How to Make Christmas Wreath Cookies

These wreath-shaped sugar cookies are easy to make and perfect for any holiday gathering!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup butter or margarine
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ¼ teaspoon green food coloring
• ½ cup red M&Ms

Supplies:

• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 medium mixing bowl
• 1 rubber spatula
• 1 hand mixer w/ corresponding beaters
• 1 set of measuring spoons
• 1 set of measuring cups
• 2 small cereal bowls
• 1 greased baking sheet

• Using either a KitchenAid mixer with a flat beater or a hand mixer, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Technically, a fork would also do.

• In a separate large mixing bowl, mix butter or margarine with sugar and beat until fluffy.

• Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract into the same large mixing bowl and beat until all ingredients are evenly mixed throughout.

• Add the flour mixture to the large mixing bowl and beat until all ingredients are well mixed. It is best to gradually add in the flour mixture to avoid creating a mess of flour clouds when mixing.

• Using a rubber spatula, scrape the sides of the large mixing bowl to gather any stray dough to the center. Divide the dough in half with the spatula. Put one half of the dough into one of your small cereal bowls, and keep the other half in the large mixing bowl.

• Add the green food coloring to the half remaining in the large mixing bowl. Beat the dough until the food coloring is evenly distributed and then place the now green dough into your other small cereal bowl. Scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula again to gather the dough into one workable mass.

• Cover both small bowls and their respective halves of dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until the dough becomes firm enough that it is easy to handle.

• After the dough has sufficiently chilled, remove from the refrigerator and prepare your workspace: lightly flour the flat surface on which you will shape your wreath cookies. It’s best when handling the dough to have a thin layer of flour on your hands so the dough does not become excessively sticky and difficult to shape. If your dough is gooey enough that it’s still sticking to your hands, sprinkle flour directly on the dough.

• On the floured surface, roll about one-half of a measured tablespoon of un-colored dough into a 6-inch rope. Repeat this process with the same amount of green dough. Place your 6-inch ropes side by side.
• If you run out of enough plain-colored dough to make a green and white wreath, feel free to use the remaining green dough to make all-green wreaths.
• If you run out of green dough before the plain-colored dough, it’s perfectly ok to have white wreaths--they’ll just be wreaths covered in snow.

• Place one end of the green rope across the top of the corresponding end of the un-colored rope. Push the dough together so the ends do not unravel.
• Take the un-colored rope and cross it over to the other side of the green rope. Take the green rope and cross it over the un-colored rope.
• Repeat this process about six times or until you reach the opposite ends of the ropes.

• Form your now-twisted ropes into a circle, creating a wreath shape. Gently pinch where the ends meet to get it to hold it together. It’s ok if it doesn’t stick perfectly together--it’ll hold the shape when it bakes.

• Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit while you start working on forming the wreaths to allow for the oven to heat up.

• Start placing your completed wreath circles on a lightly greased cookie sheet, about an inch apart. You should be able to fit three rows of four cookies.

• Place one to three red M&Ms on each wreath as edible holly berries in groups of three or as solitary ornaments.
• Feel free to be creative in your decorating. You don’t have to stick with only red M&Ms as decorative ornaments. You can vary the M&M color as you desire, or you can add more M&Ms to the wreaths. You can also use sliced almonds instead of M&Ms if you want it to pair better with the almond extract flavoring, or even red hot candies if you want to spice your cookies up.

• Bake in the preheated oven for about ten minutes. Time may vary according to oven. Bake them for one to two additional minutes if the cookies still appear doughy.

• Remove from the oven and leave the wreaths on the cookie sheet to allow them to cool thoroughly before eating.
• Repeat steps 14–17 with remaining dough. The prepared dough should produce approximately 18 cookies.
• Enjoy your Christmas wreath cookies!