These easy decorated Christmas cookies are for you if you're not into decorating fancy cookies! This recipe will show you how to effortlessly decorate beautiful sugar cookies with royal icing and sprinkles. Perfect for throwing a Christmas cookie decorating party, these festive cookies are approachable and fun to make!
These beautiful and easy decorated Christmas cookies are so fun to make for the holiday.
Every year a few friends and I have a wine and cookie decorating party together and of course, I am in charge of providing the decorations! I realized early on that decorating cookies in their entirety with royal icing is a serious skill and gift.
Even when I worked as a pastry chef it was no joke! But decorated Christmas cookies are just too pretty to not make, which is why I developed this recipe!
I'm here to show you that you don't need any special baking or decorating skills to make gorgeous decorated cookies for the holiday season!
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easy decorated christmas cookie highlights
- Easy to make and decorate
- You only need royal icing and a variety of sprinkles
- Perfect for a Christmas cookie decorating party
- No professional decorating skills required!
ingredient notes
- Meringue powder- This is an egg white substitute that makes the icing safe for anyone to eat. This ingredient can not be substituted or left out or the icing will not set properly.
- Vanilla- I recommend using a high-quality real vanilla extract and not artificial extract as you will taste it more.
- Assorted sprinkles- I used a combination of Christmas colors like red, white, and gold. You will need sanding sugar sprinkles in order to cover the entire cookie.
A complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below!
helpful tools & supplies
- 12-inch piping bags- You don't need a large piping bag and can even use the corner of a ziplock bag if you need to.
- #4 Wilton tip- This tip is a very small round tip that is precise enough to give you clean lines for borders and designing the cookies.
- Sprinkles- To cover the cookie before baking you will need any color sanding sugar. I also used a combination of edible pearls and jimmies!
- Gel food coloring- You can color the royal icing or keep it white. I will use a very small amount of gel food coloring as a little goes a long way.
instructions
overview
- Make the royal icing.
- Cover the cookie shapes in sprinkles.
- Bake the cookies.
- Decorate the cookies with the royal icing.
step by step
Step 1: Combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons of water in a stand mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the icing at medium speed. It will likely be very thick. Add more water in ½ teaspoon at a time until the icing is thick but settles back into itself within 20-30 seconds.
Step 2: Keep mixing the icing on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it is light and fluffy and all the meringue powder is dissolved in the icing. You can rub a little bit of it in between your fingers to check. Scrape the icing into a container or bowl and cover it with a lid, plastic wrap, or a towel.
TIP- Do not leave the icing uncovered or it will start to harden!
TIP- You can add more or less water to the icing to make it thinner or thicker. If you make it too thin, just mix more powdered sugar into it.
Step 3: Roll out the sugar cookie dough to ¼ inch thickness and use desired Christmas-shaped cutters to cut out the dough. Allow them to freeze completely in the freezer, about 10-15 minutes.
Step 4: Using a pastry brush, very lightly brush the tops of the cookies with egg white.
TIP- Freezing the cookies until solid is important to keep them from spreading in the oven. If the cookies spread too much you won't be able to keep whatever shape they originally had.
TIP- You can get my favorite sugar cookie recipe that I always use for decorating on this post!
Step 5: Fill a few medium-sized bowls with your sanding sugar sprinkles. Dip the brushed cookie top into the sugar to completely coat the surface.
Step 6: Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake at 375 F/190 C for 11-12 minutes, or until the cookies look matte, dry, and slightly wrinkled on top.
TIP- Do not overbake the cookies! They will look pale and not brown which is what you want. If the edges start to brown the cookies will be crisper and not chewy.
decorating ideas
- Once the cookies are coated in sprinkles and baked, fill a 12-inch piping bag with some of the royal icing. You can also split the royal icing into smaller bowls and color it with a bit of gel food coloring.
- Use a small round #4 Wilton tip for precise lines. You don't want to use a tip that has a large opening as the icing will likely not keep its shape.
- Outline or create lines and shapes on your cookies with the icing, then add more fun sprinkles on top.
expert tips
- Spoon measure your powdered sugar- This means using a spoon to fluff the sugar first, then spoon it into your measuring cup. This will give the most accurate results when you don't have a kitchen scale.
- Under-bake the cookies- under-baking the cookies will keep them extra soft for a few days after baking.
- Don't let royal icing sit uncovered- when you are not using it, make sure to tightly cover the bowl or it will start to harden and make it unusable.
- Split the icing- split the icing into small bowls and color them with your favorite gel coloring!
- Decorate the cookies before displaying- if you are decorating cookies to display or package, give yourself time to decorate them ahead of time or the icing will not be 100% dry and could be ruined.
storage & freezing
- Storage: Once baked and decorated, keep the cookies tightly wrapped on a baking tray or in an airtight container.
- Refrigerate: The cookies should not go in the fridge.
- Freezer: These cookies should not be frozen once decorated.
- Make ahead: make these cookies the day before transporting to ensure none of the icing gets ruined.
NOTE: Do not stack the cookies right after decorating, let the icing dry completely or you could ruin all your beautiful decorations!
variations
- Flavored icing- Feel free to replace the vanilla with another extract like peppermint or lemon.
- Sprinkles- you do not need to use these exact sprinkles unless you plan on covering them completely before baking. You will need to use sanding sugar for full sprinkle coverage.
- Shapes- I actually only have a few Christmas cookie shapes but you can use any kind of shape you have or desire!
recipe notes
- The number of cookies you get will depend on how big your batch of cookie dough is and how large your cookie shapes are.
- I do not recommend doubling the royal icing recipe unless you plan on doing more than minimal icing decoration. The icing goes a long way!
faq's
No! You can bake them plain and then decorate them after baking.
No. As long as the icing is in a sealed container or covered tightly in plastic wrap, you can keep the icing at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Give the icing a good mix in the mixer before using.
Royal icing has meringue powder (or egg white) which allows the icing to harden in the shape you pipe it in and will not be damaged. Regular icing will "harden" but can not be piped into lines because it won't hold the shape.
If you want full coverage of sprinkles, they need to go on before baking. You can sprinkle them with more after you start decorating with the icing. Otherwise, the sprinkles won't stick to the cookies.
more christmas related cookie recipes
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Decorated Christmas Cookies
Equipment
- 12-inch piping bag
- Small round #4 Wilton tip
- rubber spatula
- Stand mixing bowl with whisk attachment
- pastry brush
Ingredients
Soft Cookie Dough
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature 226 grams (2 Sticks)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 300 grams
- 1 large egg, room temperature 55 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 360 grams
- 2 tablespoon corn starch 17 grams
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Royal Icing
- 2 ½ cup powdered sugar 245 grams
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon meringue powder 18 grams
- 3-4 tablespoon water 28-56 grams
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten
- sanding sugar white and red
- assorted sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Sugar Cookie Dough
- Instructions on how to make the No Spread Sugar Cookies are HERE!
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C.
- With a pastry brush, lightly brush some of the egg white on the top of each frozen cookie. Dip the brushed top into a medium bowl with the sanding sugar sprinkles and place the cookie back on the tray. Keep in the freezer until ready to bake.1 tablespoon egg white, lightly beaten, sanding sugar
- Spread the frozen cut out cookies spaced two inches apart. You may need to bake them in batches. Keep any cookies not being baked in the freezer until ready.
- Bake them for 11-12 minutes, or until the tops look matte, dry, and slightly wrinkled. The edges should not be brown.
- Allow the tray to cool completely on a wire rack before removing and decorating.
Make the Royal Icing
- In a stand mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of the water.2 ½ cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon meringue powder, 3-4 tablespoon water, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Mix with a whisk attachment on medium speed for 3 minutes until the meringue powder is dissolved and the icing is light and fluffy. Add the rest of the water in a little bit at a time so that the icing stays thick, but thin enough to settle back into itself within 10-20 seconds.
- Scrape the icing into a container or bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap until ready to use.
Decorate the Cookies
- Once the cookies are coated in sprinkles and baked, fill a 12-inch piping bag with some of the royal icing. You can also split the royal icing into smaller bowls and color it with a bit of gel food coloring.assorted sprinkles
- Use a small round #4 Wilton tip for precise lines. You don't want to use a tip that has a large opening as the icing will likely not keep its shape.
- Outline or create lines and shapes on your cookies with the icing, then add more fun sprinkles on top.
Notes
- Meringue powder- this ingredient is an egg white substitute that makes the icing safe for anyone to eat. This ingredient can not be substituted or left out or the icing will not set properly.
- Vanilla- I recommend using a high-quality real vanilla extract and not artificial extract as you will taste it more.
- Assorted sprinkles- the options are limitless! I love using a combination of Christmas colors like red, white, and gold, but no sprinkle is off-limits 😉 You will need sanding sugar sprinkles in order to color the entire cookie.
Decorating Tips
- Under-bake the cookies- under-baking the cookies will keep them extra soft for a few days after baking.
- Don't let royal icing sit uncovered- when you are not using it, make sure to tightly cover the bowl or it will start to harden and make it unusable.
- Split the icing- split the icing into small bowls and color them with your favorite gel coloring!
- Make the icing thinner or thicker- you can add more water to the icing while mixing to thin it out, but know that a thinner consistency will not be able to hold intricate lines. If you added too much water no worries! Add more powdered sugar to the bowl and keep mixing until it's thick again.
- Decorate the cookies before displaying- if you are decorating cookies to display or pack in a bag or box, give yourself time to decorate them ahead of time or the icing will not be 100% dry and could break or ruin.
Storing
- Once baked and decorated, keep the cookies tightly wrapped on a baking tray or in an airtight container.
- Do not stack the cookies right after decorating, let the icing dry completely or you could ruin all your beautiful decorations!
The calorie information provided for the recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Miranda says
These are truly so easy but beautiful! Love that they don't require a ton of decorating with icing as that's not my strong suit.