Decorated Christmas Cookies

Sabbath in the Kitchen

As a Sabbath activity, follow this family recipe or prepare another favorite dish.

Decorated Christmas Cookies

A family recipe shared by Lisle Gwynn Garrity

As a child, Christmastime always promised us a tradition that was an otherwise forbidden activity: the chance to play with our food. My grandmother’s kitchen table became an art studio splattered with flour and sprinkles when, each year, she retrieved the metal tin filled with Christmas-themed cookie cutters, and we spent the afternoon crafting edible Christmas treats. To my knowledge, we never made these cookies from scratch because my grandmother was admittedly not much of a cook, and because pre-made convenience allowed us to devote ourselves to the art of cookie sprinkles. We would spend hours rolling the dough, clapping our hands into flour clouds, and discovering how many red and green sugar crystals could fit on reindeer-shaped patties. And so, for this Sabbath Saturday recipe, I give you permission to focus less on baking and more on playing. I hope you’ll buy pre-made sugar cookie dough, get your kitchen messy, and decorate Christmas cookies with little humans leading the way.

Ingredients

• Store-bought, pre-made sugar cookie dough (or bake from scratch if the word “pre-made” makes you wince)
• Sprinkles—as many kinds and colors as possible
• Store-bought icing

Instructions

With a rolling pin, flatten the cookie dough in between handfuls
of flour. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into fun shapes—or
use a knife to freehand Christmas-themed creations. Sprinkle
abundantly. Bake until your kitchen swells with sweetness.