Giant Christmas Cookie

We have finally reached 12 days of this Christmas Cookie Countdown Challenge and it has certainly been just that... a challenge. 

A challenge to complete 12 recipes, to actually develop, bake and photo 12 recipes all in such a short amount of time. Those have been some very busy days in the run up to Christmas, when I barely stopped to even eat I was just consumed with cookies and biscuits non stop. 

At this point, half my body is just sugar and butter. 

In the midst of it all I now have some cookie recipes that I will be baking regularly. By regularly, I mean I've already made another batch of ginger cookies for the freezer and am ready to make another round of amaretti cookies. Those two may just be my favourites of this challenge. 

Another solid favourite has been the glazed speculaas cookies, of which I devoured nearly a full tin of in one sitting, with zero regrets. May just have to bake another batch of those, not for the freezer, just for the sake of it. 

I knew I wanted my final bake, to be a giant cookie wreath. I absolutely love wreaths and knew it would be a challenge with testing out my piping skills for designing a wreath too. I searched and googled and pinterested different wreath designs and feels, I had seen frosting piped like this before on the top of a cake. So instead of rossettes and little stars, I went with a criss cross design that feels more like a wreath, topped with sprinkles and, of course, a big red bow. 

I take no credit for the giant chocolate chip cookie recipe, that is all down to Hummingbird High. You can find her recipe here. The only changes I made were to add some Christmas coloured sprinkles to switch up the colour in the frosting. 

The result is a fudgy, thick cookie. I would probably recommend going more minimal on the frosting than I have, that's all down to my heavy handed piping ability, but that's what the challenge is all about; pushing myself and my limits. I've definitely shown myself that I'm capable of more than I think, of baking more, taking better photos, learning the best angles and also developing different recipes. 

For 2021, I will be carrying on this mindset, takings risks and continuing to challenge myself more and push myself more, both in and out the kitchen. Merry Christmas to all and I hope 2021 is a happier and healthier one for you.