I believe Christmas sugar cookies are all about the making. It’s that time when I drag out my cookie cutters, rinse them off, and produce a countertop full of camels and reindeer (same cutter) and candy canes so dry that they only served as coasters for the frosting.
And my younger son wanted to make sugar cookies. At age 5, he still liked to hang out in the kitchen so I seized this wonderful teaching opportunity before he got bored of hanging out with me.
“Here’s how we roll out our dough for the cookie cutters,” I explained. I formed a handful of dough into a nice round ball, then flattened it with the heel of my hand. “Then we can roll it out to a nice even thickness for the cookie cutters.”
Oh, yeah, he was in. That first batch featured trees and stars and a manger. Once those were baking, he announced he could do the next round.
Motherly pride is a dangerous thing and it got me that time. I was thrilled that he had watched and learned so quickly. I took a step back to watch.
Yep, he scooped out a hunk of dough and rolled it into a ball. Nice start.
He placed the ball on the counter top and then raised his hand in the air before punching that dough ball with the side of his fist.
We’re talking a round of middleweight boxing here. Bam! Bam! Bam!
Then he dusted off his hands and calmly reached for a cookie cutter.
“Um, aren’t you going to use the rolling pin?”
He gave me one of those “I got this, Mom, so go fold laundry” looks. “It’s already flat.”
Yes, it sure was. Christmas cookies are all about the making, right?
