Jesus In The Manger Christmas Cookies

• Vegetarian

• Pasta & Grains

  • 1 Frosted shredded wheat, mini

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/4 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
  • 2 1/2 cups Flour
  • 1 cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 dash Salt
  • 2 tsp Vanilla

• Snacks

  • 1 Pretzel sticks

• Dairy

  • 12 tbsp Butter, unsalted
  • 3 oz Cream cheese

• Desserts

  • 1 Pretzel m&ms

Found on joyinmykitchen.com

Description

Ingredients

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2½ cups flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• dash salt
• pretzel sticks
• pretzel M&Ms
• mini frosted shredded wheat

Directions

• Cream together butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended.
• Gently stir in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
• Knead dough with hands a couple times until everything is evenly mixed.
• Cover and refrigerate at least one hour.
• Once chilled, use a ball of dough about 1½ inches in diameter to form a trapezoid shape. In other words, a rectangle with the two short ends angled inward so that the lower edge is shorter than the upper edge.
• Place two pretzel sticks on pan with top ends touching to form an upside down V.
• Gently press dough onto pretzel sticks to form manger legs.
• Use blunt knife to press in 3-4 horizontal lines to represent boards.
• Press one brown pretzel M&M where you want the head to be.
• Break back off of frosted mini wheat and press front (frosted part) into cookie to represent body and blanket of baby.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• If necessary use tip of knife to roll head back into place and press sides of manger flat.
• See original blog post for more explanation and photos.