fashioned4HisGlory: Cookie baking day

The day started out in excitement! Everyone was wanting to bake cookies. Yesterday we had planned to bake, but plans didn't work out to get the job done. By now we all from oldest to youngest were super excited!

Zach was up early! He and Allison mixed the cookie dough with only a little help from Mom. The only part I helped with was teaching them to add fractions.

~We bake these cookies every year and they've become a holiday tradition. We found the recipe from Reiman Publications and have been using it since Amber and Allison were little girls. My sisters and I used to get together for the day and bake dozens and dozens of these soft cookies when we all lived in the same state. Now we carry on the tradition in each of our separate homes, from north to south!

Vanilla Butter Sugar Cookies

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 T. vanilla

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir together dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture until completely blended. Chill for 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with holiday cutters dipped in flour. Using a floured spatula, transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 7 dozen (2-1/2 inch cookies).

Zach felt like a man. We set the dough outside to chill while Allison and I mixed a batch of bread.

Then came the FUN part. I was taught to cut cookies like a puzzle so that you didn't handle the dough more than necessary. But with these enthusiastic little ones, I soon found out it was a losing battle. I was wasting my breath. And I didn't want to spoil the joy of the moment.

And that's how the rest of the day went. We had a total BLAST! And thank the Lord, no frustrations.

Everyone wanted a chance at rolling.

And cutting was sheer joy!

For a few moments, it was only these two and me. The whole series of laughter and silliness of the dough was caught on camera. For a Mama, this was bliss to witness.

With the little ones done, we made a little faster progress.

Allison and Zach basically finished the cookies. Allison was a trooper in transferring all those cut outs onto the cookie sheet. Then Zach enjoyed being the baker.

Allison and Zach worked together beautifully!

In the midst of the shapes of stars, trees, and bells, I was blessed to have Zach create this cross and remember the real meaning of Christmas!

Throughout all the busyness of cookie cutting and rolling, Amber had been in and out of the kitchen but didn't have a chance to get her hands in dough. Now she set about making the frosting.

Frosting:

1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

3 T. butter, softened

1 T. vanilla

1 T. milk

Food coloring, optional

Colored sugar

Combine sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk; beat until creamy. Thin with additional milk to desired spreading consistency if necessary. Add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Spread frosting over cookies and decorate with colored sugar.

Allison bagged the bread while singing Jingle Bells and hollering 'hey' after singing the line 'in a one horse open sleigh' with her little brothers helping along.

Amber did a fantastic job of frosting the cookies. She did them all by herself. It was a job that she was glad to be finished with.

The rest of us had been busy baking dozens and dozens of these molasses cookies. But really, they taste like gingerbread cookies.

I should have had them setting overnight, but I hadn't done my homework in reading the recipe the day before. I had to add a lot more flour than the recipe called for.

We have it in our family cookbook - Esh Family Cooking on page 117 using the middle recipe. I would love to try them again with following the recipe. Several of our family members don't care for all the spice of these.