The Art of Christmas Cookies: 101

I have been on the hunt for the perfect Christmas cookie for well over half my life. Every year, my mom would make Christmas cookies and frost them with that 7 minute frosting. They always looked good, but the taste...well, it left much to be desired. I always felt bad for Santa having to eat those cookies and I vividly remember one year he FORGOT (gasp!) to eat them.

Yeah, that should have told me something.

Anyway this year, I decided to conquer the Christmas cookie world. I found a recipe that looked exactly like the cookies from my favorite local bakery and decided to give it a whirl.

Here is my inspiration:


And here is a brief pictorial of my steps:


As with all cooking in my house, start with a glass of your finest, cheapest wine.



Roll out your dough.


No cookie cutter? No problem. I found that an upside down wine glass worked splendidly.

I tell ya, wine+me = genius!




The recipe says that 8 minutes worked perfectly for their cookies. This was also true for mine. Absolutely perfect to be exact, not too hard or too soft.


Next up, Decorating! However, I would advise to wait until they are completely cool or at least move them off of the hot stove top.


Also, you have to let the bottom layer set, BEFORE applying your piping or else it will end up looking like this:


Be still my beating heart...


I don't know about you, but I think mine are a dead ringer for the original!
In all honesty, these are WAY better the next day and they really are the best cookie that I have ever made.

Try them, you'll like them...I promise!