The decorated Christmas cookies are delicious Christmas cookies decorated with royal icing. Their preparation is so simple that even the little ones can get involved. For their creation, I used classic shortcrust pastry and cocoa shortcrust pastry. Based on your tastes, you can easily choose to use only one type of dough, just as you can choose the shape you want depending on the cookie cutters you have available. After baking and cooling them, I decorated them with royal icing, a mixture made with pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar, to which you can add food coloring if you prefer.
The decorative part is what I love the most, and it will be even more fun if done with the help of the little ones at home. If you are allergic to egg whites, you can use aquafaba, the cooking water of chickpeas. Additionally, the decorated Christmas cookies are perfect for serving at the table as place cards during the Christmas period.
Perfect to hang on your Christmas tree or to pack and give to your friends and family for a creative and delicious homemade gift! Well, are you ready? Then turn on the oven and let your imagination and creativity run wild, because these decorated Christmas cookies with royal icing will be ready in a click!
If you’re interested in other cookie recipes to gift during the holiday season, read also:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 30 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 137.64 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 21.03 (g) of which sugars 11.98 (g)
- Proteins 1.91 (g)
- Fat 5.90 (g) of which saturated 3.74 (g)of which unsaturated 2.08 (g)
- Fibers 0.86 (g)
- Sodium 4.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 26 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Decorated Christmas Cookies
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 tbsps butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 packet vanillin
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 7 tbsps butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsps egg white (pasteurized)
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Tools
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Tray
- Piping Bag
- Cookie Cutters
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
Steps
To make the decorated Christmas cookies, start with preparing the classic and cocoa shortcrust pastry. For the classic shortcrust pastry, first mix the softened butter with the sugar very well. For this operation, you can use a stand mixer. Otherwise, a mixing bowl and a spoon will work just fine.
Next, you can incorporate the egg and continue to mix. If you want a softer shortcrust, you can use only the yolk.
At this point, when the egg, butter, and sugar are perfectly combined, you can add the flour. Continue mixing with the spoon or the mixer until you see the dough starting to come together. This is the moment to stop kneading.
Put the dough on the table and work it a little with your hands to make it smooth. The shortcrust should not be overworked, remember. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
For the cocoa shortcrust pastry, cream the butter with the sugar. Then add the egg and continue mixing with a spoon until all the ingredients are combined.
Now incorporate the flour and cocoa, kneading first with the spoon and then with your hands once the dough starts to firm up. You should get a smooth and compact dough.
Then transfer the shortcrust dough to plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour in the refrigerator.
Now roll out both doughs to a thickness of 1/4 inch using a rolling pin. Then make the cookies in the shape you desire or based on the cutters you have available. If you want to hang them on the tree, make a small hole using a straw.
Then place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 340°F for 10 minutes or until golden. For this type of preparation, I use a micro-perforated mat, which I find very useful as it makes the shortcrust much more crumbly.
After the baking time, let the cookies cool on a rack and proceed to prepare the royal icing.
Then put the egg white and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, and using a spoon, mix for about 5 minutes until you get a toothpaste-like consistency. If the icing is too thick, you can adjust the consistency by adding a few drops of water at a time until the right consistency is reached. Additionally, if you want a colored decoration, you can add gel or powdered food coloring to the mixture.
Then put the icing in a piping bag and make a small cut at the tip. The hole must be thin.
And now? Well, you just have to enjoy and express your creativity in decorating your cookies. Finally, let the icing dry and hang your cookies on the tree.
Decorating is not easy, it requires a lot of patience and some time. You can also involve the little ones in this kind of activity. It will surely be a pleasant and fun moment to spend in their company! 😉
Variations and Tips
If you want a colored decoration, you can add gel or powdered food coloring.
Once ready, royal icing can be stored in the piping bag in the refrigerator for up to 15 days.
You can replace the egg white with aquafaba, the cooking water of chickpeas.
Decorating is not easy, it requires a lot of patience and some time, two fundamental rules: steady hands and calm, precise and clear movements just like if there was a pencil to draw instead of the piping bag, thanks to the very thick icing, the drawings will be well defined.
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If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also be interested in Gingerbread Cookies or Cinnamon Cookies or other recipes from the Sweets category.
