The Christmas cookies with royal icing are classic Christmas cookies made with shortbread and decorated with sugar glaze, known all over the world. This year, I made them with vanilla shortbread and cocoa shortbread. Delicious!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 20
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 92.13 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 12.45 (g) of which sugars 7.04 (g)
- Proteins 1.29 (g)
- Fat 4.41 (g) of which saturated 2.70 (g)of which unsaturated 1.66 (g)
- Fibers 0.22 (g)
- Sodium 2.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 15 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
- 6 1/3 tbsp butter
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 egg yolks egg yolks
- 1/2 vial vanilla
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp egg whites
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- as needed food coloring (in gel)
Tools
- Cookie Cutters
Steps
To prepare the Christmas cookies, first prepare the shortbread. In a bowl, pour the flour, then form a well in the center and add the egg yolks, sugar, and softened butter cut into pieces. Also add the vanilla flavor, then start kneading.
Initially, the mixture will be crumbly and may not seem to come together, but this is when you need to start kneading vigorously until you get a smooth and compact dough.
Now divide the dough into two parts. Set aside one piece of the dough, which will become vanilla shortbread. Leave the other half in the bowl, then add a generous tablespoon of cocoa. Knead the dough again with your hands until the dough becomes a nice chocolate color.
Now wrap each piece of shortbread with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
After the time has passed, take the shortbread out of the fridge, dust a work surface with flour, then roll out the shortbread, first the vanilla one and then the cocoa one, to a thickness of about 1/5 inch. Then cut your cookies with Christmas-shaped cutters and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Reform a dough ball with the remaining shortbread and roll it out again, continue to make cookies until all the ingredients are used.
The number of cookies obtained varies depending on the size of the shapes. I used medium-small cutters, so I got about 24 cookies. If you use medium-large shapes, you will only get about fifteen cookies. If you want more cookies, you just need to double the quantities.
Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 340°F for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet. Once the cookies are completely cold, proceed to decorate them with royal icing.
For the royal icing, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, adding a teaspoon of lemon juice, which will act as a thickener and give a brighter white. Then add the powdered sugar little by little while working the mixture with the beaters. The mixture is ready when it becomes thick.
For colored icing, simply take one or more portions of the white mixture and add a few drops of coloring following the instructions on the package to create the desired color variations. Then mix with a teaspoon to blend everything well.
Transfer the various icings into a piping bag with a very small nozzle, or for disposable piping bags, make a really small cut. Now have fun with the decorations. Let dry completely at room temperature for a few hours, then serve.
Store Christmas cookies in a tin box for up to a week.
Tips
I used gel colorings from Paneangeli, in the three primary colors (yellow, red, and blue) where inside you will find a leaflet with instructions to create the desired color.
