Neighbours Christmas Cookies

This year I thought I would do the DIY cookie in a jar idea- you pack all of the ingredients into the jar and let the receiver cook it themselves- an excellent thought...However I am a touch controlling and decided I would bake the cookies, then ended up decorating them too and voila packaged them up and Christmas cookies were complete.
The recipe I used was from Cake Journal it is fool proof....

VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES

Makes around 25-30 medium sized cookies.

(200 grams) of sugar
(OR 100 grams sugar and 100 grams of confectioners sugar)
2 large eggs.
1 tsp of vanilla.
(450 grams) of all-purpose flour, sifted
(200 grams) of unsalted butter, diced.

Extra flour for kneading and rolling.

Step 1:
In a bowl or in the kitchen mixer with paddle attachment, mix the two types of sugar, vanilla and the egg. Add the flour and the butter and keep mixing just until the dough comes together.

Step 2:
Knead the dough lightly by hand on your flour dusted kitchen counter and wrap it well in cling film and put it in a plastic bag. Chill the dough for 2 hours.

I always roll out my dough on a sheet of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour and I set my oven to 325F (170C) when I bake cookies and place the baking tray in the middle of the oven. Depending on size I bake them from 15-20 mins. You want them to be light golden brown without being raw in the middle.

Just waiting on their arms...To get the little snowman circles I used my piping tips (the different sized circles were perfect for the job)

Next up I had to quickly make some cupcakes for a Christmas Party and decided some quick trees were in order. I got the Wilton Ruffled cupcake patty cases from Little Betsy Baker and used a buttercream icing from Sharnel Dollar (it NEVER fails)
BUTTERCREAM ICING

250 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

400 grams icing sugar

1 tbs milk (optional)

2 tbs vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and cream for 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl occasionally. Add sifted icing sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat for a minute further. Add food coloring as desired.
Buttercream can be stored to up to three days in an airtight container in a cool place. Do not refrigerate.

The fondant stars were just Orchard fondant from the supermarket in the pink box- nicest taste I think. Ordinarily these would have been placed on a toothpick, but I had kids helping me do this (playdate at my house) and my kitchen was a MESS!!!!