Baking Christmas cookies and other holiday treats is a time-honored family tradition in many households. These fun and delicious kid-friendly Christmas cookie recipes are not just easy to make, the whole family can get involved in rolling, molding and dipping the dough into festive holiday shapes. No matter what their ages, kids will enjoy having jobs they can do to help with the holiday baking.
Peppermint Snowball Cookie Recipe
This recipe for peppermint cookies is a great way to get children involved. Toddlers and preschoolers can help dump pre-measured ingredients into the bowl, while older children love to dip the cookies into the chocolate and roll them around in coconut. Makes four dozen.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 8 oz white chocolate chips
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add in peppermint extract.
- Gradually add in flour ½ cup at a time, until full incorporated. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours to firm dough and make it easier to handle.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Roll out dough into 1” balls. Place onto a baking sheet and bake at 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, place white chocolate chips into a microwavable bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir and then return to the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
- Dip each cooled cookie into the white chocolate to coat, then roll in shredded coconut. Let sit until chocolate has set.
Candy Cane Sugar Cookie Recipe
Children young and old alike enjoy rolling out these festive candy cane cookies. Adults should be in charge of adding in the food coloring to avoid any major messes. For additional decoration, crushed peppermint candies can be sprinkled onto of the cookies as they are removed from the oven. Makes three dozen.
Ingredients:
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- ½ tsp vanilla
- approximately ¼ tsp red food coloring
Directions:
- Mix together flour and salt.
- In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and flavoring extracts. Gradually add in dry ingredients until well combined.
- Separate dough in half. Wrap one portion in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours until dough becomes firm.
- Add food coloring to remaining dough and mix until desired color is achieved. Wrap newly dyed dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- To shape cookies, take spoonful of white and red dough each. Roll into 5" long ropes and coil together to create a candy-cane shape. Gently press down dough to flatten.
- Place on parchment paper and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10-12 minutes.
Christmas cookie recipes that include active and engaging steps will better keep the attention of children and make holiday baking a warmly anticipated family ritual. Whether dipping dough-balls in white chocolate or rolling out candy cane shapes, these recipes provide tasty entertainment when cooking with kids.
Stephanie Jolly - Stephanie is an active food scholar, nutrition professional and former culinary tour guide. Though Stephanie enjoys food on nearly every ...
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