There is not better time of year to get into the kitchen and have some fun with the kids (yes, that is possible!) then in the lead up to Christmas, and this easy Vanilla Christmas Cookies recipe is the perfect project for your little helpers to get involved with.
I decided to make these Vanilla Christmas Cookies after being sent a range of products from iconic bakeware brand Bakers Secret to have some fun with (check out the end of this post to find out how you can win a great gift pack too!). There really is nothing like new bakeware to get you inspired (yep, I’m a kitchen nerd!) and in just a few days we’ve used our products to make the BEST Roasted Potatoes I’ve had in a very long time, Apple and Cinnamon Cupcakes and of course these yummy Vanilla Christmas Cookies which we made for the boys to take to kindy to share with their friends for morning tea.
The medium sized Baker’s Secret Baking Tray is the perfect size for approximately 20 cookies, perfect when you have a couple of little people fighting eager to have a turn placing the cookies onto the tray and decorating. These Vanilla Christmas Cookies really are perfect to make with the kids, although you do have to watch that they don’t eat all of the decorations!
Vanilla Christmas Cookies and Win a Bakers Secret Gift Pack
Ingredients
- 125 of butter – softened
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cups of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- Red and Green M&M's to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and combine until pale and creamy.
- Beat through the eggs one at a time and combine well between each addition.
- Remove the bowl for the mixer stand and carefully stir through the flour and baking powder.
- Roll tablespoons of mixtures into balls, place on the baking trays making sure you leave enough space in between each cookie as they will spread a little. Flatten the top of the cookie slightly and decorate with the red and green M&M's. Continue to create cookies until all the mixture has been used.
- Place baking trays in the oven and bake for 10 – 12 minute or until the cookies begin to brown on top. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Christmas Cookies Thermomix Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.
- Place the butter and caster sugar into your Thermomix bowl and mix for 30 seconds on speed 6.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4 to combine.
- Add the flour and baking powder and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4 or until combined. Stop after 10 seconds to scrape down the sides.
- Scoop up tablespoon sized balls of the cookie mixture and place onto your prepared baking trays. Flatten the surface of the biscuits slightly and decorate with red and green M&M’s and place in the oven to bake for 12 – 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
You can find more easy Christmas recipe ideas in this post
Also make sure you check out our Christmas eBooks here
Suzanne says
Without a doubt ours is gingerbread house and gingerbread men. Theres absolutely zero way to make them look bad and we get to munch on the decorating supplies while making them.
Lauren says
Haha, very true!
Kerry says
Trifle. It’s meant to look like a disaster, you can put just about anything you like in it and no one ever realises just how many ‘taste testing’ little (and big…) fingers have been dipped in it! Plus it’s utterly delicious. Custard! Jelly! Cake! Fruit!
Lauren says
Yes!! You can’t go wrong!
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile says
These are so cute!! I actually have a bucket of Christmas M&Ms in the cupboard still!!
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid says
Those cookies are so cute! I’ve got quite a Baker’s Secret collection/addiction and it’s taking over the kitchen! I was quite canny this year and bought regular M&Ms, which meant I could use the red and green ones for decorating and taste test the rest!
Shannon says
These look so good! Too bad I don’t live in Australia!
Lauren says
Thanks Shannon!
Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages says
I love that we can add Christmas mandms to anything and make it christmasy!! These wouldn’t last long in my house 🙂
My girls favourite to make are gingerbread people because I simply line up all the possible decorations and icing pens and let them do whatever they want. We make enough for us to eat and plenty more for them to gift to grandparents who just adore the amount of thought they put into it.
Lauren says
I know, how good are they? That sounds lovely, it’s messy but they just love getting involved don’t they?
Alex says
I’m sure my 5 yo’s favourite thing to make would be gingerbread but it doesn’t play nicely in the hot Adelaide weather. Ice cream is a very close second and I love making this too. It’s easy for little hands to help with weighing and stirring and watching the mixture turn to ice cream in the icecream maker never loses its thrill.
Neither does the taste testing along the way! 😀
Samantha Stewart says
This is the first year my daughter is old enough to ‘help’ in the kitchen. Today we made gingerbread reindeers and sugar cookies together. I think this will be the start of a new tradition for us!
[email protected] says
It’s a family tradition to make Choc chip cookies at Christmas time & I’m looking forward to carrying that on with my boys. The best bit is definitely taste testing the cookie dough though 🙂
Lauren says
Oh I totally agree!
Jade Williams says
My daughter is only 3 so this is the first Christmas she has shown interest in baking but we have had a lot of fun (and made a lot of mess!) making shortbread, gingerbread people and rocky road. Yum yum!
Lauren says
Sounds like fun!
Nikki Stevenson says
My 3 year old and I made shortbread last night!! Was so yummy, however literally a quarter of the mixture was eaten by my princess!! Talk about a good taste tester in the making ☺
Now we are to decorate with icing and pretty christmas sprinkles!!!
Lauren says
Haha, you’ve got to love having a little ‘helper’!
Lee Gregory says
We have always made my mums Christmas pudding, and anyone in the house at the time of making has to help stir! The kids love it!
Lauren says
Family recipes are the best 🙂
cheryl mishio says
If you asked my kids they would say the “Gingerbread House” (we usually end up mag 2 of them as the first doesn’t generally make it to Christmas…soon as its built they want to eat it ! Plus I always buy heaps of extra lollies because for every one that makes it onto the house , they eat !). My favorite has got to be Buttery Shortbread – it just tastes like Christmas to me !
cheryl mishio says
If you asked my kids they would say the “Gingerbread House” (we usually end up mag 2 of them as the first doesn’t generally make it to Christmas…soon as its built they want to eat it ! Plus I always buy heaps of extra lollies because for every one that makes it onto the house , they eat !). My favorite has got to be Buttery Shortbread – it just tastes like Christmas to me !
sapna says
We love to bake the whole Gingerbread Men family because Christmas is all about family togetherness plus they are so much fun to decorate .
Justine Joyce says
Would these cookies work using gluten free flour?
Lauren says
Yes I think they would 🙂