Also, we had a friend over to help, because you can never have too many children around, especially when making shortbread cookies with icing. It’s okay, the cookies will be cooked and I’m sure it will kill any germs. Why, yes, we are eating some of the dough while we pull it away from our butterfly. The wax paper keeps the dough from peeling off on to the rolling pin or rolling up onto it which can lead to a lot of frustration. It just makes the whole adventure easier, especially with children. I like to roll the dough between wax paper. However, decorating cookies is fun so shortbread cookies with icing is our go-to cookie for decorating. They have a melt-in-your-mouth, buttery flavor that is so wonderful they really don’t need icing. The other great thing about shortbread cookies is that they really aren’t very sweet. So there’s really no need to worry about children over handling the dough. Also, the more you work with shortbread cookie dough, the more pliable it becomes. Unlike sugar cookie dough which need to be refrigerated before rolling out, shortbread cookie dough can be rolled out right away. Whenever we want to make cut out cookies or iced cookies, I like to use our shortbread cookie recipe (a printable recipe is at the end of this post). Making tie dye cookies using shortbread cookies with icing fits the bill perfectly.

Keep it simple, let the children come and go as they desire, and looks are overrated. I learned a long time ago that I would need to have a relaxed view of cooking making if this was going to be an enjoyable experience for all. For me, cookie making isn’t about the cookies, it’s about spending time with my children making memories.

Iced shortbread cookie recipe