We are just days from the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. We symbolize this midway point with the rose candle on the Advent wreath as well as a day of celebration: the Lord’s coming is near! In our family, the tradition has always been to have our annual gingerbread decorating afternoon after Mass. We play Christmas carols, decorate and eat ourselves silly with cookies and candy decorations, and completely ruin our dinner. Sometimes I pre-bake the cookies and sometimes I hurry through the process when we get home. Each year is a little different, but we love the tradition all the same.
Below is our go-to recipe:
Download your copy of the Gingerbread Cookie Recipe here!
P.S. Our favorite book to read on this day is Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. Also, if you’re in the market for cookie cutters, take a look at these and these and these! (affiliate links)
We have the Gaudete tradition of getting our Christmas tree…. we get it this weekend and will put the lights on but won’t fully decorate till next weekend. We also put up some xmas lights outside for the Feast of St. Lucy. We like to take our time to and keep the Advent season as a time of prayer and preparation.
Love those traditions! We are the same with the countercultural approach to December: taking our time and slowly increasing that anticipation for Christmas. So many people are done with it all by 12/26, but we’re just getting started, ha! Hope your Advent season has been peaceful and fruitful so far.
What a fun tradition 🙂
We used your recipe to make gingerbread and it’s delicious! It was my first time and they turned out beautiful – Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear that!