tis the season for cookies

this year, i found myself to be quite busy in december. i think a lot of that had to do with the new class i was teaching. coming up with new stuff is hard. i have a lot of respect for teachers. a lot.

anyway, i always make some sort of christmas cookie. it just wouldn't be right not to. but this year i only made one, and it took me almost a whole week to complete them. not that they were all that hard to make; i just didn't have the time. (thought they were a little tricky...)

this year i made stained glass cookies, and i followed this recipe. they turned out really cute (i think). and i didn't actually eat one, but those who did said that they tasted good (i was worried that the melted life savers that i used would taste funky, but apparently they were tasty).

here is one of the cookies held up to the light. i thought it was a fun shot to take. looked cooler in person though.

i also took it upon myself to save all the little pieces i cut out and decorate those too. i did have a few of these, and i can testify that the recipe for the dough is a solid one (and by solid i mean good, not like too heavy). the recipe calls for some molasses, and i think that is key in getting the nice flavor they have. they don't taste like gingerbread, but they have a hint of it...

side note - don't use sanding sugar in place of the crushed hard candy. i was a moron and tried that. clearly the sanding sugar has a higher melting point than the candies. so it didn't work. at all. but, i did use sanding sugar on top of the cookies after i frosted them. the sugar stuck to the icing and the stained glass part, which made them look even more festive (in my opinion).

for the frosting, i wanted something that would dry hard. i didn't want the designs to get all mushed on the commute into work. apparently egg whites are the trick to this. so whisked (in li'l martha) one egg white, one cup of powdered sugar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla for this icing. it did the trick. i really had to work quick with the sugar too - it dried super fast.

anyway, happy holidays!