Christmas Baking

It’s that time again. Time to put up the Christmas tree, decorate the house, hang up the stockings, and make Christmas cookies. Today my sister and I spent the day with our Nana and Grandpa. After church this morning we went out to lunch together, and then headed to their house. I helped my Nana decorate the house with Christmassy things while my sister made some really tasty shortbread cookies. She used a simple, 3-ingredient recipe. It consisted of butter, flour and powdered sugar. I tried one and it crumbled and melted in my mouth; just the way it should.

            I decided that I would make some vanilla butter cream frosting for the shortbread Christmas cookies that Halle made. I found a Betty Crocker recipe, which I knew would be really good. It was made of butter (of course), powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.

These cookies obviously aren’t healthy at all but, if you do want to be a little healthier you can substitute some ingredients. There’s a really good brand of vegan butter called Earth Balance that you can use. You can also substitute the milk in the frosting with almond milk (I promise you won’t be able to taste the difference). If you want to color your frosting, a great way to do it is use beat juice. That way you can make red and white frosting to frost cookies that look like candy canes. 

Christmas baking is something that I absolutely love to do because it makes the house smell wonderful and feel cozy. If you want to be even more cozy light some candles and dim the lights. Relax and talk with your family instead of thinking about school or work. Just take a minute to slow your life down and breathe. It’s good for you.

            Days baking with the family are fun and memorable. To me, they bring the Christmas season to life, and make me thank God for my family. It shows me how special times like these really are. This Christmas season I encourage you to find at least one day to spend baking or cooking with your family. Whether that means baking a cake with your grandma or cooking spaghetti with your kids, I promise it’ll be fun and will help bring you and your family closer together.