As today is National Cookie Day, I wanted to share some of my own adventures in cookie baking over the past two years. My own Christmas cookie adventures began in earnest when our long-time bakery shut its doors forever and left many of us in dire straits for decorated Christmas cookies. This had been a tradition for me for a number of years, and I was not ready to give it up. So, I embarked on making my own decorated cookies for the first time with some success the first year and even better success last year.
I have not worked on further honing my cookie skills since last Christmas, due to my weight loss effort. It was a necessary sacrifice and one that I was more than willing to make this year. But, it’s time to once again start baking cookies for gifts, and I am so ready to get going once again! Last year, hubby and I embarked on a cookie decorating day where he helped me “blitz” the decorated cookies mostly in one day, and we had a lot of fun together. As it turns out, he has a great artistic flare for decorating cookies, too.
I have linked to my cookie posts at the bottom of this post, as there are links to many of the recipes I used in those posts, in case you are also ready to embark on your own Christmas cookie adventures soon!
See my note below about the pretty cross cookies, please! 😉 Also, the reindeer cookies were made from my peanut butter cookie recipe.
One note – I love baking the pretty decorated cross cookies (pictured in the 2012 trays). A word of caution, though. They tend to break easily when included in a tray of other cookies, it seems, so I wrap them individually now with a cardboard backing when giving them with the gift trays. After going to all the effort to make these pretty cookies, I want the recipient to get them in one piece. I allow one cross cookie per person, and I include a handwritten note that this is a “special” cookie for them and include the verse, John 3:16, in my note. They can certainly freeze their special cookie to eat at Easter, if they prefer, as long as it is properly wrapped, but so far, I think everyone has eaten their cross cookies for Christmas.
My previous posts on Christmas Cookies:
Christmas Cookies
Christmas Cookies – 2013
Happy National Cookie Day! I’m ready to start baking again!
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My Five Fs 
One of our long-time family traditions is cookie baking at Christmas. My mom always made the best cookies and my sisters do too. Every year my kids and hubby helped me make tons of Christmas cookies – decorated sugar cookies like yours and several other kinds too. We gave them to neighbors and friends and always had trays of cookies for ourselves too. Now, I don’t bake nearly as many as before and this year, I don’t even think I’m baking at all.
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I love to bake cookies so much and love to give them as gifts, especially to elderly friends. This year, I think I’m going to try a couple sugar-free options, as one elderly friend is diabetic. For people that no longer bake, or even have the ability to bake if they live in assisted living, etc., this is a real treat for them. I will have some for my own family, too, of course. Our new favorite is the glazed lemon cookies. We had to ration them last year after Christmas when son joined us on our camping trip! haha
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Wow…. they are “almost” too pretty to eat AND what an assortment. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Thanks for the kind words! This is so much fun to do, but I confess that I love the reaction of friends when I give them their treats each year now. My next door neighbor almost cried last year when I took her the platter. 😉
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Hmmm, note to self “be D’s neighbor next year” and receive one of these lovely platters of treats LOL!!!
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Oh yes! 😀
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You have baked and decorated quite a number of cookies! What a lovely gift.
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Thanks so much. It is always a fun thing to do each year now. 🙂
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