The other day I took a short cut through Queen’s Arcade and couldn’t help but notice these stacked on a table outside a kitchenware shop. I used to collect cookie cutters, but they seem to have gradually disappeared over the years – usually into L’s toybox! So two minutes and seven dollars later I walked out of the shop with some new toys for myself – this time adults only!
So now I have added to my dwindling collection of odd hearts and stars, gingerbread man, woman and child (how PC is that!), butterfly, teddy bear, and other non- descript cookie cutters, and now I have a shiny new star, candy cane, bell, tree, an angel and a reindeer!
Yesterday I mixed up the dough, and when he got home from school L couldn’t wait to get started – of course he had to make the first cut!
I think the angels are my favourite – they look like they are about to fly off the paper, don’t you think?
But the reindeer are pretty cute too!
We rolled out and cut the dough over and over again until we finally got to the tiny piece that was left – and I found a tiny star that just fitted:
No prizes for guessing what happened to this piece:
I always think if the mixture tastes good, the finished product will too!!Let me share the recipe we used – it’s so easy (none of that creaming of butter and sugar!), and it’s lots of fun doing it with your kids:
Ginger Spice Cookies
185 g unsalted butter, cubed
1 C caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk (egg white is saved for icing)
2 1/2 C plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t ground ginger
Process butter and sugar in food processor until smooth.
Add egg and egg yolk, lightly mix.
Add flour, cinnamon and ginger, process to a smooth dough.
Lightly knead dough, wrap in glad wrap and put in fridge for 30 mins.
Roll dough out evenly to 3mm thickness between sheets of baking paper, cut into shapes.
Bake about 8 mins in 180 C oven.
Turn onto wire rack to cool, and ice when cold.
Store in airtight container for 2-3 weeks (ours never last that long!)
So here we have the product of our afternoon – a selection of delectable cookies all ready to ice! We couldn’t resist a couple each before putting them up in the top shelf of the pantry, until I get around to icing them. But what did I hear about an hour later? A chair being slowly dragged across the kitchen floor towards the pantry, the pantry door opening, and a someone climbing onto the chair. Let’s just say I caught the little monkey red-handed!
Now I just need to locate my icing set, and the fun begins!
