Cookies

I had two little cooking elves happily help me with my Christmas baking this year. They both helped with one part or another of each of the cookies. They both also ate a fair share of the ingredients that go into the cookies. We started with the all-time favorite, Monster cookies. They helped gather all of the ingredients, sat up on the bar together and helped me combine everything using the hand held mixer. Benjamin, such a boy, loves anything that resembles a power tool and Josie being a great older sister let him do it!! I was amazed there wasn't more fighting. I don't have any photos of him doing it because I was too scared he'd accidently put his hands in the bowl along with the mixer but they both loved it.

All was going well until the chocolate chips and M&M's went in. Then they couldn't keep their hands out of the bowl. I can't blame them. They are pretty hard to resist.

Reaching in for more.

Mouth so full he can't even chew!

Taking a break from the baking to decorate our annual gingerbread house. It is all pre-made but Josie loves decorating it. After working with the gingerbread house and making real gingerbread cookies at preschool, she talked me into adding some gingerbread cookies to the usuall mix.

So, back to the bar to mix up the gingerbread dough

She decorated and decorated.

It took a couple of days but finally we got them all decorated.

The reason it took so long may have been because she did not skimp in her amount of decorations per cookie.

And no Christmas baking season would be complete without the red and white candy cane cookie.

Josie crushing the candy canes to sprinkle over the top.

And a few plates of cookies ready to go out to friends.