How Long Does It Take To Decorate Cookies

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Christmas holiday decorated sugar cookies including snowmen, candy canes, Christmas trees, snowflakes, and stars

Baking sugar cookies for Christmas? Permit me help! Today I'm sharing 5 piece of cake and approachable means to decorate Christmas cookies. If you're intimidated or nervous well-nigh making royal icing and creating adorably festive sugar cookies, this post is for you lot.

Before we begin decorating, let'due south review my carbohydrate cookie recipe. This recipe, pictured below as adorable little hearts, have slightly crisp edges and a overnice flat surface for decorating. They take a pronounced vanilla flavor, super soft center, and taste unbelievable on their own.

Sugar Cookie Dough

Only seven ingredients: butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt.

With so little ingredients, it'south of import that y'all use them all considering each serves a very important purpose. Creamed butter + carbohydrate makes the base of the cookie dough. This creates a buttery flavored foundation and incorporates air into the cookie dough, creating lighter textured cookies. Egg is the cookie's structure. Vanilla adds flavor. I also like to add a bit of almond excerpt to brand these saccharide cookies taste extra special. It's optional, only I suggest you endeavor it! Flour is an obvious improver, baking powder adds elevator, salt balances the sweet. So many *piddling ingredients* doing their *large jobs* to create a beautiful sugar cookie.

Yous tin can flavor with dissimilar extracts or spices, like cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. I actually prefer a pinch of cinnamon in them.

The dough is nothing out of the ordinary, but my method is unique.

The Method

This sugar cookie dough needs time in the refrigerator to solidify the butter and to guarantee the cookies hold their shape in the oven. Instead of chilling it as i massive chunk of dough (see to a higher place motion-picture show in the bowl!), roll the dough out so arctic it in the refrigerator. The dough is so much easier to roll out earlier information technology'due south chilled. To brand this fifty-fifty easier for you lot, divide the dough in ii so scroll it out. Information technology'south much more manageable to work with in smaller portions.

I like to whorl the dough out on a silicone baking mat or parchment newspaper. Why?Since nosotros volition chill the rolled out dough in the fridge… are nosotros going to just pick upwardly this rolled out mass of dough? No! Curlicue out on a nonstick surface that you lot can literally pick up, put on a baking sheet, and place in the fridge.

A visual:

collage of sugar cookie dough process photos

I created a carve up post for my favorite royal icing. It'south my favorite because it's easy to work with, tastes great, sets quickly, and doesn't crave raw egg whites. And, all-time of all, it doesn't have a hard cement-similar texture– it won't break your teeth like other royal icings. If royal icing isn't for you and you still desire to bake festive sugar cookies this vacation flavour, attempt my stained glass window cookies or drop style Christmas carbohydrate cookies.

Hither is the sugar cookie recipe written out for yous. Beneath the recipe, you can see how to decorate each fun shape pictured today.

Description

You can make 5 super easy Christmas cookies with this extremely piece of cake sugar cookie dough!

ii and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
one/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/four teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
two teaspoons pure vanilla extract
optional for flavor: i/4 – i/2 teaspoon almond extract
royal icing

Whisk the flour, baking pulverisation, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set bated.
In a big bowl using a manus mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and saccharide together on loftier speed until completely smooth and creamy, virtually 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond excerpt (if using) and beat on loftier speed until combined, about one minute. Scrape downwardly the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat out over again every bit needed to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. If the dough seems also soft, you lot can add together 1 Tablespoon more than flour until it is a meliorate consistency for rolling.
Divide the dough into two equal parts. Coil each portion out onto a slice of parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat (I prefer the nonstick silicone mat) to about 1/four-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough tin exist any shape, as long equally it is evenly ane/4-inch thick.
Stack the pieces, with parchment newspaper between the ii, onto a baking sheet and air-condition for at least 1-2 hours and upward to 2 days. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the tiptop dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper.
Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and cut into shapes with cookie cutter(southward). Re-coil the remaining dough and continue cut until all is used. Repeat with 2d dough piece.
Arrange cookies on baking sheets iii inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Make sure yous rotate the baking sheet halfway through broil time. Allow cookies to cool on the blistering canvas for 5 minutes so transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I similar to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the unabridged baking canvas in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on blistering sheets.
Decorate with regal icing.
Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are cracking for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about v days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, encompass and air-condition for upwardly to 10 days.

Notes

Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated saccharide cookies freeze well upward to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set up completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You lot can besides freeze the cookie dough for up to three months before rolling it out. Set the dough through pace 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, and so freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the fridge, so bring to room temperature for well-nigh 1 hour. Curl out the dough as directed in stride 4, then chill as directed in step 5– no need to chill for 1-2 hours, 45 minutes should exist plenty.
Almond Excerpt: I dear flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, utilize one/4 teaspoon.
Special Tools: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Rolling Pin | Christmas Cookie Cutter Prepare | Silpat Baking Mat | Cookie Sheet | Cooling Rack | Meringue Powder | Americolor Gel Paste Kit | Pipe Numberless (Reusable or Disposable) | Couplers | Circular #2 Piping Tip | Round #four Pipe Tip
Be sure to check out my superlative v cookie blistering tips AND these are my x must-have cookie baking tools.

Keywords: decorate sugar cookies

Time to Decorate!

Here's what I've learned virtually decorating sugar cookies: ready your expectations accordingly. Beginning basic and go from at that place. With each batch, you will improve.

*Employ my majestic icing recipe. Icing will completely set in about ii hours at room temperature. If y'all're layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to gear up speedily, place cookies in the refrigerator to speed it up.

Here'southward what y'all demand:

cookie cutters – I honey this set. It has a snowflake, gingerbread human being, Christmas tree, snowman, and more!
couplers – only needed if you're using the same icing color, just need to switch tips.
piping bags – I prefer the 16 inch size for decorating.
gel food coloring – get the whole set. I beloved these colors for purple icing, cake batter, frosting, etc. They're high pigmented and so you don't demand as much coloring.
circular piping tips

I don't create intricate designs on my cookies because (i) I'm bad at it and (2) my hands are as well shaky. I adopt a basic approach and for that, yous only demand a couple piping tips. I e'er utilise Wilton pipage tip #iv for outlining and flooding the cookie with icing. This is a wonderful basic piping tip to accept in your collection. For whatever detail, I utilize a thinner round tip like Wilton piping tip #1 (super thin), Wilton piping tip #2 (a little larger), or Wilton pipage tip #three (a little larger than that).

1. Christmas Copse

green + chocolate-brown + cherry-red nutrient coloring (link)
piping purse (link)
pipe tip #5 and #3 (link and link)

Add together 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the cookie dough with the dry ingredients. (Optional, but delicious!!) Tint 3/4 of the icing greenish until you accomplish your desired shade. With the remaining one/4 of the icing, tint one-half brown and the other half ruby. *Retrieve, colors always dry darker!

To create three "tiers" on your trees, piping the eye of the Christmas tree with piping tip #v. Let to set. Pipe the top and bottom of the Christmas tree with piping tip #5. If you have star sprinkles, carefully place one at the top. Allow to set. Piping the dark-brown tree trunk with pipage tip #5. Pipe crimson dots with piping tip #3.

Non interested in the "tiers"? Just outline and flood the whole tree with piping tip #five. Let that set. Then pipage the tree trunk and scarlet dots on elevation.

candy cane and snowman decorated sugar cookies for the holidays

2. Striped Candy Canes

ruby food coloring (link)
pipage handbag (link)
piping tip #5 and #three (link and link)

These are easier than you lot call up, I hope. Tint 1/3 of the icing red until you reach your desired shade. Remember, red icing dries darker– so don't become overboard with the food coloring. Outline and flood the entire candy pikestaff white with piping tip #5. Before letting that ready, piping diagonal scarlet lines on top with pipage tip #3. Run a toothpick effectually the white border. The toothpick volition drag the red to create the "swirly" look.

decorated snowman and snowflake sugar cookies

3. Snowman

ruddy, blackness + orangish food coloring (link)
pipe purse (link)
piping tip #v and #1 (link and link)

Assemble 3 small-scale bowls. Spoon 1/4 cup of icing into each bowl. Keep the residual of the icing white. Stir red food coloring into one bowl until you reach your desired shade. Stir black food coloring into some other basin until you reach your desired shade. (I find that black always dries darker so stop adding coloring when you reach a nighttime gray.) Stir orange food coloring into the last basin until you reach your desired shade. Outline and flood the unabridged snowmen white with piping tip #v. (Leave room for the black chapeau!) Permit to gear up. Using this same pipage tip, pipe the scarf with red icing on top of the white icing. Using piping tip #1, pipe the hat, optics, and buttons with black icing. Using this same pipage tip, pipe the nose with orangish icing.

4. Snowflakes

piping bag (link)
pipe tip #v or #iv (link or link)

Using a round piping tip (piping tip #4 or #five are perfect), piping a uncomplicated snowflake blueprint on the cookie. I placed a big blue sprinkles bead in the center and sprinkled white sparkling carbohydrate on top so they expect snowy!

star and Christmas tree decorated sugar cookies

5. Stars

piping bag (link)
pipage tip #5 (link)

Easiest of the bunch. These are my maple cinnamon star cookies topped with the majestic icing. Outline and flood the entire star white with pipage tip #5. Top with sprinkles.