Christmas Cookies
I have had the tradition of decorating Christmas cookies with my nieces and nephews, and I have perfected this recipe over the years. It sure was extra sweet being able to bake them with our daughter this year.
This recipe is quick and easy, requires no chilling of the dough, and the glaze icing perfectly hardens. Just trust me, this is the only sugar cookie and icing recipe that you need.
Sugar Cookie Dough
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (you know we love am.niccoli vanilla sea salt!)
3 cups all purpose flour
WHAT TO DO:
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
Beat softened butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes until creamy (I prefer to use a stand mixer)
Add egg and vanilla extract
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt
Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients- the dough will become stiff (you may need to finish combining by hand on a floured countertop surface)
Roll out dough onto a floured surface, and cut; I make cookies about 1/4 inch thick. Do not chill dough before cutting.
Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes (cookies do not rise much- edges should just be slightly browned)
Let cool completely before icing
Glaze Icing
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp corn syrup
1 drop lemon juice (I used fresh)
WHAT TO DO:
Combine all ingredients, if mixture is still very thick, add 1 tsp of milk at a time until it is the right consistency.
I generally make 4 batches of icing total for the cookies and use food coloring as desired, I like this food coloring as a cleaner alternative.
We are by no means professional cookie bakers or decorators, but this is a fun and easy recipe to use year after year with your kiddos. They taste delicious, and I love that the icing perfectly hardens so they can be stacked without them sticking together.
I cannot wait to hear what you think!
