Cookies and sprinkles and icings, oh my!

Tools of the trade - brightly colored buttercream frosting and a set of inexpensive paint brushes

Sometimes baking and decorating Christmas cutout cookies can be a bit overwhelming - the mixing, the chilling, the rolling, the cutting, the baking, the glazing, the icing, the sprinkling, the cleaning . . . the collapsing.

But this time I rolled with the dough, provided the tools and sat back and watched a little magic happen.

My daughter, 19, is responsible for the "pretty in pink" doll on the left. Her boyfriend's little sis, 10, made the adorable little "beach boy," complete with eye lashes on the right. Both used paint brushes to apply food coloring or buttercream frosting.



Little Sis created this masterful Christmas tree with a simple technique: Glaze the cookie in a concoction of powdered sugar and water and then add the fine strokes with food coloring and a paint brush. She sprinkled on a little sugar glitter for pizazz.

Granny's Sugar Cookies
(From a 32-year-old Tupperware recipe I found in my box.)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Blend in egg.
- Sift together salt, baking powder and flour. Add to mixture.
- Blend vanilla into mixture.
- Chill dough approximately one hour.
- Roll dough to desired thickness (about 1/8") and cut out shapes.
- Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet (or cookie sheet with parchment paper) in 375 degree preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Easy Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons water

Combine ingredients until lumps disappear. Spoon on cookies or dip cookie directly into the glaze.

Buttercream Frosting
(Will post this later.)

I like the minimalist look in decorating. My contributions are the red-nosed reindeer in the back of the plate.