This blog post is sponsored by A.C. Moore. All opinions, text, photographs and videos are all mine.
And the Christmas countdown has begun. After Thanksgiving I shift my attention to all things Christmas from decking the halls, making my gingerbread decorations, getting few gifts, baking treats for friends and family and trying to keep sane at the same time. Baking helps with the sanity part, and it also helps when you receive a package from A.C. Moore with seasonal cutters and tools to help you get started this holiday season. When I opened the package and found the Nicole’s™ Kitchen Christmas Cutters Set with all the seasonal favorites (Santa, Reindeer, Stocking, Candy Cane, Snowflake, Snowman, Tree and Christmas Bells) it really got me in the mood for some Christmas baking. I whipped my my delicious Gingerbread dough and made pretty cookies.
To make Christmas Cookies you need:
Nicole’s Kitchen™ Christmas Cookie Cutter Set (it includes 8 cutters)
Nicole’s Kitchen™ Fondant Silicone Mold (to make fondant accents for the cookies)
Nicole’s Kitchen™ Satin Ice Fondant
Exclusive to A.C. Moore are also festive Treat Boxes I used to package the cookies. Fresh Lemon Royal Icing Gingerbread Cookie Dough Needle Tool or toothpicks Disposable Piping Bags Food Coloring – red, avocado green + leaf green, ivory, brown,orange, yellow, purple( or use electric pink with some sky blue)
Gold Luster Dust
Lemon Extract or Vodka
Small food only paint brush
Small spatula
Starch
Pearl Luster Dust
Nicole’s™ Kitchen products are available at A.C. Moore
I used my Fresh Lemon Royal Icing that pairs nicely with gingerbread cookies. If you don’t like lemon by all means use vanilla or other extract instead.
To mix tan color I used brown, little bit of yellow and a touch of purple food coloring. By purple I mean sky blue and some electric pink. I’m still on the hunt for that perfect purple ever since the purple I was using was discontinued.
I used my Gingerbread Cookie Dough to make the cookies. In my dough I use both molasses and honey and here is the recipe if you decide to give it a try. Before you start with decorating let the cookies cool completely. In fact, it is perfectly fine to decorate them next day.
To make small accent decorations I used Nicole’s Kitchen™ Satin Ice Fondant.
First use small food only brush and dust the mold and then press small ball of fondant into the cavity. Then use a spatula to remove the excess fondant. Gently by tapping on the back of the fondant mold remove the shaped fondant pieces. Let them dry for an hour and then dust each piece with pearl luster dust. Set aside until ready to use.
Here is how to decorate the cookies. I also made a video with step by step instructions on how to decorate these cookies and you can check it out here.
Start by pipping and flooding cookies with 15 second consistency royal icing. For smaller areas like snowman hat and reindeer ears use 20 – 25 second icing.
Let the icing crust before flooding adjacent areas. Pipe details in the areas that are dry. For piping details use piping consistency icing.
Add finishing touches with piping consistency icing or 20-25 second consistency icing. To attach fondant accents onto dry royal icing use a little bit of icing and gently press the fondant onto the cookie. Use white sanding sugar to add some interest to your design.
Last step is to paint dry royal icing with Gold Luster Dust mixed with little bit of Lemon Extract.
Handmade gifts are always special but they can be turned into something really unique with a magic of presentation. Today I’m using pretty window boxes from A.C.Moore. Treat Boxes come together in a matter of seconds. I lined the bottom with a white paper doily and then I layered cookies into the box.
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