Tips for Christmas Cookie Baking & Giving...Works for Me Wednesday

{Christmas Cottages}

Making cookies at Christmas used to overwhelm me a bit. There are so many people I want to make cookies for....and so little time. I still don't get them made for everyone on my list (the church choir has been on my list now for 2 years and still has not seen one cookie), BUT I've learned how to de-stress the whole process and just have fun with it. Maybe the choir will get their cookies this year, after all.

{Dotty Winter Trees}

First...take a look at your supplies. You're going to need:

meringue powder
food coloring
cookie cutters
ingredients
icing bags & squeeze bottles
couplers & tips
parchment paper
individual treat bags
ribbon
boxes for packaging
boxes for shipping
shipping supplies

Order.Them.Now.

{ornaments}

Try Amazon, Sweet Baking Supply, King Arthur Flour, or even your local craft shop. (Also, try clicking the links in this post.) ;)

{gingerbread gals & dudes}

OK....next. Start early. Cookie decorating is really more fun if you break it up into chunks.
Do one of the following to make life easier:

make the dough ahead and freeze (thaw in the fridge overnight)
bake the cookies and freeze (thaw at room temperature for a few hours)
bake the cookies the day before decorating
make the icing a day (or so) before decorating (if you are doing fine detail work, you'll want to make this the same day you are using)

{peppermint candy cookies}

If you are making hundreds of cookies, you might want to make and decorate a few dozen at a time, THEN freeze...yes, cookies decorated with royal icing can be frozen. I individually bag the cookies, then place in freezer baggies, then place those in plastic containers to prevent crushing. Thaw at room temperature in the packaging for several hours.