Cookiepalooza 2018: Recap

We had a BIG weekend of baking and cookie decorating a few weeks ago! I am very much belated with the recap about how cookie day went. We’ve just been having so much fun working on our bucket list there hasn’t been enough time to post!

Prepared Dough Recipes

We started early – I took out all of the butter and eggs we needed on Friday night, and we started on the refrigerator batter in the morning. This year it was the gingerbread cookies and the peanut butter blossoms.

Gingerbread Cookies

We used this recipe at Genius Kitchen. It wasn’t holding together very well at the start – I think we mixed the dry ingredients in too fast. It was very crumbly. I wrapped it in plastic and set it aside anyway, to see if it would set up better.

Peanut Blossom Cookies

This recipe at Joy of Baking has been my go-to for years, and didn’t let us down this year!

Decorating Cookies

Next, we prepped the cookies that would need some time to cool before decorating. This year, it was the sugar cookies. Gingerbread also falls into this category, but the dough was still resting (and we weren’t sure if it would turn out). So we prepared this dough, rolled it out, and made the cutouts, and baked it. This great recipe doesn’t need to chill in the fridge and tastes delicious: Eloises Easy Sugar Cookies at Genius Kitchen.

The Rest of Day One

Double Chocolate Biscotti

Next up was the double chocolate biscotti from Once Upon a Chef. We baked up the long loaves, sliced them, and baked them for the second round. I left them in about a minute too long so they were very slightly burnt on the bottom. But the rich chocolate flavor mostly overpowered the char and they still tasted wonderful. Phew!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Betty Crocker recipe for these has never let me down before. This year, I must not have mixed the batter evenly. They baked very inconsistently – some came out wide, flat and crispy, and some came out thick, chewy, and soft. They all tasted great, but I’ll need to practice these a few more times in 2019, I think!

Homemade Gumdrops

After the kids went to bed, I rallied some more energy and made the gumdrops. These happen on the stovetop, so my daughter couldn’t help with this part. This year I split the recipe and used half cranberry Jell-O and half lime Jell-O, and got them into the fridge to chill before going to bed. This recipe at Taste of Home is the best!

Gingerbread Cookies

The gingerbread dough didn’t come together this time. In retrospect, I probably could have salvaged it with an extra teaspoon or two of milk. We’ll probably try these again during Christmas week because my five year-old loves them so much.

Day Two

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Did you know… confectioner’s sugar contains corn starch? Good grief, corn is in EVERYTHING. I’ll avoid eating these this year, but next time I’ll have to prepare in advance and try making my own with arrowroot. I used this recipe at Genius Kitchen.

Time to Decorate

Both girls joined in to help decorate the sugar cookies! I mixed together three batches of frosting (1 cup of confectioner’s sugar + ~1.5 tbsp milk + several drops of food coloring gel). One batch I left white, and made one red and one green. I made the frosting a little bit runny – just loose enough to spread easily with a spoon, but thick enough to stick without running off of the cookies.

For decorating, we had some red cinnamon candy, holly leaves and berries, some black piping frosting, and, of course, loads of sprinkles.

Towards the end, I made a few with frosting drizzled in a criss cross pattern over the top. We put them on a cookie sheet to cool and harden. Once dry, the cookies were stackable and not sticky.

Gumdrops

I pulled out the gumdrops in the morning, cut them into 1/4 – 1/2″ squares, and left them out to get “sticky” for several hours. Once sticky, I tossed them in about 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. And taste-tested a few, of course. Next year I may try to find some cute molds, but the squares are equally delicious and easy to make! Bonus – they cut easily with a butter knife, so my 5-year-old helped cut them too!

Gift Boxes

With everything ready, it was time for the assembly line! I bought 10 small gift box baskets and put two of each cookie in each, with the sugar cookies on top. I individually wrapped 4-6 gumdrops in plastic wrap and tucked them in also, along with a few chocolate kisses and mini peanut butter cups. If you have mini candy canes, those would be a fun addition too. The baskets I got came with a small bag to insert and a larger back to wrap around outside, with ribbons to tie them. I tucked gift cards inside the bigger bag for teacher gifts for a cute little bundle.

In all, we had fewer gift baskets to give out than past years. In other years, I’ve doubled the recipes for peanut blossoms and biscotti, and the failed gingerbread cookies also reduced the numbers. But we still had a nice amount to give to teachers and others who help us throughout the year, while still having some to enjoy with our family. I’m definitely looking forward to continuing this tradition in years to come, especially with my favorite helpers!

Hope you had fun baking or enjoying holiday treats this season! Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!