rocking the holidays{or the time i attempted to bake cookies}

this shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertisers. all opinions are mine alone. #RocktheHolidays #CollectiveBias  

i can't recall one single christmas that doesn't include a memory made in the kitchen. whether it was watching my mom make her famous olive-cheese balls for the christmas potluck at church as a little one, trying sneak sips of champagne during a holiday cocktail party at our house as teenager or the first time i cooked christmas dinner for my family as young wife and mother-i aced the turkey but made mashed potatoes from a box!!! the one thing that links all of these memories is music! donny hathaway's "this christmas" , whitney houston's "o, holy night' and the jackson 5 singing "i saw mommy kissing santa claus" are all a part of my childhood christmas soundtrack.

rowan loves being in the kitchen so i decided this would be the perfect time to start our own tradition of holiday baking. over the weekend i hit up wal-mart for some baking supplies. while we filled our cart with flour, sprinkles, butter and cookie cutters i also picked up the T-mobile Samsung Galaxy Core Prime and a T-mobile $50 refill card. my interest was piqued because the $50 T-Mobile Simple Choice™ pre pay plan comes with Music Freedom and allows you to stream an unlimited amount of your favorite tunes at high speed. no worries about using up those precious gigs that are part of your data plan. i can literally carry the soundtrack to our holidays with me anywhere! i am listening to justin bieber's christmas album as we speak. yes, i'm a belieber! and, i regret nothing because YOLO!

it's good to know that no matter how long it takes me(the world's most okayest baker)to perfect santa's christmas cookies we'll be listening to our favorite holiday tunes!

  and my no fail, even if they're not pretty they taste amazing sugar cookie recipe 

ingredients

  • 1 c. butter, softened
  • 1½ c. sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 c. all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • frosting (optional)
  • Coarse sugar crystals, silver dragées, holiday decors (optional decorations)

directions

  1. in large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. in separate large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. reduce speed to low; beat in eggs and vanilla until mixed, then beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten each piece into a disk. wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  2. preheat oven to 350°F. remove1 piece of dough from refrigerator. on lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough until slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. with floured 3-inch to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; reserve trimmings. place cookies, 1 inch apart, on two ungreased large cookie sheets.
  3. bake until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through. transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. repeat with remaining dough.
  4. when cookies are cool, prepare frosting, if you like; use along with sugars and candies to decorate cookies. Set cookies aside to allow frosting to dry completely, about 1 hour. store in tightly covered container (with waxed paper between layers if decorated) at room temperature up to 2 weeks, or in freezer up to 3 months.