Holiday wreath-shaped cookies come together very easily using my favorite jumbles recipe. After rolling out the dough, instead of cutting it into strips and shaping into rings, use a round flower-shaped cookie cutter and small bottle lid to hollow out the center (you could also use a thimble). Ice them with green-tinted frosting and sprinkle on some holiday-themed cookie decorations. Or simply add some green sugar sprinkles while the cookies are still warm and pipe on wreaths with red-tinted frosting as shown here. Based on the recipe Mrs. Goodfellow taught in her cooking school in the 19th century, I have now made jumbles many times but for the holidays I like to use this festive presentation. 


Holiday Jumbles

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon rose water
3 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Cream butter and sugar until very light. Add egg and rose-water, blending thoroughly. (May substitute lemon  extract to taste for rose-water.
2. Sift flour with spices. Add all at once to creamed mixture, blending well. 
3. Wrap dough and chill at least 2 hours.
4. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. 
5. Cut out shapes with a plain round or round scalloped-shaped (like a flower) cookie cutter, use a small bottle cap to hollow out the center
6. Bake cookies on ungreased sheets in preheated 375 degree oven 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Remove to rack. When cool, frost and decorate as per the following:
7.  For  the frosting,  stir together 1 1/2 cups sifted powered sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons water until smooth and well blended. You can add a little lemon juice or more water if it seems too stiff. Add enough green food coloring to yield an evergreen shade. Spread a little on a cookie and then sprinkle on red, green and/or white cookie decorations.

Tip: pour whatever decorations you are using onto a low dish and just dip the icing side of each cookie into it (like ice cream places often do with cones). If you want to get more fancy, spoon icing into a pastry bag (you may need to thin a little more with water), and pipe frosting around each cookie to simulate wreath greens.

You can also tint a little bit of icing red and pipe a bow on each wreath, or try a rosewater glaze with green decorating sugar. 

Just be as creative as you want and have fun! 

Based on Nancy Carter Crump's jumbles recipe from Hearthside Cooking