One of my favorite memories growing up was making and decorating Christmas cookies with my grandma. She would mix all the ingredients together, roll them into a perfectly formed ball of cookie dough and roll them out for us to press the cookie cutters into them. Side by side, my sister and I would wait patiently while the cookies baked and cooled, and then we put them onto our trays to frost and sprinkle.
Years have passed since I’ve made cookies with my grandma. After suffering a massive stroke in 2004, she was no longer able to use her hands and was eventually completely bed ridden until she passed away a few years ago. I treasure every memory I had in the kitchen with her, which I never fully appreciated until I had my own kids. If I were completely honest with you, I don’t enjoy sharing the kitchen with little hands. While others fully embrace the chaos of flour and sprinkles everywhere, I do not. But Christmas time has always been about the cookies for our family. Making them with the people you love and passing on my grandma’s legacy through her love of baking makes up for my lack of patience in the kitchen.
This past weekend, we put on our aprons over our jammies, turned up the Christmas music, and made a mess in the kitchen. My little one insisted on rolling out the flour-dusted dough, waited patiently for the cookies to cook and cool, and then dumped an abundance of frosting and sprinkles on top.
It makes me smile to think of all the fond memories I have of decorating these yummy cookies through all our family’s generations and remember grandma’s love for baking. So I will tuck the recipe away until next year (because let’s face it, once a year cut-outs is all I have time for).
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