Luckily for those of us with an insatiable sweet tooth and several aspiring bakers in our family, the sheer volume of cookies consumed in the next week is going to be a January problem. Right now, we need to focus on eating as many cookies as possible, including sugar cookies, thumbprints, peanut butter buttons, and snowballs.
Forget about Santa's cookies overnight, I'll be the one consuming those delicious delicacies with a pint of milk in the evening.
Sitting by a roaring fire with a yummy dessert and a warm beverage may be one of life's most peaceful delights. We may only have the opportunity to do this on a seasonal basis, because this is the only time of year that we can fully justify indulging in everything sweet. Surrounded by loved ones, savory snacks, festive charcuterie boards, and a warm wintry beverage, we owe it to our palates to balance out the feasting with a little something sweet. So dig into a half dozen baked goods this season and indulge in a little treat. Because Christmas is all about the holly jolly favorite, and for us dessert-lovers, that includes all the limbs of the gingerbread men.
Christmas cookies are a freebie. Largely because our heavy coats and stretchy sweaters hide the Christmas weight gain, holiday sweets are the glue that binds together family members as they roll out the cookie dough, warm their hands over the preheating oven, and turn a messy dollop of frosting into a Rudolph's red nose. Fear not, fellow sweets lovers, under the guise of family bonding, desserty passions, and years of tradition, soon the kitchen will smell like vanilla extract and Grandma's approval. Without an overflowing bin of cookies on the counter at all times, how will your uncle justify clearing out the last cookie in the Santa-shaped cookie jar?
Gather round the hearth of the 375-degree oven and click on the oven light. Beyond that warm wall of glass lay your beautiful baked creations, waiting to be enjoyed by the entire family this Christmas. Hark, the harold! Cookies are singing! Joy has been brought once again to the world.
