Christmas really is a wonderful time of year. Here in Japan, Christmas seems to center around Fried Chicken, Christmas Cakes, Santa Claus and illumination. In Brazil, Christmas time means a big meal with family late at night as Christmas Eve turns into Christmas. In America people decorate their houses and you see reminders of the season everywhere. But at the heart of Christmas is Christ! Christ-mas! Yes, it’s the biggest birthday celebration of all time — the very birth of Jesus Christ.
We have many traditions that we do to make Christmas fun and festive, but none of them would mean anything if it weren’t for the fact that God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him would not die but have eternal life. This is the most beautiful message man has ever had, and it came in the form of the person Jesus, the Son of God. And it’s worth throwing a big celebration over!
So we do a lot of things to make this time of year special — put up decorations, bake cookies (and teach you how to do it in our newest episode of Life in Japan). But don’t forget: at the heart of Christmas is Jesus!
And just in case you want to follow along with Ruth and make some of these wonderful cookies, just follow her recipe below. Merry Christmas!
CLASSIC CHRISTMAS COOKIE
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup corn starch 3 cups of flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg, vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Add in the flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt. Mix until we’ll blended. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or wax paper and place on a baking sheet in the refrigerator. Chill for about 15 minutes. Cut dough into shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 40-50 cookies.