Christmas Cookie Maddness

This year, I decided to make 3 different recipes of Christmas cutout cookies, so our family could decide which one they liked the best.  In the running was my Grandma Monroe's recipe, my neighbor- Amy Grice's recipe and Better Home & Garden's recipe that Ted has said he always liked.

So in the course of two days, we made about a bizzillion cookies and the kids were on frosting burnout.  We watched Elf and Voyage of the Dawn Treader while we frosted. Ben was the first to fall out and stop decorating.  He laid curled up on the floor with Maggie.  Madeline and Nate were close second, still sitting in their chairs, but unmoving with a dazed expression in their eyes, and holding their sticky fingers up as an offering to God.  Jake was the trooper, decorating until we had one cookie left and no more frosting!

 After the last cookie was frosted, I instructed the kids to choose a cookie from each batch and conduct a taste test.  If you can imagine, after stealing cookies and licks of frosting throughout hours of making them, my kids weren't that hungry to do a taste test.  But the results eventually came in:
1st place:  Amy Grice's recipe (Isaiah, Madeline, Nate, Charli & Ted)
2nd place:  Grandma Monroe's recipe (Jake, Ben)
last place:  Better Homes & Gardens recipe

I could kick myself because I didn't take any pictures of all the cookies we made or any pictures of the kids eating them in the next few days.  The sad part is that I don't think they even lasted a week!  The kids ate them all the time!

Here is the top two recipes:

Amy Grice Sugar Cookies

2 c sugar

1 c shortening

3 eggs

3/4 c sourmilk/buttermilk

1 t soda

3 t baking powder

1 t salt

4 c flour

Chill dough 4 hours or overnight.  

Roll out and bake @ 350 for 10-15 min.  

Iced with powdered sugar icing w/ hint of almond flavoring.

Grandma Nettie Monroe's Christmas Cookies

Mix - 3 eggs, 2 c sugar, 2/3 c milk, 2/3 c shortening

Combine dry ingredients and then mix with wet mixture - 1 t baking soda, 1 t nutmeg, 6 c flour.  

Roll out to 1/4" thickness and cut.  

Bake @ 350 for 6-8 min.  

Decorated with powdered sugar icing.