Author: Natalie

We had a snow day this weekend, and what better time to wrap up all of my pretty packages than on a snowy Sunday? Oh my heart is happy!

I find great pleasure in a giant passel of packages wrapped beautifully and coordinating. While there is charm to hodge-podge wrapping, too, this is the way I currently prefer to wrap all of my presents. They just look so pretty and dare I say, glamorous?

All of this was from my stash…having just moved, I couldn’t afford to shell out money on brand new, full-price wrapping paper. The cocoa cups paper is a holdover from last year; the last bit of the precious roll. The pink and gold paper is from my stash…rather vintage-y and yet, modern, too. 

The gold bows and gold ribbon are from my craft stash, too. The pink tags, green twine, and the brown “icing” bags were picked up this summer at one of those fancy boutiques in one of the fancy towns. You know the kind…where the only thing you can afford is some teeny tiny paper bags and a yard of baker’s twine. Granted, they are super cute little paper bags!

And since it was snowing, snowing, snowing, what else to do but bake up the traditional Christmas cakes that take some old-fashioned TIME? You have to beat this batter for 20 minutes by hand, and that’s after chopping all of the nuts and fruit. Then you’re supposed to try, try, try to let it sit in the freezer until Christmas. But let me tell you, it really is worth it. 

Enjoy your Christmas preparations, friends!

These cookies are quintessentially Christmas-y. 

They are like Christmas Stars saying, “Be Merry! Be Bright!”

Oh my goodness they’re yummy, yummy.

And pretty. They are everything a Christmas cookie should be. 

1 package Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free shortbread cookie mix OR 1 recipe of your favorite shortbread cookie recipe

1 1/2 sticks butter (for cookie mix)

1 large egg yolk (for cookie mix)

2 TBSPs. water (for cookie mix)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 to1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups confectioners sugar

2 TBSPs. corn syrup

4 TBSPs. water (more or less as needed)

1/2 tsp. almond extract (it’s clear so it keeps the icing white; OR 1/2 tsp. clear vanilla extract)

Cinnamon

Star Anise

Cinnamon Sticks

To Begin: Follow the package directions for the cookie mix OR for your favorite shortbread cookie recipe, stirring in the spices to your own liking. Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; give it a few good but gentle kneads until it comes together. Flatten dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour. Once chilled, cut the dough in half and work with half of it at a time on your lightly floured work surface. Roll to desired thickness (I made some thick and some thin…they both taste great, but the thin ones were very fragile). Cut your cookies with lightly floured cookie cutters. Since this dough is fragile, take your time and use a thin spatula to help you move the cookies if need be, flexing the cookie cutters to gently release the dough onto the cookie sheet. If the dough becomes too warm, chill the cookies and dough before baking. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-18 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your cookies. Repeat process until you have used up all of the dough. 

Carefully, carefully, carefully slide the cookies onto a cooking rack with a thin spatula. Once completely cooled, make the icing. Sift the confectioners sugar into a medium bowl. Add the corn syrup and flavoring. Slowly add the water while mixing until everything is incorporated and you have a stiff icing for piping the edges. You want to be able to pipe it, so it should be stiffer than regular icing. Put a quarter of this icing into a pastry bag with a very thin round tip, or into a Ziploc bag with the top twisted and the tiniest corner snipped off. Outline the stars with this icing. 

Now add the rest of the water to the leftover icing to get the consistency of a normal or “flooding” icing. Fill the pastry bag or Ziploc again and flood the inside of the stars to fill them in with icing. Let dry. 

Sprinkle some with cinnamon, leave some plain, and add Star Anise to some.

PS> I served these with Pumpkin Spice Eggnog.