Ah…December! The month that the Rosenfields and The Magic Zoo all get a little bit hectic. Oh, by the way, we are having free first class shipping in the US for the entire month of December. So come on by for those last minute gifts! Order this week and you’ll get free shipping and should still get your Magic Zoo gifts in time.
But in the midst of filling orders, answering phone calls from customers and taking hundreds of new product photos, we set a few hours aside to choose and decorate the tree. And of course, per our family tradition, I baked and decorated cookies with the grand kids.
The festivities began with choosing a tree on our property with a couple of those same kiddos. Our land is studded with a huge number of juniper and pinon trees, and it took a little while to find the perfect candidate. Bright crisp air filled with the scent of wood smoke from our families’ two wood stoves gave the search a festive air.
My eldest grand daughter and my grand son helped me choose a few possibilities. Of course they each had their own ideas, and Cassidy knew right where to go, about 2 acres from our house. “Here is the perfect tree, Grammy!” It was a happily growing, perfectly shaped tree, well on its way to a very tall and very long life.
I had to remind him that as good stewards of our 20 acres, we needed to choose a tree that would help our land. He wistfully glimpsed his perfect giant a final time before sighing and helping me settle on a smallish tree, flattened boughs on the side it grew right up against a competing pine.
My son took it down with a bow saw and hauled it into our living room, where it waited a few hours for our family holiday party.
Ed prepared the mood with classic Christmas music wafting down from our studio above…Bing Crosby and other holiday hits from bygone decades.
As young Cassidy says, we made “Grammy style” cookies, concocted of almond flour, coconut oil and honey, instead of the more traditional sugar cookie ingredients. For sure, this unconventional recipe makes excellent cut out cookies.
The kids pawed through and chose from dozens of cookie cutter shapes, the best ones metal Santas, angels and stars from my own childhood . We rolled out the dough, cut out the cookies baked them and decorated them with cream cheese icing and naturally colored chocolate drops. (Not entirely true. Normally, I do use “natural” candy from the health food store for decorating our holiday cookies, but since we live 1 ½ hours from our closest; health food store, all I had on hand were left over M & Ms from Halloween… Bad Grammy!)
Here’s the recipe I use for cut out cookies. Great if you are allergic to gluten, or happen to be on a paleo diet or just don’t like wheat flour.
Almond flour Christmas Cut-Out Cookies
2 cups of fine almond flour
1 tsp. Sea salt
¼ tsp. Baking soda
About ¼ cup of honey
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
Mix dry ingredients, then mix together honey and coconut oil and add to dry ingredients. Cool in fridge for an hour or so. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out on wooden cutting board, adding almond flour to keep things from sticking.
Bake about 8-10 minutes. Cool and decorate!
Be sure to have some kids or grand kids on hand for this phase…
I would love to hear about your holiday traditions. I am pretty sentimental, and love to create our own. How about you?
Happy Holidays from Ed and Merry
Diana says
Perfect holiday activities!
Merry says
I think so too!
Patti says
I’m going to try you cookies with Chase! I always bake a bunch to send to my daughter in Florida. I’ve been looking for healthier alternatives. Thanks for sharing!
Merry says
You are so welcome, Patty! I’m so glad I included the recipe!
Jonni S Ricard says
Sounds like a lot of fun Merry! I just printed off your recipe for the cookies!
How do you make the Cream Cheese frosting?
Merry says
OH, these cookies are delish! I’m sure you could make them Keto-friendly. I made the cream cheese frosting with honey and cream cheese, but you could make it with some keto sweetener and cream cheese.