New Year's Cookies: Designs and Ideas for a New Year's Tradition

Create a fun and delicious New Year's treat that the whole family will enjoy. Cut-out sugar cookies don't have to be strictly a Christmas tradition. Treat your kids to this holiday favorite for the New Year, too. It takes a little ingenuity to celebrate the New Year with young kids anyway. Consider spending the afternoon of New Year's Eve in the kitchen with the kids for a cookie celebration. Toddlers and preschoolers love to squish, pat, and roll out dough; all kids like to cut out fun shapes, frost, and decorate; and, of course, everyone loves to chow down on cookies!

The inspiration for New Year's cookies came to me when I made Christmas cookie dough, but got too busy for the actual cookie production. I stashed the dough in the freezer and finally got around to it the week after Christmas. So, New Year's cookies it is!

Hmm . . . Santas? Candy canes? Christmas trees? Forget the classic Christmas shapes. Try these cut-outs for a festive New Year's treat:

New Year's Cookies: Stars
Stars are reminiscent of the fireworks exploding all around the world as we begin the New Year. Blend food coloring into white frosting to create bright, colorful decorations. Multicolored sugar sprinkles add to the fireworks motif. Use cake decorator gel to write the year on each cookie.

New Year's Cookies: Clocks Striking Midnight
Use a simple circle cookie cutter to create clocks. If you don't have an actual cookie cutter, simply use a glass or a jar. Frost the cookie and use black cake decorator gel for the numbers or lines around the edges. Draw hands on the clock pointing to midnight.

New Year's Cookies: Party Hats
Create party hat shapes by cutting triangles in the cookie dough with a knife. Decorate the hats with frosting and the year. Have fun with different kinds of sprinkles and candies as decorations. Place one M&M or gum drop on the top of the hat. A thick line of decorator frosting will make a nice brim.

New Year's Cookies: Party Horns
Cut skinny triangles to make party horns. Frost them, write the year in decorator gel, and cover them with sprinkles or candy.

New Years Cookies: Numbers for the New Year
Cut out numbers to represent the upcoming year. Kids will enjoy collecting the numbers and placing them in the correct order.

Try serving your New Year's cookies with a traditional side of ice cold milk served in a champagne flute. Or pop open a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling juice and let the kids make a toast to the New Year.

Start off the New Year with a yummy, new family tradition.