‘Twas the Night Before the Night Before Christmas

And all through the house, the scent of a giant cookie baking was sniffed by a mouse. Okay, maybe not a mouse, but you can bet the family has drawn near.

Today is National Bake Day. Not Bake a Cake or Bake A Cookie or anything at all in particular. Just bake. If you put it in the oven, that counts. Well, not quite since not all foods from the oven are actually baked. You can bake chicken breasts or fish. You roast a turkey. You can bake cookies, but you would roast peppers. Roasting generally involves an oven temperature of 400 degrees or greater, and the foods roasted are usually in a solid form before entering the oven. Baking usually involves a cooler oven, and what is “baked” becomes solid as it cooks such as cakes and breads. So why are chicken breasts and fish baked? I don’t know, it’s just what we say. Maybe it has something to do with cooking time. Fish and boneless chicken breasts don’t take long to bake, while a whole chicken or a leg of lamb does.

Wow – that was a bit of a wander down the road rambling on about a whole lot of nothing. More of that useless information. Let’s get back on track. This giant Christmas Cookie is super easy to make, with a pouch mix at its base. Better still, it’s super fun to decorate. Go crazy, let the children do their thing. It’s amazing just how creative children can be. And it will give you memories to carry forward. What fun!

Giant Christmas Sugar Cookie
Sugar Cookie
1 pouch Sugar Cookie Mix
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 Egg
1/4 cup Christmas Candy Sprinkles

Heat oven to 325-degrees. Spray bottom only of 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter and egg with spoon until a soft dough forms. Stir in candy sprinkles.

Press dough into bottom of the prepared pie pan. Bake cookie in the heated oven for about 30 minutes or until center is set and edges are golden brown.

Note: if edges are browning too quickly, cover with foil or pie shields to prevent edge from overcooking.

Cool giant cookie completely, about 90 minutes.

Frosting
1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
3 tablespoons Butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 teaspoons Milk (approximately)

In medium bowl, sift powdered sugar. Beat sugar with softened butter, the vanilla and 3 teaspoons of the milk with electric mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy.

Note: If necessary, add additional milk to make frosting easy to spread.

Finishing Touches
Small Candy Canes as desired
Hershey’s White Chocolate Peppermint Kisses
Small Holiday Candies

Spread frosting over the giant cookie to within about a half-inch of the edge.

Remove any wrappings from the candies. Decorate frosted cookie as desired. To serve, simply slice like a pie.