2 holiday recipes to try with your kids

Eating a plate of homemade cookies on Christmas Eve or after a long day of shopping has become a tradition many families look forward to. And with the weather too windy and cold to play outside, baking them with your kids can be a special way to spend the day.

Italian cafe Crave.it knows a lot about family traditions – and delicious treats. The New York City-based cafe specializes in Italian pastries, like warm apple and cream pocket croissants and apricot tarts. They share two of their beloved holiday recipes with us here, which you can make with your kids. The desserts may look impressive, but Crave.it whipped these up with their kids baking class, so it can be done! It just may inspire a new family tradition.

Italian Sweet Dough Santa Cookie

Ingredients:
5 sticks of butter
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
2 ounces of honey
2 teaspoons of salt
Pinch of vanilla

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Combine butter (room temperature), sugar, honey, salt and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Add the flour and continue mixing for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the eggs and complete mixing. Do not over mix.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
6. With the rolling pin roll the dough until about π inch thick and cut into round shapes.
7. Bake for about 8 minutes or until golden.

For the decoration:
Ingredients:
Red sugar paste
Black sugar paste
Yellow sugar paste
Wilton Royal icing (ready to use)

Instructions:
1. With a rolling pin roll the three sugar pastes until about 1/4 inch thick.
2. With the same cookie cutter of the cookie, cut the red sugar paste.
3. With a knife cut the black sugar paste in a stripe of 2 inches thick and then cut with the cookie round cutter to obtain Santa’s belt.
4. With a square cookie cutter cut the yellow sugar paste to obtain Santa’s buckle.
5. Attach everything using the ready to use icing sugar and press a little with a flat plate.
6. With the ready to use royal icing personalize the cookie with your x-mas message.

Holly Jolly Cake Pops
Ingredients:
Crumbs of a plain vanilla sponge
1 cup vanilla buttercream (ready to use)
White chocolate (or milk or dark)
Cake pops sticks
Decorations (sprinkles, chocolate chips, edible bows)

Instructions:
1. Mix the ingredients and divide using an ice cream scoop.
2. Roll each portion of the mix dough with your hands to obtain little balls.
3. Put them on a tray lined with parchment paper in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
4. Melt the chocolate and dip the cake pop stick into the melted chocolate about 1 inch deep.
5. Put the sticks into the cake pop balls, let them set at room temperature.
6. Once are set, immerge the cake pop into the melted chocolate and let it harden.
7. Decorate as you wish. Get creative and have fun!