Deck the Cookies with lots of Sprinkles

We made sugar cookies this Christmas season.

 

I know that doesn't sound like a big deal...but we have never done this before as a family. We all love eating sugar cookies, but neither Josh nor I have ever invested in taking the time to make them together with our kids.

 

Josh really wanted to make them with the boys this year. He even bought sprinkles and frosting, so I knew he was serious in following through with his heart's desire. So, the process of making sugar cookies became a Family Home Evening activity that we did on Monday the 16th (the week after we put up the Christmas tree). 

 

Josh made the cookie dough using a new recipe. We thought we'd experiment with it, and if the cookies turned out good, then maybe we'd make some more and use them as our neighbor gifts this year (since for the first time in many years, I was drawing a blank as to what to make and give our neighbors and friends).

 

The boys were very interested in the whole process, and were good little helpers. After Josh rolled out the dough, they picked the cookie shapes to cut into the smooth mixture.

It was fascinating for me to watch Josh bake--a real rarity in our home. He is a fantastic cook, but baking isn't really his thing.  For all the times I've made baking dough, I never realized until watching him that it takes my small hands much longer than his large hands to roll it out. Next time I'm rolling dough, I'm going to have him do it because he gets it done so much quicker!

We had an assortment of cookie cutter shapes already, but not a lot of Christmas ones. We started out with baking sheets filled with traditional Christmas shapes like trees, stars, ornaments, and snowmen, but there was also some roosters, chickens, hearts, boys, and girls added to the mix. After a few rounds of baking, we narrowed down the shapes to just the Christmas ones!

As Josh continued to roll out several batches of cookie dough, the boys began decorating the baked cookies. I dyed the white frosting in all the colors we had: red, yellow, blue, and green, and brought out all the jars of sprinkles. Frosting the cookies and decorating them was the boys' favorite part of the process.

Some of the cookies looked very realistic in their color choices...

And some of them were VERY coated in sprinkles...(do you want some cookie with your sprinkles?!)

The cookies were so beautiful when we were done! They were so colorful and creative, and we began eating them right away!!! But we did share them with others, too: Josh took some to his employees, I took some to my secret Relief Society sister's family, and we shared many with Kanyon's class after their Christmas play.

After feeling successful with our first experiment with making them, we decided we'd make some more to deliver to our friends and neighbors! But...since making them was so time-consuming, we never managed to get another round of sugar cookies done before Christmas. I thought of a clever idea to turn them into a New Year's treat instead, so that's what is on today's Family Home Evening agenda for our family!!!