Fall Shortbread Cookies

I love fall. It's just my favorite time of year. The nip in the air, the pumpkins on porches, the kids going back to school and getting excited about new friends and Halloween costumes. Besides, who doesn't love all those cushy sweaters!

One of my family traditions that I just love to share is making our fall leaf shortbread cookies! As soon as I feel that slight chill in the mornings, and the sun shining through the beautiful leaves on a Saturday afternoon, it's time for the fall cookies. Kids absolutely love this recipe, and they can eat the dough because there are no eggs! Perfectly safe for little tummies — and big ones too! *wink*

The recipe itself is very, very easy. In fact, it's so easy, that you can remember it any time, in any place. Easy peasy. If you can remember to start with 2 cups of flour, the other ingredients are cut in 1/2 as you go down the list....

• 2 Cups Flour (you may need 2 1/4 cups in more humid climates)
• 1 Cup Butter
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• Pinch of Salt

Yep, that's it. You put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and you mix with your hands. This is what makes this so much fun for kids! Who doesn't love to get in that bowl and squeeze some butter and watch the mess turn into beautiful buttery dough!

Roll the dough out to your desired thickness on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut the dough with appropriately shaped cookie cutters. As you can see from the photos, I have a few fall leaf cutters, which makes the finished product really fun. There are many different shapes and sizes of leaves, just like outside.

Place the cut cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. The cookies are done when the edges just start to brown.

For the frosting, I just use powdered sugar, a little bit of milk, and food coloring. Start with a 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of milk. Add the food coloring and mix up with a fork. I like the frosting a little bit thicker, so it doesn't ooze down the side of the cookies.

For the fall cookies, we use one bowl of red frosting, and one of yellow. To make the cookies fun and different, start with a red base on a few, and dip your finger in the yellow and run your finger over the red frosting to make a light yellow design through the leaf. Then do the same starting with a yellow base, and add red for the design. Kids absolutely love this part, and you can teach them about color combinations and how primary colors make up other colors! If you’d like to top the leaves off with some food glitter (there is frost on the leaves some mornings!), that’s always a nice touch.

I will warn you though, these are incredibly addictive. The kids love them, they love to show them off, and they make a great after school snack! Enjoy and happy fall!

Bio: Sarah is the mom of a three-year-old boy and a baby girl born in late July. She has worked in new media and technology for over ten years. She loves the internet and all things social. In her spare time it's hard to find her without a book in her hand, a project on the horizon or a laptop in her lap. She loves doing puzzles with her son, reading him books and playing "chase" around the dining room table. She is also loving her new company, Better Way Moms. Sarah, along with her husband and kids, live in New Jersey. She misses living in New York City almost every day.

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