Bundled up for the cold to spread their Christmas cheer....these cute little Christmas Caroler Kid Cookies are ready to sing your favorite carols!
♫ Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way... ♫
The perfect holiday cookie for children, (particularly preschoolers)...these cookies can be customized to resemble your children and their little friends. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Imagine a welcoming platter of these adorable cookies, served with mugs of piping hot chocolate after a frosty evening out caroling in your neighborhood!
* Tip: Any basic sugar cookie recipe will work for the dough. You can add food coloring or cocoa powder to give the children different complexions. *
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Paste or liquid food coloring
Small candies for decorating (optional)
royal icing
Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.
Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 6 inch roll. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour or until dough is firm.
Step 1.) Once the dough is made and chilled for about an hour, roll it out, and using a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, cut the shapes for the children's faces.
Step 2.) Roll small bits of dough to form a nose. Press the nose gently onto the center of the cookie.
Step 3.) Using a straw, create a little oval-shaped, open mouth on each unbaked cookie to give them the appearance of singing.
Step 4.) Once all of the mouths are done, the cookies will look something like this.
Step 5.) Using paste food colorings, tint smaller batches of sugar cookie dough for hair, scarves, earmuffs and hats.
Step 6.) Using a clean garlic press, force a tablespoon of colored dough through to make hair. I have a new garlic press that I use only for this purpose.
Step 7.) Once the "hair" comes out, gently lift it and press onto the heads of the cookies. Use other small bits of tinted dough to form earmuffs, scarves and hats.
Like this...
Now your carolers are ready to be baked!
Step 8.) Pop the cookies into a 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes.
Step 9.) Let the baked cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 10.) Once the cookies have cooled, you can finish decorating them with royal icing and candies.
Step 11.) To give their cheeks a rosy appearance as if they've been out in the cold, fill a small cup with a couple of tablespoons of water and add a scant drop or two of red food coloring or paste.
Step 12.) Use a clean paintbrush to lightly apply the diluted coloring to the cheeks of each cookie.
* Tip: the brush should be nearly dry.
Keep a paper towel nearby to rub off the excess before applying to the cookie.
Step 13.) Attach mini chocolate chip eyes using royal icing or other candies as you'd like!
Voila! Individually packaged with musical note tags, or set on a platter or in a box wrapped in sheet music, this little cherubic chorus of one-of-a-kind faces is sure to be a crowd pleaser!
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