Christmas in July

This afternoon I saw a "Christmas in July" promotion and it reminded me of last year. Last Christmas I didn't have the money to buy everyone gifts but I got a bee in my bonnet that I had to do something. So I started baking.... and baking..... and baking...... (you get the idea). It drove Rob NUTS!

The result was lots of decorated sugar cookies!

The basic sugar cookie recipe I used is:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in 1 cup of softened butter until the mixture is crumbly. In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract until light and fluffy. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Cover bowl and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2cm in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 3cm apart onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies, depending of course on the size.

I was inspired by two of my cake decorating heroes (Peggy Porschens and Louis of Cake Journal) and decorated the cookies with rolled fondant.

Jack Skellington (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Now that I'm reminded of Christmas, I'm already on the look out for ideas for this year. Let me know if you have an unusual ideas!

Happy baking!