Baking Holiday Cookies with Kids

I started a tradition of baking Christmas cookies with Blake when he was only 1-½ years old. Now Blake’s younger brother, Finn, joins in on the fun. We made the same cookies again this year because they are so easy and call for just a few ingredients. That’s because the recipe starts with a Betty Crocker ® cookie mix. After baking the cookies, I rounded up the boys and put them to work. I spread out the baked cookies on parchment paper so that they were easier to decorate.

After I spooned melted vanilla chips into a disposable piping bag, Blake learned how to hold the bag and press out just enough of the glaze to decorate the cookies. You can use a resealable plastic bag as I indicated in the recipe, but a disposable piping bag is nice because it is a little longer and easier to hold. I like using the melted chips (with nothing added to them) because they set up so fast. But you can use your favorite frosting or glaze recipe, too.

Here are the cookies after we put the garlands of melted vanilla chips on them.

Finn’s job was to sprinkle green sugar on the glazed cookies.

We put some on a plate for us to eat.

Then we brought most of the cookies over to Great-Grandma Shirley (she is 90 years old!) to share at the home where she lives. Baking, decorating and eating Christmas cookies is a memorable and fun tradition for four generations of our family.