Mommy's Little Helper: Christmas Sugar Cookies!

I love the holidays: the music, the decorations and of course, the baking! I have found myself doing much more baking than usual this year. (I'm going to blame my husband for buying me a Kitchenaid for my birthday in August! But I love it and him for it!) The trouble with baking though is that it's not easy to do with a hyper 3 year old! But as these pictures will show you- it at least makes for a fun adventure!

Shaun was throwing handfuls of flour in the air, shouting out "Christmas!" My entire dining room was covered in flour but at least he had his fun.







And then it came time to decorate. At first I was trying to make them cute and perfect...and then things started going wrong and Shaun decided he wanted in on the fun so I figured, why not!? I think their special recipient will appreciate the thought!!



I used a few basic recipes, but for anyone interested, here you go!

Christmas Sugar Cookies:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks salted butter softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt.
3. In large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Add flour mixture and blend until just combined.
4. Gather dough into ball, flatten and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in fridge for one hour or until firm.
5. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
6. Bake 13 to 15.

(Recipe from Mrs. Fields Best Cookie Book Ever)

You can find the icing recipe here, though I used vanilla extract since I had it on hand!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday baking as much as we have been! I would love to hear what everyone else has been making as well!!