It's that time again! The holidays bring many things: from cooler weather to dedicated family time, there is always something to do or experience. The best part, in our opinion, is the holiday food and treats – especially the cookies. Plus, when you have all your little ones gathered together, cookie decorating can be one of the best activities to keep everyone occupied and having fun. To help, here are some great sugar cookie baking/decorating tips for the whole family!
Kitchen Tools
- Baking Sheet
- Kid-friendly knife
- Mixing bowl
- Stir spoon
- Small bowl
- 2 small piping bags or ziploc bags
- Food coloring
- Toothpick
- Rolling pin (optional)
- Cookie cutters (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 package premade sugar cookie dough
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 2 teaspoons light karo syrup
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Sprinkles of choice
- Flour (optional)
Baking
First, we have to get the cookies in the oven! Here, you can do TWO options:
- Start by rolling out the premade dough on a flat surface (flour on the surface and your hands/rolling pin will help if things are too sticky). You want the cookie dough to be rather thin, with an estimate of a ¼ inch thick. It may look a little too thin, but they'll grow as they are in the oven!
From here, you can use any cookie cutters you want to create the perfect holiday shapes! Any scraps left over can be re-rolled into a new piece and used again, until you get the most out of your cookie dough. Place all your creations evenly on a baking sheet, and cook according to package instructions. NOTE: If you want to use this method, it may be best to buy a cookie dough roll that states it's good for cookie shapes, as the ingredients will make it a little easier to roll and cut. - Start by placing the cookie roll on a flat surface.
Using the kid-safe knife, the kids can cut the dough roll into slices, roughly ¼ inch thick (or however fluffy you want your cookies!)
Place the cookies evenly on the baking sheet and cook according to instructions.
The Icing
Now this is the best part, in our opinion.
- In a mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar, milk, almond extract, and karo syrup, then blend until smooth.
- You want the icing to be a little thicker, to keep it from running off the cookie. If it seems too thin, you can add 1 tbsp additional powdered sugar at a time until its right where you want it.
- Time to pick your colors! Once your icing is made, separate it into however many bowls of colors you'd like. For this, we used just red and green, but you can always make more icing and have as many colors as you'd like. Add you colors to the bowls until they're the perfect shade. Don't forget to keep white as a color! NOTE: If you use a liquid food coloring, be careful not to change your consistency!
- Place your colors into piping bags or dressing bottles, or a zip lock bag with just the corner cut off to allow you to decorate your cookies.
- A trick here: use a tall cup and place the piping bag or ziploc inside, with the top of the bag wrapping over the top of the cup. This will keep your bag open while you add the icing, keeping you from getting too messy!
- Twist your bags at the top, and prepare to decorate!
Decorating
After the cookies have completely cooled, it's time to decorate! Whether you decide to create shaped cookies or round ones, each cookie will be completely unique with imagination. Below is a simple option for round cookies:
- First, spread an even layer of white icing over the top of the cookie. Let dry.
- Using any colors, or red and green, place small dots of both colors onto the white icing.
- Using the toothpick, gently drag the stick through the different color dots to create a swirled color pattern in holiday colors.
- Top with sprinkles of your choice – we used a white sparkle sprinkle to add some shine to the top!
- NOTE: If you want to use multiple colors on any of your cookies, make sure one color dries a bit before you add the next one, to keep the colors from running together and mixing on your cookie.
You're ready to create delicious Christmas sugar cookies! Of course, you can always use chocolate crumbles, peppermint pieces, powdered sugar, nuts, or crushed cookies to the top of your cookies instead of sprinkles. Make them as unique as you. Be sure to tag us and let us know what you created!
Article inspired by Create Kids Club.
