Alright, so I had this idea to make some Christmas in July desserts, and let me tell you, it turned into quite the baking adventure! I started my day by digging out my recipe books. I wanted something festive but also kind of summery, you know?
I finally settled on making some Red Velvet Sugar Cookies. Sounded like a good mix of Christmas spirit and a treat that wouldn’t be too heavy for a July day.
First, I gathered all my ingredients – flour, sugar, butter, eggs, the usual cookie stuff. Oh, and of course, red food coloring and some cocoa powder for that red velvet goodness. I got everything measured out and ready to go. Mixing the dough was pretty standard. I creamed together the butter and sugar, added the eggs and vanilla, and then slowly mixed in the dry ingredients. The fun part was adding the food coloring. I wanted a really vibrant red, so I ended up using a bit more than the recipe called for.
-
Cream butter and sugar
-
Add eggs and vanilla
-
Mix in dry ingredients
-
Stir in red food coloring and cocoa powder
Mixing and Baking
Once the dough was all mixed, I covered it with some plastic wrap and popped it in the fridge. The recipe said to chill it for at least an hour, but, you know, I got busy with some other stuff, so it ended up being closer to two. No biggie, though. Chilled dough is easier to work with anyway.
After the dough was chilled, I rolled it out on a floured surface and used my Christmas-themed cookie cutters. I’ve got these cute little gingerbread men, snowflakes, and Christmas trees. I cut out a bunch of cookies and placed them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
I baked them for about 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. The edges were just starting to brown when I took them out. I let them cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cookies were cooling, I made a simple cream cheese frosting. Just some cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla. I wanted to keep it simple so the red velvet flavor would really shine. Once the cookies were completely cool, I frosted them and added some festive sprinkles.
These red velvet cookies turned out pretty great. They looked super festive with the red color and the Christmas shapes, but they were also light enough to enjoy on a warm July day. It’s kind of fun to have a little taste of Christmas in the middle of summer. Plus, who says you need to wait until December to enjoy some holiday baking? Not me, that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll try some more Christmas in July recipes next week. We’ll see!
