I participated in my good friend’s fundraising event again this year: the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  The swap raises money for  the non-profit charity, Cookies for Kids Cancer.  Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil together with Julie of The Little Kitchen helped raised over $7,000 this season, pairing hundreds of bloggers with their cookie swap matches.

cookiegram!

This is my third year participating in the swap and, let me tell you, by far the most stressful.  Man, does this December 3rd cookie mailing deadline date ever creep up on a new mother after barely recovering from Thanksgiving!!!  Luckily, at 10 months old, Baby P is still happily hanging out in the kitchen with me.  His new favorite things to play with are spatulas, strainers, and pots.

oxo’s spatulas are good for teething babies!

I always have lofty ideas of sending amazing new cookie recipes from magazine pages every year, but this year, I knew my limits and stuck with a pretty basic recipe.  A simple sugar cookie with a slight twist; cream cheese and lemon zest.  What a creamy, zippy, lemony bite these two ingredients gave the beloved Christmas sugar cookie.  I highly recommend this recipe if you are looking for a jazzier cutout cookie recipe!  My lesson learned on this recipe was to roll the dough thickly, like 1/4″ thick, and the cookies were much easier to cut out and handle.

Also, (if you have the time) put the cut raw cookies back into the fridge for 20 minutes before baking.  This ensures sharper edges.

sparkle cookies

In case you are interested, here are some of the delicious cookies I received from my swap matches…

M&M pudding cookies from http://www.marriedandhungry.net

peanut butter s’more cookies from http://zenandspice.com

snickerdoodles with peanut butter cups inside from http://thetiptoefairy.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Sugar Cookies (recipe from The Kitchn)
Prep time: 1:30 minutes
Bake time: 9-12 minutes
Makes: 2 to 3 dozen cookies, based on cookie cutter size

Print This Recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 cups unsalted, room temperature, butter
• 2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

1. Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or bowl with electric mixer beaters.  Cream until light and fluffy, then add the egg, vanilla & almond extracts, and lemon zest.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.  Gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until the ingredients are fully incorporated and a soft dough forms.
3. Using your hands, separate the dough into two discs and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least one hour or freeze for up to one month.
4. To bake, preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough to 1/4″ thick and cut cookie shapes with desired cutters. Place onto parchment-lined baking sheets and place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
5. After chilling for 20 minutes, bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes.
6. Remove cookie sheets from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack.  Allow cookies to cool completely before icing and decorating.  Store cookies in a air tight container.