With Christmas just a few weeks away, it’s time to get creative in the kitchen decorating holiday cookies!
Decorating sugar cookies was one of my favorite Christmastime traditions as a child and still is. While we still spend Christmas Eve decorating cookies for Santa, I do it a little bit different than growing up, I use frosting with the kids. Growing up, we would decorate the raw sugar cookie with sprinkles and then my mother would bake them, I choose to pre-bake the cookies, allow them to cool and then decorate with my favorite 2 ingredient frosting.
Cookie Decorating Tips For Holiday Baking:
- Prep dough ahead of time, allow to cool in fridge at least an hour.
- Create a large batch of frosting, then separate into different bowls to create new colors.
- Separate sprinkles/candy onto paint pallets. Each child gets their own cookie decorating station.
- Once decorated, move to a wired rack and allow the frosting to harden before storing in a container.
Create a new tradition and invite friends & family over for a night full of cookie decorating fun!
These cute Christmas plates are perfect for our annual Christmas Cookie decorating party and can be found at Oriental Trading.
The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Directions:
- Cream butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, & baking powder.
- Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, continue mixing until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- When ready to use, roll dough onto lightly floured work area using a rolling pin until about 1/4 in thick. Use preferred cookie cutter shapes.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes.
2 Ingredient Sugar Cookie Frosting:
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 4 tsp milk
Directions:
- Combine milk & sugar, mix until smooth.
- Use the frosting as is, or separate into bowls and add food coloring.
- For mess free decorating, place the frosting into a piping bag.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Cream butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, & baking powder.
- Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, continue mixing until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- When ready to use, roll dough onto lightly floured work area using a rolling pin until about 1/4 in thick. Use preferred cookie cutter shapes.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes.
Does your family decorate cookies for the holidays? Do you prefer sugar cookies or gingerbread?
I’m all about the sugar cookies.
