Christmas cookies and holiday hearts…
That’s the way the holidays start!
I’m heading off to a Cookie Exchange and this is my sweet offering…
Christmas and cookies just go together. . .
So what better way to celebrate the season than with a virtual Cookie Exchange at The Everyday Home.
What fun. . .30 bloggers with 30 cookie recipes!
Now we are all a little time poor at this time of year, so I’m sharing a cookie recipe that is quick and easy and tastes great!
It’s a basic sugar cookie recipe with royal icing, but it is the finishing touches that make it a stand out!
This is the basic sugar cookie recipe I use, but any sugar cookie would be okay.
(Recipe is from an old issue of Australian Women’s Weekly magazine)
Ingredients:
250 grams butter,
3/4 cup caster sugar,
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,
1 egg,
2 1/4 cups plain flour.
Beat butter, sugar and extract in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and beat until combined. Stir in the sifted flour. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to moderate (180c/160 c fan forced). Line oven trays with baking paper.
Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Cut shapes from dough.
Place cookies on prepared trays and bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes or until browned lightly. Cool cookies on trays.
Icing and decorating the cookies:
Shhh…. let this be our secret, to save time I used a packaged powdered royal icing. Simply follow the instructions on the packet to make icing.
Here’s another little tip…. I iced my cookies both in the traditional way (Fig. 2) using a piped outline and flooded filling and by icing the top of the cookies with a knife. The outcome was virtually the same!!
To decorate, mix water and food colouring in a small bowl. I made two different shades of green and one watered down red.
Using a fine tipped round brush, paint in a rough wreath shape. Let cookies dry.
Next, paint in random holly leaves around the wreath using the darker green. Leave to dry.
Paint a red ribbon and bow and add clusters of berries using the red mix.
It might be a basic recipe, but they taste great!
Please visit the following blogs to see what cookies
they have “brought” to the Christmas Cookie Exchange…
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Everyday Home | Atta Girl Says
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Southern Color | Deja Vue Designs
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Shabby Art Boutique | All Things Heart and Home
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Town and Country Living | Worthing Court
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Lilacs and Longhorns | Inspiration for Moms
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Vintage News Junkie | Marty’s Musings
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Domestically Speaking | My Soulful Home
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A Delightsome Life | Cottage at the Crossroads
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Pennywise | Major Hoff Takes a Wife
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Country Design Style | House on the Way
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Fresh Idea Studio | Confesions of a Plate Addict
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Stone Gable | Create and Babble
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So Much Better with Age | Cupcakes and Crinoline
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There is no end to your talents! This morning the magical Christmas Township Candle Jar and now this mouth watering delight. I am having a cuppa right now and my taste buds are doing cartwheels, even after two g/f shortbread biccies, Dalfours 100% fruit jam and reduced fat cream-my version of a healthy afternoon tea. lol Thanks for adding to our season with your creations. You inspire us so. Off now to make more cards.
Love and blessings,
Mary. xo
Aww… thanks Mary. The cookies are pretty good I must say.
Hugs,
Kerry xx
I pretty much gasped out loud when I saw your lovely cookies. Even though I know that this would taste great, if I received one of your cookies at an exchange, I’d have to spray it with sealer and hang it on my Christmas tree. I can’t wait to show this to my mom, she’s going to love your idea!
These are so gorgeous, Kerryanne. I’m not sure mine would look as pretty, but I’m willing to give it a try.
Thanks for sharing how to turn a basic recipe into something fabulous.
And for those of us in the US, is caster sugar, white granulated sugar or brown sugar?
Stopping by from the Cookie Exchange! Those are the prettiest cookies, I almost wouldn’t want to eat them! My favorite Christmas cookies are sugar cookies, so I’ll be trying out this recipe! Pinning 🙂
And you can paint too! This are almost to pretty to eat. Almost! So happy to be on the tour with you. ~Jeanette
Oh, Kerryanne! So beautiful! What a sweet heart you have! 😉 Gorgeous cookies, beautiful photos!
Kathy
Beautiful sweet treats! Love that Kerryanne! Thanks for sharing your tips for making, I mean creating ;), those beauties.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
These look way too good to eat! Or is it the look good enough to eat. Either way it fits. Oh yummy! So pretty and so delicious! These are on y must-make list!
Omigoodness, Kerryanne! These are so pretty! Great photos, too!
These are absolutely beautiful!!! You are quite the cookie artist! Thanks so much for sharing! ~Christy
Mmmm, they look yummy but also too pretty to eat.
Toni xx
Oh, These are too pretty eat! I think I would hang them on my tree 🙂 What a beautiful post and great tutorial – these are a must-try!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas
Cheers
Christina
These are absolutely beautiful and I do love to eat a frosted cookie! I agree with Christina’s comment — these could go on the tree as an ornament they’re so pretty — they’d make a great gift, too! So glad you shared and your tutorial was great!
Merry Christmas!
Those are gorgeous! “Almost” too pretty to eat!
Oh my gosh Kerryanne! These cookies are works of art! I’ve never seen more beautiful cookies! Pinning and sharing!
These are too pretty to eat! It’s been a pleasure to be on this Cookie Exchange tour with you! Have a Merry Christmas!
Leslie
Those are so pretty and I like the pretty green ribbon bows you painted on the wreath cookies
I would eat them right up LOL
They were very yummy and were quickly gobbled up. Need to make some more this weekend.
So so so beautiful! Simply gorgeous! I love old recipes like that, the old style with grams and ounces! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome 🙂
Oh my goodness! You are one talented lady. Those cookies are gorgeous! It was truly an honor to be in the exchange with you. Have a very merry Christmas!
Thanks Laura. Wasn’t it fun!!!