Away in a Manger Christmas Cookies

We made these super easy Baby Jesus cookies for Lydia’s Christmas pageant yesterday, and I wanted to share them with you. They’re super easy to make, don’t involve any cooking at all, and even kids can make them.

away in a manger cookies for pinterest

Even the cookies I decorated I did with 1 hand as I bounced Anabelle on my left hip. (Yep, she’s at that age…)

Supplies Needed to make Baby Jesus Cookies:

  • Nutter Butter Cookies
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Little tubes of colored icing
  • Coconut
  • Yellow food coloring
  • Graham crackers (optional)
  • Peanut butter (optional)
  • Paper plates (optional)

Start by mixing some powdered sugar with water until it’s thicker than whipping cream, but much thinner than conventional icing. (it’s more like a glaze than an icing.) You’ll want to mix it with a mixer to get all the sugar lumps out. I mixed mine in a tall glass (to make dipping easier) and used my hand mixer with only one of the mixer thingies attached.

mix powdered sugar icing

Dip the Nutter Butter cookies into the frosting, but not all the way. The white part is supposed to look like Baby Jesus’ swaddling clothes, so leave some blank cookie at the top for his head. I set mine on foil to let the icing set, but it would have been better if I had one of those wire rack thingies to let the extra drip off. As I pulled the cookies out of the icing, I scraped the extra off the back on the rim of the cup.

did nutter butter cookies for decorating

Next, draw on a halo with yellow icing, and a face with blue.

make Baby Jesus cookies for Christmas

That’s it! Let the icing dry, then serve. I also put some sweetened coconut shreds in a ziplock bag, shook with some yellow food color, and served these on beds of “straw”.

baby jesus hay cookies

I actually like these cookies best served as an interactive snack where kids make their own. These would be great at a Happy Birthday Jesus party for kids! Here are the directions for having kids make their own manger cookies:

Give everyone a paper plate with a blog of peanut butter on it. (If you’re worried about allergies, well, these are nutter butter cookies so this snack isn’t for you).

peanut butter on plate

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Give each child 2 sections of graham cracker to stand up like a manger in the peanut butter.

graham cracker manger

Put your yellow coconut on a plate, and set it beside your cup of powdered sugar glaze. Let each child dip their nutter butter in the icing, then stick the back of the cookie in the coconut. Because the icing is wet, the coconut will stick, acting as your straw in Baby Jesus’ manger. Place the cookie in the manger, and let the kids draw on Baby Jesus’ face themselves.

manger cookies for kids

It’s safe to say that my kids absolutely loved these, and I was surprised how well even Julian (age 4) did with the icing for a face!

toddler made Baby Jesus cookie

I’m not a huge coconut fan, but these really were quite yummy. Because we’re taking it easy this Christmas, these were a nice alternative to rolling out sugar cookies. 😉

manger Christmas cookies for kids

manger Christmas cookies

Remember that it’s still Advent- it’s not even Christmas yet! So you still have plenty of time (12 days at least) to do fun Christmas activities with your kids after the big day. 🙂

away in a manger cookies

More Nativity Resources For Families

You do not want to miss my nativity round up for kids that includes crafts, book suggestions, traditions, songs, printables, and more! Check it out now.

The Advent Christmas Planner- available from Catholic Icing

Comments

  1. Lacy, This is such a cute idea! Would you consider sharing it on the “Exploring Advent and Christmas Link-Up”? http://exploreandexpress-sheila.blogspot.de/2012/12/exploring-advent-and-christmas-link-up_9.html

  2. These are adorable and so clever!

  3. Ingrid Vance says

    I like this idea but we have a peanut allergy in the house. I think I might try it with Milanos instead of the nutter butters.

    • Milanos are a great idea! But then if I used Milanos, I probably wouldn’t share any with my kids. 😉

  4. Oh my goodness, are those cute or WHAT? Thanks for sharing this 🙂

  5. Lacy, this is adorable!! Do you have any alternatives to butter butter? I have a 2 year old with peanut allergies 🙁

    • Just saw the milano alternative. We’ll try that. Don’t know if the shape will be as nice – the butter butter’s are perfect!

  6. Thanks, Lacy, for linking up! Just wanted to let you know that I featured this post as a highlight:

    http://exploreandexpress-sheila.blogspot.de/2012/12/exploring-advent-and-christmas-continues.html

    Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

  7. So cute! I might make these for Christmas Eve or, in the spirit of doing less and continuing for the 12 days of Christmas, we might get to them for Epiphany!

  8. We had a great time making these. I didn’t stick the coconut to the “baby” – instead we just filledeach manger with “hay” before placing in the babies. Pic of one tray of the creches, ready for a Sunday gathering: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/198546_4458791182242_583488780_n.jpg

  9. Cute idea! I linked to this recipe on my page called Nativity Activities for Kids: http://www.zujava.com/nativity-activities-for-kids