems like as this goes on, each part gets messier and, therefore, funner... or, more fun. I think funner should be a real word. Sprinkles!! Learn from my mistakes and check the holes in the sprinkle lid before handing it over to your toddler. If the holes are small enough, let them shake themselves silly. If they are too big, there will be an avalanche of colored sugar. Trust me, I know these things. In that case, pour the sprinkles in the lid and let them pinch them up and then sprinkle.


This is how Roo's cookies turned out! She did them completely on her own and she had so much fun!




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