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.

{baa humbug}

Shipping...after all of that hard work, you really want your cookies to arrive intact.  Check this post and this video for info on shipping.

{Christmas lights}

So, who's decorating cookies this season?

 

{Or are you waiting until New Year's?}

These few tips work for me; I hope they work for you, too!