Christmas Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Close up overhead view of Christmas sugar cookies on a black wire rack.

Christmas Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 1 45

Cook Time: 15

Chill + Dry Time: 8

Total Time: 10

Servings: cookies

Calories: 276kcal

Author: Shruthi Baskaran-Makanju

Crisp-edged Christmas sugar cookies with soft centers, rolled before chilling so the cut-outs keep their shape, then piped with red, white and green royal icing.

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Equipment

Ingredients

Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Royal Icing

4 cups powdered sugar sifted finely
2 egg whites
3 tablespoons lemon juice
water as needed, to thin the icing
1 pack gel food coloring as many colors as you wish

Instructions

Make Cookies

Add butter and sugar to a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). Beat until it's soft and creamy, about 4 minutes to medium speed. You can go as long as 8 minutes here, since the creamier the mixture, the better. Add egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.
In another bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.
Slowly add the flour to the creamed butter-sugar mix (~1/4 cup at a time) and beat until it's completely incorporated, but don't overmix the dough. The dough should be smooth and sticky (similar to play doh).
Split the dough into two parts. Transfer both parts to a flat surface, cover it with plastic wrap or place them between two large sheets of parchment paper and flatten the dough using your hands and a kitchen dough roller.
Refrigerate for at least 5 hours and up to 2 days. I typically like to chill it overnight. This allows the cookies to not spread too much and keep crisp edges when you bake them.
Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F and line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the paper wrap and use Christmas themed cookie cutters to cut the dough (If the dough is too sticky to work with, take the dough to the fridge five minutes before cutting it). Dip the cookie cutters in some flour to make this process easier.
Bake for about 8 minutes or just until the edges are golden brown. You don't want to overbake the cookies!
Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. (they could break when still warm).

Make Icing

In a medium bowl, combine the sifted powdered sugar with 2 egg whites and mix with a fork until incorporated. The egg whites add flavor and help ensure consistency.
Add lemon juice and mix on low speed with a stand mixer for five minutes until firm peaks are formed. Add a few drops of water if the icing is too thick to pipe.
Separate the mixture into different small bowls for each color. Add 1 drop of coloring gel to each bowl and mix until the desired color is uniform. I used red, white and green to keep up with Christmas colors, but the sky is your limit!
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to avoid the icing dries out.

Decorate the cookies

After ensuring that the cookies are completely cool, place the icing in a piping bag, ziplock bag, or squeeze bottle. If using a bag (like shown in the pictures in my post), make a small hole in the edge. Using a squeeze bottle will likely be much easier!
Decorate the cookies as you desire.
Allow the icing to dry completely (about 3 hours minimum, ideally overnight again) before serving. This is especially important if you plan to wrap the cookies or create treat bags!

Notes

Use room-temperature butter and stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together.
Roll the dough between sheets of parchment before chilling (or on a non-stick sheet, like this one) so you never need to flour the counter.
The colder the dough goes into the oven, the cleaner the shapes and crisper the edges.
Use gel food coloring; liquid coloring thins royal icing too much to pipe.
Adjust the icing with a little water or powdered sugar before coloring it. It should flow slowly and still hold its edge.
Add sprinkles while the icing is still wet.
Ice only completely cool cookies, or the icing melts.
Let the icing set for 24 hours before stacking or bagging the cookies. Store them airtight at room temperature.

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