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!





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!)

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!