Cookie Advent Cookbook
Cookbook By: Barbara Grunes & Virginia Van Vynckt
“The cookies are shared with loved ones, and the Advent calendar reveals something new each night leading up to the holiday,” Barbara Grunes & Viriginia Van Vynckt authors of Cookie Advent Cookbook.
Growing up we never really had fancy Advent calendars, but they are something that I have come to love as an adult. I have had the kindle version of The Cookie Advent Cookbook for a few months now but just recently saw it in the hardcopy and immediately bought it. All of the doors open on the front cover to reveal the cookie of the day. You and your family will love the fun this cookbook provides.
The Cookie Advent Cookbook has a wide variety of recipes to please any taste. Recipes in the cookbook are easy to follow and tasty. See below to check out which ones I made.
Cutout Butter Cookies
I love to make cutout cookies and I normally use a sugar cookie recipe but wanted to try something a little different this year. These cutout butter cookies made the perfect alternative. The recipe does require you to have pasteurized egg whites or reconstituted dry egg whites – so make sure you don’t forget those at the store like I did the other day.
I made the dough one day and then put it in the fridge to chill and left it overnight. When I went to pull it out the next day it was frozen solid – now my fridge does run a little colder and tends to freeze things in the back – but this was in the front. I went ahead and left it out at room temperature for a bit so I could roll out the dough. Next time I make these I will just refrigerate the dough for an hour or two at max.
The directions were very clear and easy to follow. Make sure to follow the instructions and let the cookies sit for a minute on the cookie sheet before transferring to the cooling rack. I didn’t with one of them and the cookie immediately cracked in half. The recipe made just over 30 cookies which was plenty.
Once again, I used my hand mixer to make the icing and it worked well. I used some of my food coloring to make a few bowls of icing in different colors. The icing was delicious, and it set up well.
Overall, I was impressed with the results from this recipe and will make these again. They didn’t spread and are delicious – a great treat for the holiday season.
Lemon Iced Cookies
I have to be honest if you laid out a spread of cookies lemon cookies would be one of the last ones I reach for. However, my Dad loves all types of lemon cookies so I had to make these cookies. The ingredients were all standard, but I did have to pick up some more lemons since it took me six lemons to have enough lemon juice. Following the recipe was simple as everything was laid out. I still don’t have a stand mixer and my regular hand mixer worked fine for this recipe.
For the dough, you are given the option to drop by rounded teaspoon or rolling it into 1-inch balls and I rolled the dough. I wasn’t sure how much you were supposed to flatten the dough so in the first batch I just flattened slightly and in the second batch, I flattened a little more. The cookies that were a little more flattened – think of it as you want the cookie size to be the same as the bottom of the glass when flattened, they cooked the best.
When making the icing I tried to use a regular whisk and it didn’t work, I finally had to use the hand mixer to get the icing nice and smooth. If you have a stand mixer the whisk attachment would work great. I didn’t use the jellybeans instead used some yellow decorating sugar, which I loved.
The lemon iced cookies were delicious and the longer they sit the softer they get. I am shocked by how much I love them especially since I am not a lemon person. These will definitely be a cookie that I make again and again.
The Cookie Advent Cookbook is a must-have for everyone this Christmas season. It has so many different recipes including candy cane cookies, crinkle cookies, Swedish thumbprint cookies, green tea wafers, brandy snaps, twinkling little stars and red-nose Rudolph cookies.
Kids of all ages (and adults too) will love the recipes. I hope you get to make some of these great recipes this year. Let me know how they come out!
