Diary LifeStyles: Make Your Own Edible Christmas Gift

Make your own holiday gifts with kids: and no, it's not too early to get organized. Inside these cutely decorated packages are frozen cookie dough rolls. Who doesn't like cookie dough? The idea behind this gift is... the recipient can eat the gift as is (cookie dough) or can bake it when they feel like having fresh baked cookies! Between our neighbors, friends and our kids' teachers and church leaders - we have a lot of gifts to give! The perfect time to start thinking about homemade Christmas gifts is now! Decide on what you would like to make and don't wait to long to purchase the supplies. These frozen cookie dough rolls can last a couple of months in the freezer (as long as they are well wrapped with the proper freezer paper).

In our family, homemade gift giving is a FAMILY project - EVERYONE helps make it and deliver it! Even little kids (and hubby) can help with this project. Start early and do baby steps so it isn't too overwhelming. We gave around 50 homemade gifts last year - so it can get crazy.

Instructions to make cookie dough rolls:

Step 1: Gather all your supplies ribbon, freezer paper and decorative paper. Cut all ribbon and paper to the sizes needed. Perfect to do ahead of of time: ).

Step 2: Make your favorite cookie dough recipe. Here's my recipe -

YUMMY Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Recipe:

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon hot water
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, and chocolate chips.

This recipe makes about 48 servings. Sorry, I can't remember how many cookie dough rolls this recipe makes.

Step 3: Place cookie dough on plastic wrap and weigh on kitchen scale. We used 1 lb of cookie dough per gift. My daughter Tayler weighing the cookie dough.

Step 4: Shape cookie dough into rolls and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or wax paper. You are now ready to wrap with freezer paper.

Step 5: Wrap the cookie dough in freezer paper. We then placed a piece of colorful wrapping paper around the middle section and taped in place. The bows were made ahead of time and tied tightly on each end of the roll.

Step 6: Tag for cookie dough should read: Keep frozen until ready to use. Let soften enough to slice. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 10-14 minutes in the preheated oven on ungreased pan. Do not over bake.

Step 7: Freeze! Yes, we froze the cookie dough rolls as decorated.

Trust me - I've learned over the years don't wait til the last minute to make homemade gifts. Also, do it in steps - one day cut out all the paper, another day make all the ribbon bows, etc. Check out my post where I show you how to make ribbon bows. Making homemade Christmas gifts with kids takes a little planning and organization, but it's worth it in the end. ENJOY!

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