This year I decided to cut my Christmas baking way back!! Every January my freezer is full of Ziploc containers with cookies not yet eaten. But I still want some baking to bring to parties and family gatherings, to give away and for the kids to enjoy. One cookie I knew I could not get away without making is my Christmas rose bud cookies. They are my kids’ favorite…and they are so simple and fast to make!
I’ve tried a few different recipes and over the years and I’ve perfected my own….here it is!
Pam’s Christmas Rose Bud Cookies
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla (use the real stuff!)
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/8 cups flour
Rose buds (I used Neilson’s Golden Buds 131 gram package)
Icing sugar
Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla with a hand held mixer or KitchenAid. Add the flour and blend together well. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1/2 hour. You can also chill overnight. Shape the dough into balls using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter. The batter will be crumbly, but keep working it into a ball with your hands.
Place balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes turning the pan halfway through. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, push a rose bud into the center gently. The cookie will crack a bit (if it cracks too much and you are worried it may fall apart, push it together and it will solidify a bit as it cools). Move cookies to a cooling rack carefully as the rose buds will be soft. Once completely cooled, dust with powdered sugar.
Makes about 32 cookies
1. Mixing the batter with the KitchenAid
2. The batter is ready
3. The chilled batter out of the fridge
4. Ready to start rolling!
Push a rose bud into each cookies immediately when they come out of the oven. You can also use Hershey’s kisses if you prefer, however, I like how the ridges of the rose buds catch the icing sugar. Plus….if you are in a hurry, you don’t have to unwrap them!
I put parchment paper under my cooling rack before dusting the cookies with icing sugar. This helps with clean up and saves you from sticky counters! I found this icing sugar duster as a restaurant supply store for a couple of dollars! Perfect to use for French toast too!
So quick and easy and they freeze well. I put parchment paper between the layers when freezing them. Just don’t stack them until the rose buds have hardened!
