Christmas cookie baking

Making cookies for Christmas is the quintessential activity for both kids and adult alike.  Many make their own dough but I opted for the Krusteaz cookie easy-to-make mixes, specially made for the holiday season.

I picked the Krusteaz Gingerbread Mix and the Snickerdoodle Mix both very popular.

The recipe is super easy to make. For the Gingerbread Cookies:

Ingredients

1 package of Krusteaz Gingerbread Cookie Mix

1 Egg

6 Tablespoons of butter, softened

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Stir together egg, butter and the Krusteaz Gingerbread Cookie.

Mix until dough forms, hand kneading if necessary. Dough may be sticky. For easier handling, you and cover and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.

Transfer dough to a floured surface and roll to ¼-inch thickness. Cut to desired shapes with a floured cookie cutter (small or big, is your choice). Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 9 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Cool cookies 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Decorate cookies as desired.

For the Cocoa Snickerdoodle Cookies:

Ingredients

1.     1 package Krusteaz Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix (1 pouch each cookie mix and cinnamon-sugar topping)

2.     ½ cup butter, softened

3.     1 egg

4.     I tablespoon cocoa powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, stir together Krusteaz Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix, the cocoa powder, butter and egg until dough forms. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, place the cinnamon-sugar. For each cookie, scoop 1 rounded tablespoon dough and place in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Roll dough gently into balls, coating thoroughly with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Cookies should have a brown-ish color from the cocoa powder.

Gift your cookies

Instead of buying a packaged box with commercial brands, you can offer your freshly baked cookies as a gift to family and friends.

Some creative ideas for packaging:

1.     The simplest way is to put the cookies in a cellophane bag and just wrap-up with a ribbon. Alternatively,  place the cookies in a cellophane bag and just add the decorative cardstock paper

2.     Place cookies in mason jars for a nostalgic look. Add a ribbon to make it even nicer

3.     Many like old-fashioned pastry store boxes with pale colors. Just place cookies in the box and wrap-up or just add your decorations

4.     To give a seasonal look, buy wrapping paper that represents the holiday season or something similar that you like

5.     I like old, cookie “vintage” tins. You can find them in thrift shops and occasionally in modern kitchenware stores as a comebacks.

Giveaway

I have a giveaway for the most innovative Christmas cookies decorations. Reply to the post with description and photo. Open to all, including kids. You will get Krusteaz cookie mixes and some other goodies! You must be based in the USA. Last day is 12.31.2015 at midnight PST.
For a free coupon, click here: http://www.krusteaz.com/get-savin

Disclose: This post was sponsored by Krusteaz.