How to Start a Tradition: Making Holiday Cookies with the Kids

The Kids are getting in your hair and exited about Christmas, and all that is going on. It’s almost Christmas; get them involved in the holiday Cookie baking. They will have fun helping you. My girls always had fun cutting out the cookies with the cookie cutters. When it came to frosting them, you never knew what they were going to look like, but they at least at fun. If you’re going to send them to school, you better frost some yourself for them.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• cookie cutters
• Dropcloth
• Rolling Pin
• Christmas cookies recipe
• aprons

1. 
   holiday cookies

   Holiday Baking for Kids
   
   Kids love to help with holiday baking and decorating, and it doesn’t matter what season it is. It is especially fun to make Holiday Cookies together. Find a christmas cookies recipe that you can enjoy using each holiday season. Use cookie cutters, and peanut butter cookie dough the kids can get their hands in the dough and play in it, and mold it as if it were clay.
   When cookies baking with kids, find cookie dough that is sturdy and is easy to roll. Sugar cookie and Ginger bread cookie dough both have a good consistency. Buy the prepackaged dough if you don’t want to prepare the dough yourself.

2. Decorating Cookies
   
   You can either decorate holiday cookies before, or after preparing the cookies. Before starting put a drop cloth down, and wipe things up as you go. Set out all your supplies to get children introduced to doing a cookie decorating activity. Make sure kids have an apron or are covered because the food coloring can stain their clothes. Decorating holiday cookies is the most exciting part of making cookies.

3. 
   baking christmas cookies

   Edible Cookie Decorating
   
   Decorate holiday cookies with nuts, currant, and chocolate chips, cinnamon candies and let the kids press them onto the cookies. Let them use their imagination designing animals, figures or whatever. It works well for both shaped and cut out cookies.

4. Painting Cookies
   
   You can also paint cookies using evaporated milk and food coloring. Using inexpensive water coloring brushes they can paint cookies. Works best with sugar cookies as it doesn’t show up much on the ginger cookies. To make colored cookies just use food coloring in the dough and use sprinkles to decorate.

5. 
   decorated cookies

   Stained Glass Cookies
   
   Cut cookie dough with cookie cutters, then use a knife and cut out the centers of the cookies. Put stained glass cookies on wax paper on cookie sheet. Fill cut out spaces with crushed candies like peppermint, bake as usual the candy should melt. Cool completely.

6. Glazed Cookies
   
   Make a simple cookie glaze with powdered sugar, evaporated milk and water or add lemon juice to make it sweeter. Use food coloring to make the different colors needed for holiday cookies. Use a pastry brush to glaze.

7. Christmas Cookie Decorating Tube
   
   Decorate cookies with tube decorator, like a spritz or aerosol cans. Make sure there are decorator tips for frosting cookies. Let kids frost cookies by squeezing and letting frosting ooze onto cookies through the tips. Can also use on glazed cookies.

8. 
   sugar cookies

   chocolate Dipped Cookies
   
   Melt Chocolate in microwave with evaporated milk and drip on cookies to make chocolate dipped cookies. Mix until smooth.

Tips & Warnings

• Use sturdy dough
• Put a drop cloth down
• Make sure kids use aprons
• Supervise all childrens cooking baking activities

Resources

• http://www.squidoo.com/thomaskinkadexmas
• http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChristmasCookies.html

[niknik2008]

on 12/13/2008 Great idea! My girls love to cook cookies.

[MomWhoWrites]

on 11/19/2008 Oh Yummy! Those are some great tips my kids would just love to do this. Thank you!

[bar10dr98]

on 11/18/2008 Great info, thanks!