Family Recipes // Merry Christmas Cookies

When my sister, my cousins, and I were little these cookies were all we wanted during Christmas at Grammie’s house. She would bake a whole bunch and let us frost and decorate them (I would always load mine up with sugar crystals like it was my last day on Earth). They’re not like a traditional sugar cookie — they’re a little less sweet because of the honey in the recipe. But they taste to me like being a kid at Christmas, and they’re a perfect project if you have little ones around who’d like to help out. So if you wanna try Grammie’s Merry Christmas Cookies, follow along!

COOKIE INGREDIENTS

1/3 c soft Crisco
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c honey
1/4 c butter (room temp)
1 t vanilla flavor
2 ¾ c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, honey, butter, and vanilla thoroughly. Blend flour, soda, and salt, and stir into shortening mixture. Once well mixed, refrigerate until cool. Remove from refrigerator and knead with your hands until the dough is soft enough to roll out smoothly and without cracking. Roll to about 1/4″ thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

Put shapes on a piece of parchment paper and place on a baking sheet. Bake approximately 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Keep a close eye on them, though, as oven temperatures vary and these bake very quickly. I like to take mine out just before they begin to brown. Makes about 4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

ICING INGREDIENTS

1/4 c milk
2 1/4 c powdered sugar

Mix milk and sugar and whisk gently until the mixture becomes thick. Separate into a few containers and use food coloring if desired. Gently smooth icing onto cookies using a knife, spoon, or spatula. (Add decorations if you’re feeling festive!)

Mr. Lovely made the comment that these are cookies that get better with age, and I agree! I love them the day after they’re made, when the icing and the cookie have a little chance to rest and get more delicious. Oh, and if you’re wondering, the forest animal cookie cutters came from IKEA. (There’s a moose, fox, bear, snail, porcupine, and squirrel. So cute.) Have fun! xoxo