There was a moment on Monday night that I felt as if I were a little girl again.

After supper, my mom and I retreated to the kitchen to make Christmas cookies for the annual party we have here at the office.

Out came the flour, the rolling pin and the refrigerated balls of cookie dough we made the night before. She brought with her from New York various cookie cutters to use.

Some I recognized from my grandmother’s kitchen—the jumping reindeer, a Christmas tree, a frilly-edged star, a candy cane and a bell.

I remember using each one of the cutters as we made our annual batch of Christmas cookies for our family. My grandmother, mom or aunt would frost the cookie and hand it to me.

My hands were too young then to handle the crumbly cookies during the frosting process. But they were good for other tasks like garnishing the treats with sprinkles or small candies representing ornaments or a shiny red nose. And, of course, using those cookie cutters.

Now my hands are a little more coordinated, they’re able to handle the cookies gently…even more careful than my mom as she broke a couple of the more delicate cookies. (Sorry, ma.)

New Christmas cookie cutters have been added to our collection—snowflakes, gingerbread men and snowmen.

After baking the cookies, our night was filled with frosting them, making them colorful and putting silly faces on the snowman.

I teased my mom about her gingerbread man that looked oddly like the claymation character, “Mr. Bill” from Saturday Night Live and she mocked me about the gooey red frosting that I made.

I hope at some point during the holidays you get the chance to spend time with your families. And when you do, here is a recipe to make your own Christmas cookies.

Rolled Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

½ cups butter (or Crisco), softened

2 cups of white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Icing

Ingredients

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

½ cup of shortening

5 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Desired food coloring

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners’ sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Amanda VanDerBroek is a Staff Writer for the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. For comments and column suggestions email: amanda.vanderbroek@r-cnews.com or call (252) 332-7209.