Pride Goeth Before a Fall... The Ward Christmas Party

The ward christmas party was this past tuesday and each family was asked to bring two dozen cookies. Of course this brought out the competitor in me. I couldn't take just ANY cookies. They had to be the BEST cookies.. the most TALKED about cookies...and presentation was key. So I worked all the day before to figure out what I wanted to make and finally settled on some cute poinsettia cookies. Thank goodness I didn't wait til Tuesday... These cookies took forever to make (about 3.5 hours to make 2 dozen) but they turned out so cute.

I was handed my pride in a handbasket that night however, when my husband came home sick and we didn't even go to the Christmas party. *sigh* Instead I spent an hour at the urgent care with him and sent my slaved over project to the party with my mother -in- law. She says everyone talked about them... but I wasn't even there to enjoy it. Oh well there's always next year. By the way... Jason is fine. He tested negative for strep but they sent him home with amoxicillin anyway since he'd been exposed all weekend. He was back to work the next day.

Sugar Cookie Poinsettias

1 box sugar cookie mix
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup softened cream cheese
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for surface

12 sucker sticks

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine sugar cookie mix, melted butter, egg, cream cheese, and flour; mix together to form dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill one hour.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough, 1/2 at a time, into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. With sharp knife, cut dough into 3-inch squares. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased, parchment-lined cookie sheets. Lightly press about 1 1/2 inches of wooden stick into bottom center of each dough square. With sharp knife, cut the dough diagonally from each corner to within 1/2-inch of center of each square. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon red sugar over each square. Fold alternate corners of the square to the center to form pinwheel, overlapping the dough at the center pushing down gently to seal in center. Press one M & M in center of each pinwheel.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Using spatula, immediately remove from cookie sheets to wire racks to cool.

Note: this makes a VERY soft dough, so in between batches I put it back in the freezer. Also don't try to remove them from the cookie sheets using the stick, use a spatula and let cool completely before handling sticks.

My presentation container was just a 2 dollar metal bucket from walmart stuffed with floral foam and covered in green tissue paper. I then pressed the sticks into the foam.