Christmas Cookies!

Jingle bells, jingle bells...I am in a Christmas mood!


Christmas cookies are the simpliest but prettiest things to make. Also the most fun, in my opinion, as you get to mess about with dough, use cookie stampers and decorate with icing.


These lemon biscuits and gingerbread cookies are a sweet decadent way to usher in the Christmas season.


The lemon dough smells great by itself, flavoured by lemon zest and a brilliant lemon extract. They are then rolled into sheets and cut out into little shapes.


I got to use the new cutters I bought, hearts, stockings, bones, as well as old shapes like stars, christmas trees and gingerbread men. This made me happy.


I also got to pick and mix coloured icing. This makes me very happy. I piped shapes and then in-filled them with runnier coloured icing.


This is a great project for kids, though I don't know how many would be able to be as precise about their decorations, maybe for kids, cupcakes would be the best way to go. More working surface area!


The icing actually dried pretty quick, so it's important to be fast, but also, accurate on the first go.


My piping skills could use some work, I'm out of practice!


I think once you become more adept at judging the consistency of the icing than you can use finer and finer tips but really, it just takes the patience to wait and to pipe tiny decorations on the cookies.


I packaged these cute little shapes into these lunch boxes and put some simple christmas ribbons around them.


I really enjoyed the contemplative process of doing this, I just wish I had more time to do more. December is really that time of year, for lazy yet festive cheer, for holly and sugar cookies, snow and reindeer.



Although I really love the presentation of the cookies, I must say the best part about them is giving them away. Specifically, it's the perhaps selfish but oh-so-amazing feeling of watching their reactions of surprise and glee. I guess because they are decorated and a little more intricate then a cake or tray of lemon bars, for example, they are a bit more fun to examine.


Umami sent me this picture and for all the 'process' photos here, this one was the image that made my day. Apparently the apple-cheeked princess was almost done with this cookie after I'd left.


Thank you, dear See Wah for this! Made the whole process more than worth it!