Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Baking (Edible and Inedible)

At this time of year I like to have some Christmas cookies ready to go as quick little gifts. This morning I'm going for coffee with Marjorie Cooke, our real estate agent, at the Mug and Truffle. I've got this nice little tin of goodies for her.


You can see an additional log of dough ready to roll beside the tin. I'll bake some more tonight so that I'll have something to give to friends in Ottawa who are going to put us up tomorrow night. Gingerbread cookies can be as hard as bricks, but this recipe makes ones that are either crunchy or chewy, depending on how long you cook them. I use unbleached flour and cow's milk instead of wholewheat flour and soy milk and they turn out perfectly every time.
           Cookie cutters can be used to make terrific ornaments as well. We have ones on our tree that the kids made fifteen years ago, as well as ones we made last year. I hung a few on our front wreath for photo purposes so you can see how pretty they are.


Here's the recipe:    4 c. flour
                              1 c. salt
                              1 1/2 c water
Roll the dough out, cut with cookie cutters, poke holes with a knitting needle (of course), and bake for about an hour in a 350 degree oven (or until golden). When they're cool, paint with acrylic paint and glitter glue.
This is fun to do with little kids, if you're feeling patient. Best done on a snowy day with logs burning in the fireplace!
I'm off now for coffee, wearing my new "Lucy" scarf.