Eggnog ice cream. Here’s what you need.

Really, that’s it. Since eggnog already has the whole egg custard thing going on, I hoped it would work. It did. I just added a little vanilla extract to prevent the eggnog from crystallizing.

Here’s how to do it:
Pour 1 quart of eggnog into your ice cream machine. Add 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract. (you could do something like 1T rum, if you want to be all “authentic” but I don’t drink, so I used extract I had on hand.)

Mix according to the manufacturer’s directions. (mine was 20 minutes) and just like that you’ve got ice cream!

I made these cookies, baking them only for 10 minutes, and made my ice cream sandwiches with it. Delicious. And super easy and fast!

Lottie loved helping to cut out the shapes.

Kelsey loved to lick the frosting off the beater.

(Brad loved that too… if we’re being completely honest here.)

We took a little break to light the menorah (because it’s fun to teach our kids about other cultures).

And then it was on to the decorating. There wasn’t much to it. Some buttercream frosting and sprinkles. But it was oh so fun.

A few days later I made up another batch to decorate all pretty. As soon as I got out the cookie cutters Lottie came running asking to cut out a circle. Before it was time to decorate (or “color cookies” as Lottie says) the girls went to bed. While I loved decorating with them, I was excited to do my own thing. This time I used glacé icing to make them shiny and smooth.

My favorite tools when I’m using this icing are these great little decorating bottles from the Pampered Chef. It’s so hard to set down a piping bag full of this semi-runny (or very runny, if you’re flooding) icing.

I had one for each color I was working with. I love that I can set them down and the icing doesn’t run! Love!

Here’s my favorite sugar cookie recipe if you’re in the mood to bake this season. Because really, who isn’t in the mood to bake during the Christmas season?

Sugar Cookies

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 t almond extract
3 C flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and extract and mix just ’til combined.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add a little at a time to the butter mixture until it is all incorporated.

At this point, most recipes would tell you to place in fridge for 1-2 hours to chill, then roll. Here’s my favorite tip for sugar cookies: Split into two equal balls. Roll each one in between two layers of parchment paper, then put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Seriously, when choosing between two hours or twenty minutes before you can cut and bake, I’ll take 20 minutes any day.

Cut out your shapes and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Don’t let them start to get brown around the edges (unless you like crisp sugar cookies, then go ahead). If you take them out when you think they’re still not quite done, they will be perfect. Cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool before frosting.

Tip #2: When you’ve cut out all you can from one slab of dough, roll out the extras between your two layers of parchment and stick it back in the fridge while the first batch bakes. Then take it out and cut your next batch of shapes… they will hold their shape in the oven so much better if they’re a little chilled.

Enjoy!

I love baking. (Almost) every Wednesday I bake cookies or some other treat. So, a few weeks ago, instead of making just my regular batch of cookies, I made three. One batch of three different kinds of cookies. And you know what? It really didn’t take me much longer than making my regular batch. Here are the three types I made:

{cookie jar gingersnaps}

{chocolate chip cookies}

{chocolate dipped peanut butter cookies}

Click on any picture above to go to the recipe. (Yup, see that new tab at the top of the page? I’ll be posting a lot more recipes up there.)

Now here’s how to do the baking in bulk, and in advance. Did you know that you can make your cookie dough and freeze it for a few months? Sure can. I probably wouldn’t make it in July for Christmas (mostly because I know they would never last that long in the freezer at my house), but you could definitely do it at the end of October or early November. Just make the dough, shape it into balls, and set them on a pan covered with waxed paper. It doesn’t matter if they’re spaced out like they would be for baking, just put them as close together as you can, and pop the pan into the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Once they’re chilled just enough to keep their shape (but not long enough to get that freezer-burned taste) take them out, toss them into a Ziploc freezer bag, write the date on it and throw that into the freezer.

When you’re ready to bake them, take them out of the freezer and place on your baking sheet (this time, appropriately spaced for baking), let them thaw for a few minutes, and bake as directed in the recipe. You’ll then have rows and rows of deliciousness ready and waiting.

At this point, you could throw them on a plate and hand out to whomever you want. But that just wouldn’t be festive enough for me (although I have been guilty of that in the past). Why not make a stack of alternating cookies,

and wrap them up like a giant piece of candy?

If you want to make an extra yummy treat to share, throw in some homemade caramels

and you’ve really got something special that anyone would enjoy (just ask my neighbors who got this package of goodies the day after I baked cookies).

Coming up soon I’ll have more ideas about sharing treats around the holidays that are much more in the spirit of Christmas than leaving a plate on someone’s doorstep. (Although, there’s nothing terribly bad about that, as long as you leave a card so they know who’s kitchen they came from, and they’re not left in a snowstorm to be blown away and found in the garden in springtime.)

What are some of your favorite things to bake around the holidays?