Last-Minute Baker: Christmas Cookies and Candy

For all of you last minute bakers-like me-here are links to some great cookie recipes that I’m making this year. The peppermint bark and lemon cookies have been made (and mostly eaten-I may need to make more!) and I’m in the process of baking the chocolate mint crinkle cookies today. I’ll be making cookie gift tins later this week-I found some beautiful tins at JoAnn Fabrics and am excited to share them with family and friends. Enjoy!

Iced Cutout Sugar Cookies:

I made some of these cookies yesterday to frost with my niece and nephew. A good way to decorate cookies with small kids is to simply use canned frosting, mix in food coloring, provide some assorted sprinkles, and let them go to it! They really enjoyed it, but I hadn’t anticipated them making “sprinkle mountains” on their cookies (lol)…the things I don’t anticipate with the little ones never fails to make me smile.

Aidan’s Supercookie

Liv’s Pretty Pink Confection

For Christmas, I’ll be making some more intricate cookies, like the ones pictured above, using the icing recipe below. 

Cookies: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/

Icing: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sugar-cookie-icing/

Snowflake-shaped Peppermint Bark:

If you make one treat this Christmas, make these. Super easy, no baking necessary, and amazingly good. JoAnn’s also carries several styles of silicone molds that you can use to create these yummy treats.

http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/2010/11/peppermint-bark/

Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies (just like Panera’s!):

I’m really looking forward to these. Panera sells these, and every time the cashier asks, “Would you like to add a cookie for 99 cents?”, I can’t help myself. Not sure they’ll make it to Christmas Day!

http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-mint-crinkle-cookies-444077

Lemon Slice and Bakes:

from Bon Appetit

from our kitchen- not too bad!

I ran out of time to make cutout cookies with Cory last week, but I decided to make these cookies with him instead. I had all the ingredients on hand, and they turned out great. Most of the cookies Cory decorated have a giant icing “C” on them…which I love!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/12/lemony-slice-and-bakes

Enjoy-and Merry Christmas!