How can you not smile at these cute gingerbread cookies?  They just make me feel good :)  And baking them just made my house smell aaaaahhhhh-mazing…. m’mmmm :)  I know most people are making a mad dash to the stores to finish off the rest of their shopping but me?  Not so much.  I’ve been in the kitchen since Friday making all sorts of homemade goodies to give as presents. Neighbors, friends, coworkers, my hair-god Nick, our dance teachers… they all get baskets full of yummies.  Between now and New Years I hope to photograph and post everything I’ve been making!

This will be a really short entry… because I’m really short on time.   I’m sure you understand about having more things to do than hours in which to do them.  And I really appreciate your understanding… especially since either way, well, you’d still have a really short entry to read! LOL

These cookies bake up beautifully and come out nice and soft.  The recipe can be found here and the only alteration I made was in the method. I find I have a lot less problems using cookie cutters when my dough is chilled.  I roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed paper then place that on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.  That’s long enough to get it nice and chilled but not frozen solid.  Then when using the cookie cutters I have no problems at all :)

The recipe I used for the royal icing can be found here and it’s one I really like.  I use twice as much cream of tartar as the recipe calls for but that is the only alteration I make.  I will advise though, if you’re concerned about raw egg whites consider using pasteurized eggs or perhaps search for a recipe using meringue powder.

My cookie cutter set has a boy and a girl cut out however to make it even more apparent that one is a girl, I gave her a lil pearl-studded apron :)  When it comes to decorating, use your imagination and most of all have fun!!! 

As a slight aside… for those of you that subscribe to my site via email, please know that what comes in your email is just the first paragraph excerpt of the whole entry.  In order to see the full entry including more pictures and the recipe (or link to the recipe) be sure to click thru by clicking on either my website name or the name of the individual entry – both of which should be hot links in your email.  If ever in doubt, visit my site directly at  http://TheRepressedPastryChef.com  :)

Okay, well, I apologize for the short entry and the fact that I didn’t take more pictures.  What can I say, there’s two days until Christmas and I have a whole lot of baking left to do!

Have a delicious day,

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