Red nosed reindeer cookies

Its week 3 of the DIY challenge  over at NewlyWoodwards.  Bake and share your recipe for some tasty holiday cookies was the task set.  To those of you who know me, you’ll know I don’t enjoy cooking, but I love food especially cookies!  So after I picked the kids up from school today, I enlisted the help of my youngest daughter Ruby, to make shortbread Reindeer.  I got the idea here but changed the recipe a little.

 

 

I’ve been making these shortbread cookies since I was a little girl, its my grandmother’s recipe, and so simple.  All you need is butter 4oz, sugar 2oz, and flour 6oz.  First you beat the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon until its soft and then beat in the sugar and then the sifted flour.  You need to use your hands to bring the mixture together, the kids love this part.  Sprinkle a little sugar on the counter and roll out the mixture, start cutting out your shapes.  We chose hearts and then bake in the oven on 300F for 25 mins.

 

 

Once they had cooled we covered them with icing and added pretzels for the antlers, a red smartie for the nose and chocolate chips for the eyes.

 

 

As a variation we sprinkled some of the cookies with smashed candy canes.  To keep mess to a minimum, place a candy cane in a ziploc bag, making sure its sealed, and then hit with a rolling pin – this was Ruby’s favourite part!!

 

 

I had to take this photo really quickly as they disappeared fast.