However, since I am not one to shy away from a mammoth task, two friends from church and I decided to create a homemade Christmas gift for each of the young families at church (I am glad I had your help girls, team effort needed for this one and you girls rocked it!)
After sorting through different options of delicious treats, we decided to steer clear of 'perishable' treats that would make it hard to prepare ahead of time and things that would need refrigeration.
This is the thought process that led to us 'sanely' create a cookie-a-thon of 700 gingerbread stars that turned into 50 individual and delicious Christmas trees.THis takes my kitchen to a grand total of over 1000 gingerbread cookies in the last little while....JEEPERS!
Here is the final product that was totally gorgeous and made the days of work worth it for the three of us! They looked so pretty being handed out at the BBQ we had today.
It's hard to give direct instructions for the tree dimensions-wise. This is because it depends greatly on how tall you want them to be in the end. We set out to use 5 different size star cutters and bake two of each size, making them slightly thicker than normal. We wanted to use 10 cookies in total. Once we 'practice assembled' them we wanted extra height, so we baked another few batches and added two extra of the large stars to the base, giving 12 cookies in total. We also topped the tree with a smaller fondant star.
***Tip: cut one point off the bottom to make it sit easier.***
{CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE RECIPE}
Simply Combine 1 egg whites (60g worth) with 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice in your electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine this on a low speed. Then add 1 1/5 cups of icing sugar (NOT mixture) and mix until combined and smooth. Leave white or coloured as desired and fill piping bag.
***Tip: Once nozzle is on the end of your piping bag, place it in a cup (or vase if using large one like I use when baking macaroons) and fold over the edges. This makes it easier to keep the bag still whilst filling.***
Once you have the recipe, the options are endless. There are many treats you can create year round for an edible gift with a homemade touch. You can even create a 2D gingerbread house here like we did last year and will do again once school finishes. This is a MUCH easier way to do houses with younger kids that have a shorter attention span (like my 3 year old).
After the mega bake-a-thon earlier this week - I used some of the left over stars for Mister 6's kindy classmates. A nice change from the copious candy canes they get each year!
Q: What's your favourite cookie?
Lauren X
What a lovely gift to give out! 1000 cookies is quite an effort!!! The trees look wonderful!
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