Sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas baking and look amazing decorated with Royal Icing!
These sugar cookies are so much fun to make with the kids at Christmas time. My kids like to make these and decorate them with Gamma. It’s a tradition now every year, they love it! These are easy to make with no chilling required! Perfect edges every time! You can color the icing once you make it with any colors you like with a few drops of food coloring.
You can buy all kinds of different cookie cutters to make lots of Christmas shapes. Can also be used for other holidays as well! I’ve included the recipe for Royal Icing which makes a nice icing for these! When they are finished they make amazing gifts to give to friends and relatives during the holidays. They freeze well also so you cna make them ahead of time and pull them out of the freezer before company arrives.
You can also make other shape cookies for any time of year like these paw print cookies!
These paw print ones are great for any time of year. They are super cute!
Thanks to Jenny Paholke for the great pics!
More –> CHRISTMAS RECIPES
Sugar Cookies With Royal Icing
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup butter unsalted
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract optional
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Icing
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 2 tbs water
- 2 tbs lemon juice (Can use 2 tsp lemon extract instead)
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth.
- beat in egg and extracts.
- Take a separate bowl and combine flour with baking powder then add a bit at a time to the wet ingredients.
- The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer place on counter, wet hands and finish reading dough by hand.
- Do not chill dough.
- Divide the dough up into smaller batches easier to work with.
- Roll onto floured surfaced cut.
- Cookies should be 1/4 inch thick.
- Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes.
- Let cool on cookie sheet until firm.
Icing
- Whisk egg whites and lemon juice in an electric mixer at high speed about 2 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar and mix well.
- Add water.
- Mix on high for 4 minutes until very white and fluffy.
- Add more water if needed to make desired consistency.
