Our family comes in all shapes, sizes, religious beliefs (or non-beliefs, as it were). I absolutely love it! We affectionately have named the last two weeks of December 'Chrismukah'—and we did it before Seth Cohen did it on The OC. And it really is my most favorite time of the year. There are dreidels and Christmas trees, presents in green and red and presents in blue, and traditional treats as fas as the eye can see.
Top 5 Hanukkah Treats You'll Want To Try
This year, though, Hanukkah (Or Chanukah or Hannukah or Channukah, whatever floats your holiday boat) arrives at the end of November, meaning that the celebrating, and the eating of delicious food starts riiiight about now.
These cookies are great because they are pretty enough to bring along to a Hanukkah party, but simple enough that the kiddies can join in the kitchen.
Ingredients:
Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl on medium speed. Stir in vanilla and egg and blend well. Stir in flour and salt
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I halve the dough, flatten each piece a bit, and wrap them in plastic wrap—it makes rolling a bit easier.
Once chilled, knead and flatten the dough. Roll onto a floured surface until 1/8 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes.
Place 2-inches apart on an ungreased and floured cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 8-10, or until the edges begin to brown. Do not overbake. Cookies will continue to bake on the cookie sheets once they are removed from the oven.
Now, because it was a week night and because I was baking with three small children, I took the easy way out and bought a tub of vanilla icing—any kind will do. If you are more daring or have more time, I highly suggest this easy recipe for vanilla bean icing. I used the Wilton icing color in sky blue and mixed with the icing until it turned the shade my children dubbed as Smurf Blue.
The kids had a great time making the sandwiches. I let them use knives to spread some icing on the backs of the cookies and then let them place a similar-sized cookie on top.
And then we ate at least a dozen.
Voila. Happy Mom, happy kids.
Happy holidays!
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