Grandmother's Buttons - Christmas Cookies!

[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="588" caption="Posing behind the spoils: Jenny, Deena, Corda (with Rosie), Melissa, Susan, Staci, Cynthia, Kristy and Tamie"][/caption]

It's Christmas!  Flocked trees, stockings, awe-struck children, red ribbons, Santa in his sleigh. . .the images are endless.  We love the holiday season and all its trappings at Grandmother's Buttons.    [caption id="attachment_207" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Susan's Ginger Button Cookies - recipe below"][/caption]

 

One of our favorite traditions is our annual cookie exchange - everyone working in the business office, studio and retail store gets together at Susan's house where we all try to outdo one another (in the friendliest of manners, of course!) with the tastiest, prettiest cookies and packaging.    

[caption id="attachment_209" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Staci's prize-winning packaging for her cookies"][/caption]Susan generally brings her button ginger snaps (recipe below) and there's a prize for the prettiest packaging, as well as for everyone's favorites.  

It's an afternoon of much holiday cheer, lots of good wishes, and a reminder of what a privilege it is to work with such an amazing group of people.    

Samples of all the cookies - yummmmmmm

We'd love to hear stories about how you celebrate Christmas in your neck of the woods.  

Tamie's cake truffles

  

Here in Louisiana we're all about tradition and good food and family.  And in fact, Susan has promised to write a blog post about what she loves best about Christmas.    

Stay tuned and Happy Holidays!!!!    

[caption id="attachment_217" align="alignright" width="231" caption="First and fourth place winners Kristy and Staci unwrapping their prizes"][/caption]

Gingerbread Button Cookies   

 1 2/3 cups flour   

1 T ginger   

1 t cinnamon   

1/2 t cloves   

1/2 t salt   

4 T butter, room temperature   

1/2 cup sugar   

1/2 cup brown sugar   

2 egg whites   

Cream the butter with the two sugars. Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl: the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a dough forms. Gather the dough together and split the mound in two.    

Place each half of dough on a separate sheet of plastic wrap. Form the halves into long cylindrical logs 1 inch in diameter. Now either refrigerate them for one hour or freeze them for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350°F. When the dough is firm, remove the logs from the fridge. With a sharp knife, slice each log into 1/4 inch thick discs (I got around 27 per log).   

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and place your cookies onto the sheets. To make the cookies button-shaped, use a circular cutter a bit smaller than the cookie to impress the rim of the button onto the cookie (you can use a small plastic cup if you don’t have a small cookie cutter). Next, poke four holes in the center of each cookie with the flat end of a toothpick or bamboo skewer. Now bake your cookies for 15-20 minutes.   

To make icing “thread,” let cookies cool completely and pipe icing (either bought from the store in a tube or homemade royal icing in a piping bag) in an “x” shape between the button holes.   

[caption id="attachment_221" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jenny unwrapping her 2nd place prize for her authentic Scottish shortbread (her dad's recipe from his boyhood in Scotland)"][/caption]