Christmas Cookie Shortcuts

These tips make creating beautiful cookies and ornaments a breeze. Add a dash of your own imagination for even more creative flair. Easy and delicious, these tasty cookies will make friends and family think you've spent hours in the kitchen baking.

Candy Cane Cookies

One roll sugar cookie refrigerator dough

Red and green food coloring

Peppermint extract

Let dough sit at room temperature for fifteen minutes. Knead with a little flour in a large mixing bowl. Knead about one-half a teaspoon of the peppermint extract into the dough. Divide dough into thirds. Add red food coloring to one third until reaching desired depth of color. Repeat with green food coloring. Keep the remaining dough uncolored.

Divide dough into strips of equal length and thickness. "Rope" contrasting colors together to form a candy cane. Bake according to package instructions.

Christmas Pinwheels

One roll sugar cookie refrigerator dough

Red and green food coloring

Almond extract

Let dough sit at room temperature for fifteen minutes. Knead dough with a little flour in large mixing bowl. Knead a half-teaspoon of the almond extract into the dough. Repeat the same food coloring process as for Candy Cane Cookies.

Form a large flat rectangle with the uncolored dough. Roll the same size and shape with the red and green dough, placing one on top on the other. When all three rectangles are stacked, begin rolling the layers of dough, beginning with the short end of the rectangle. When the entire amount of dough is formed into a roll, freeze for fifteen minutes.

Remove roll from freezer, and slice into quarter inch thick slices. Bake according to package directions.

Creative Cookie Ornaments

Using the cookie recipes above, utilize the following craft items to create beautiful ornaments:

One can clear polyurethane spray

Fishing line

Tacky glue

Glitter

Before baking cookies intended as ornaments, make a hole for hanging in each cookie with a drinking straw. Bake cookies as directed. Allow to cool completely. Adorn with glitter and glue. Allow glue to dry thoroughly. Spray with polyurethane. Dry completely. Spray with second coat. Dry several hours before stringing with fishing line and hanging on Christmas tree.