December: Brown Sugar Kids' Cookies

edible, moldable, play-dough that tastes delicious too!

Kids’ Cookies, painted in watercolor

The holiday season is here! Don’t ask us how that happened so fast,

all we know is this- Black Friday and Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday

have already come and gone, Classic Rock has turned into Classic

Holiday Music all day and all night with expected play-on-repeat until

at least the 26th of December, and the urge to whip up some holiday

cookies is becoming an irresistible nostalgic tug whenever we come

near the kitchen stove.

We have made all kinds of holiday cookies over the years. There were

neighborhood cookie exchanges when our not-so-secret (and not very

charitable) goal was to impress all the others with the sophistication

of the cookies we shared. There were gifts for family members and

friends where the most important thing about the cookies we packed in

tins was their great taste and promise of travel durability and

long-storage guarantee. And, the best cookies we ever baked? Why,

those were the Brown Sugar Kids’ Cookies that our family made with an

edible, squishable, poundable dough that even the youngest child could

handle. We managed to save at least one or two “Kid Cookies” to leave

on a plate on the fireplace hearth with a note for Santa (along with a

carrot for his reindeer), “Thank you, Santa,” we wrote. “Merry

Christmas from us!”

Here’s our recipe. The best things about this cookie dough is that

it’s as easy as commercial play dough to manipulate. It’s safe to

sample raw – in fact, it’s delicious! It keeps for weeks and weeks in

the fridge, so it can become a happy activity for children from 2 to

(as they say) 92, any time a family can carve out a half hour or so.

And the cookies that emerge from the oven, whether molded, dropped

from cookie scoops, cut from flattened dough, decorated with colored

sugar or sprinkles (or not), – make little bakers proud and everyone

who tastes them happy!

Make the dough early in the season, and keep, tightly wrapped, in your

refrigerator for those moments when cookie baking becomes the exactly

right way to spend some time together, making something delicious to

share and savoring the happy, tasty, sharing spirit of the holiday

season.

Whether your family celebrates Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanza or

simply the solstice that honors the return of the light, our Brown

Sugar Kids Cookies will add pleasure to your preparations – and, now

that you know how to make the dough, you can plan on kids’ cookies for

Valentines’ Day and Teacher Appreciation Days and lots of other

celebrations in the coming year.

It's the holiday season. We hope your holidays are happy.

Kid’s Cookies

This delicious cookie dough has the consistency of commercial Play

Dough, but unlike play dough, it bakes into wonderful cookies that

grown-ups will enjoy just as much as the children who help make them.  If

you're tempted to taste the unbaked product while molding or cutting

into cookie shapes, go ahead - the dough contains no raw eggs! - and

it keeps well, tightly wrapped,  in the refrigerator for several

weeks, so you can make new batches of cookies every day throughout the

season. Even the youngest cookie bakers can manage this supple,

non-sticky dough.

Ingredients:

9 oz. cream cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups sweet butter, softened

1-1/2 cups light or dark brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 TBSP. vanilla extract

5 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and softened butter. Cream

together with the brown sugar and the salt until smooth.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

One cup at a time, stir in the flour, until well incorporated.

Turn the dough out on counter or table top, and knead until smooth.

Stickiness will disappear when the dough is ready.

Now distribute to waiting hands and encourage molding, pinching,

rolling into balls, flattening and cutting into shapes with cookie

cutters, pounding, and manipulating into cookies of desired shapes and

sizes.

Place on un-greased baking sheets* and bake in pre-heated 350 F

degree oven for 12-25 minutes, depending upon thickness of cookies.

Group thinner cookies and thicker cookies onto separate sheets, and if

using cast-iron cookie molds, count on baking for a longer time.

*Note: If desired, after placing cookies on baking sheets, you can

brush with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar or

commercial sprinkles before baking. Our family owned cast iron cookie

molds which turned blobs of this dough into adorable teddy bears,

perfect for sharing at tea parties or carrying outside to backyard

picnics. Look for cookie molds, which can be made from ceramic, or

cast iron, or probably nowadays, silicone. Happy cookie baking!

-Penny

Thank you all for following along this year as my Mom shared her recipes and I shared my little illustrations to go alongside. It has been such a fun project and we hope to continue to create more in the years to come. A Happy Holiday season and end of the year to you all. -Molly