Christmas Cookies & Cheerful, Printable Neighbor Gift Tags
One of my daughters has a sweatshirt that says “I just want to bake Christmas cookies & watch Christmas movies”.
It’s pretty much how she and I both feel every year in December. But even with 8 people in our family, we can’t eat the cookies fast enough to keep up with her baking obsession (?)! 😀
Last year I think she made almost 100 dozen cookies to give away to friends, church members, and neighbors.
Today, I’m sharing 2 of my family’s favorite Christmas cookies recipes with you plus a list of Christmas cookies and Gingerbread Man picture books to read aloud with your kiddos.
And don’t forget that baking with your kids helps them with their language development (following directions); math; practical arts; and even sequencing (for coding)!
Oh, and if you need a list of GOOD Christmas movie because you’re tired of watching Home Alone, check out this vetted list of the best Christmas movies that you’ve never even heard of!
{Click Here to Skip down to the Christmas Cookies Books and Gingerbread Books recommendations.}
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Baked Goods Neighbor Gift Tags
If you’d like to share some baked goods with friends, neighbors, or your church family, use these cute printable gift tags that I made for just that!
BTW: Older neighbors love to get drawings from your kids! If you are looking for a fun homemade craft to take to an elderly neighbor, try one of these Christmas handprint crafts.
Join our Whole Child Homeschool Tribe below {it’s FREE!} for access to our Free Resource Library to get a printable copy of the recipes below PLUS Gift Tags to attach to baked goods for your friends and neighbors.
Be sure to also check out our simple, candy Reindeer Noses for a simple gift for neighbors or friends
Make these Christmas cookies for your family and neighbors today.
Grandma Jensen’s Gumdrop Cookies
One of my favorite memories of going to my grandparent’s house throughout my childhood is running to look and see what my grandma had stashed in her freezer!
My grandma always had these 3 extra-large tins (like 2 or 3-gallon size) in her freezer filled with different kinds of cookies!! It was amazing!
My mom and my other grandmother didn’t really bake cookies, so I grew up eating frozen cookies! LOL 🍪
These gumdrop cookies were my dad and I’s favorite. And I think about her every time we make them. ❤️
Ingredients
1 cup butter-flavored shortening (like Crisco)**
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup cut-up gumdrops
1 cup chopped nuts*
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coconut
2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
Cream the shortening and both sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix.
In a separate bowl, stir together the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add them to the shortening/egg mixture. Mix well. Dough will be very stiff.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
*Can leave out the nuts if desired.
**If you don’t like to use shortening, substitute half lard, and half butter.
Get your printable copy of these heirloom Christmas cookie recipes in the Free Resource Library.
Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
I’ve been making these rolled sugar cookies for the last 30 years and they work equally well with a fluffy buttercream frosting or a piped flow icing.
The sour cream and almond extract in these cookies are what set them apart from regular sugar cookies. Roll them out a little bit thicker for more of a Lofthouse-style cookie.
Ingredients
1 cup butter-flavored shortening (like Crisco)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 (8 ounces) carton sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
Cream the shortening and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract and mix well.
In a separate bowl, stir together the rest of the ingredients. Slowly add them to the shortening/egg mixture. Mix well.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface. Cut out with cookie cutters.
Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes until barely golden around the edges.
Cool completely & frost with buttercream frosting.
*If you don’t like to use shortening, substitute half lard, and half butter.
Adult supervision is required for the baking/oven part.
Extend Your Christmas Cookie Baking Fun with these Christmas Cookie Books
Check out these cute Christmas Cookie books:
Christmas Cookie Day by Tara Knudson and illustrated by Pauline Siewert is a cute book for preschoolers and kindergartners who will appreciate its rhymes that also detail the steps you need to take to make a batch of Christmas cookies. Educational and enjoyable!
The Legend of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Christmas by Dandi Daley Mackell and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey is set in probably the 1930s and tells how a little boy learned to be a cheerful giver during a difficult time while also explaining the tradition of giving cookies at Christmastime.
Christmas Cookies: Bite-size Holiday Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jane Dyer is a picture book of vocabulary words and explanations on each page. But it’s done in an engaging way using Christmas cookies as the main topic! Your kids will learn words like “celebration” “frustration” “perseverance” and “tradition”.
The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup and illustrated by Matt Tavares This story begins on Christmas Eve when a boy and his mom bake gingerbread cookies decorated like pirates on Christmas Eve for Santa. A must-read if your kids love pirate stories.
Your little ones will also enjoy this sweet Christmas Cookie Unit Study from our sister site, Homeschool Helper Online, where they will read a different “cookie book” each day and make a cookie to go along with the book to gift to friends, family and neighbors.
Gingerbread Man Classic and Variations
Every kid LOVES to say the Gingerbread Man’s famous line while reading this classic!
We have at least 3 different versions of this timeless tale at our house and it’s one that my kids LOVE to hear “fractured” or re-done versions of.
Our Favorite Classic Versions of The Gingerbread Man
The Gingerbread Man by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Megan Lloyd is a favorite, as is pretty much every book that Kimmel has written. Parents will especially enjoy the nostalgic rural American illustrations of this one.
Richard Scary’s The Gingerbread Man by Nancy Nolte and illustrated by Richard Scarry. This Little Golden Book is a genuine classic!
The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt is an “easy reader” version that we’ve had on our bookshelves for at least 20 years.
Our Favorite Fractured Versions of The Gingerbread Man
The Ninjabread Man by Katrina Charman (A Tadpole Fairytale Twists book) features a gingerbread man who is also a ninja. My youngest son brings this one home from the library repeatedly probably because of the funny noises the ninjabread man makes.
The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires is a southwest-themed version of the classic; complete with a sly coyote instead of a fox at the end. Uses lots of southwest slang and phrases that are fun, too!
The Gingerbread Man 2: What Happened Later by Stephen Dixon Find out what happens to that sneaky old fox that ate the gingerbread man!
More Christmastime Activities and Printables
Be sure to follow my Pinterest board Christmas-time Homeschooling for more great hands-on activities and ideas for keeping your kids learning this holiday season!
Pin this to your favorite board so you can find it again!
