Christmas Cookie Decorating: The Best Ideas To Try

2023 Author: Lynn Laird | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:49

On holiday tables, Christmas cake, fig chutney and gourmet pastries are always on the menu for the festivities. But waiting until Christmas is never easy, especially for children who like to snack. In order to keep them waiting serenely, there is nothing more awesome than introducing them to decorating Christmas cookies. If you lack inspiration, Deavita comes to your aid! Discover in this article full of ideas to embellish party cookies!

Christmas cookie decorating: inspiring ideas for beginners and insiders

Royal icing or buttercream? And why not both at the same time? There are many decorating ideas for small festive pastries and there is something for everyone. You can't go wrong when decorating Christmas cookies, so roll up your sleeves and go on the adventure!

Star cookies diverted into Santa Claus

If you don't have Santa Claus cookie cutters, you can trick a bit. Regardless of the shape of your cookie cutters, it is possible to turn them into magnificent Santa Claus. In general, star cookies are the most suitable for conversion. As for decoration, all you have to do is prepare some icing in red and black, without forgetting to reserve a little of the basic white icing (for the beard of Santa Claus and some details). To polish the decoration of Christmas cookies, do not hesitate to use pearls or sugar sprinkles.

To inspire you even more, we present above a superb selection of sugar cookies in different shapes which are all decorated as Santa Claus. To cut the cookies, cookie cutters in the shape of a star, ball, diamond and isosceles triangle were used. Using a pastry bag, decorate the cookies with royal icing and buttercream. To refine the details, we use mini pearls and sugar vermicelli in white and red.

Peppermint flavored Christmas shortbread

For the icing:

• 2 cups of icing sugar

• 4 tbsp. milk

• ¼ - 1 tbsp. teaspoon of peppermint extract

• Blue and green food coloring

For the buttercream:

• 1 C. very soft butter

• 1 cup icing sugar

• 1 ½ - 2 tbsp. of milk

• ½ tsp. teaspoon of peppermint extract

• White nonpareil sugar pearls

• Snowflake sprinkles

Frosting Instructions:

Combine icing sugar, milk and peppermint extract in a medium bowl. Mix everything until you get a smooth consistency. The icing should be thick and runny at the same time. Add a little more milk if it is too thick. Dip the tip of a small knife in the blue food coloring and sprinkle some in the frosting. Mix well and add more coloring until you get the desired blue shade. Transfer the frosting to a shallow bowl.

To glaze the shortbread:

Holding the edge of a cookie, dip the top surface in the frosting. Make sure the entire surface of the cookie touches the frosting. Allow excess frosting to drip into another bowl. When it stops flowing, quickly turn the cookie over and shake it gently to allow the frosting to distribute evenly over the surface. Repeat with the remaining shortbread. Let the frosting dry for 15-30 minutes.

For the buttercream:

Put the butter in a medium bowl and beat it until smooth. Add the icing sugar, 1 ½ tsp. tablespoon of milk and peppermint extract and beat vigorously until you get a smooth and thick cream. Place the buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a narrow tip. Starting at the top edge of a cookie, make a Christmas tree by drawing lines that get wider and wider. Immediately sprinkle the tree with nonpareil sugar beads and put a mini sugar snowflake as a crest. Set aside to dry.

Simple and fast, this decoration technique allows you to give free rein to your imagination. Prepare the base frosting and divide it among a few shallow bowls. Add a little different colored food coloring to each bowl and mix. This trick allows you to make very colorful and original Christmas trees. Don't forget to sprinkle these with multicolored sprinkles.

Christmas light garland sugar cookies

For the sugar cookies, you can prepare your favorite recipe or select one from our article with Christmas cookie recipes with spices and citrus fruits.

When it comes to decorating cookies, there are no limits. It is possible to use sweets of all kinds: candy balls in blue, green and white, crushed peppermint candies, silver and white dragees, peppermint M & M's, colored sugar, Sixlets candies in blue and green, non-white sprinkles, liquorice twine. In order to make your cookie garland, you must first pass the licorice string through the holes (carved in each cookie before baking). Only then can you start decorating.

Use a fine piping bag to put some icing on the surface to be decorated, then sprinkle with sprinkles, candies and colored sugar. If you prefer to keep it simple, you can use a little golden edible paint to paint the cookies before decorating them with icing in different colors.

Decorated stamped Christmas cookies

As is or decorated with icing and sugar pearls, stamped Christmas cookies are one of the party classics you can't do without. Prepare your favorite cookie dough and stamp the shaped cookies using your chosen stamps. Once the cookies are baked and cooled, you can finally start decorating. All you need is a little royal icing, colored sugar and multi-colored sugar beads.

Christmas cookies decorated with marshmallow fondant

Ingredients for the marshmallow fondant:

• 225 g of mini marshmallows

• 1 tbsp. tablespoons water

• ½ tsp. of vanilla extract

• 450 g of icing sugar

• Gel food coloring

Preparation:

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, place the mini marshmallows and 1 tbsp. tablespoon of water. Melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and add half the icing sugar. Beat until the roof is combined. Then add the remaining icing sugar. Add water as needed.

3. Grease the work surface and knead the dough. Add the food coloring of your choice.

Christmas cookie decoration with tampon

To make a pretty decoration on Christmas cookies, you can use stamps (which you have never used with ink) to print original patterns on your shortbread cookies. Just dilute a small amount of gel food coloring in a little water and dip your chosen pad in it. Transfer the patterns to sugar dough kneaded beforehand and rolled out in a thin layer. Once the patterns have been made, cut them out with the cookie cutters of your choice and garnish your cookies with them.

Marbled sugar cookies for Christmas

The marbling effect is very popular even for decorating Christmas sugar cookies. If the idea tempts you, we will explain in detail what to do. First of all, prepare your favorite sugar cookie dough. Shape cookies, bake, then let cool. Prepare the frosting which consists of 4 cups of icing sugar, ½ cup of water, 6 tbsp. white corn syrup and ¾ tsp. almond extract. When the frosting is ready, dip the tip of a toothpick into the food gel paint and swirl in the frosting. Make sure you don't over mix the frosting so as not to blur the marbling effect. Dip the top surface of each cookie into the frosting. Wait a few seconds for the excess to drip off and quickly turn the cookie over. Let the frosting set before moving the Christmas cookies to a glass jar.

Stencil Decorated Gingerbread Christmas Cookies

Create a pretty paper stencil in the shape of a Christmas tree. Bake gingerbread cookies in the shape of fir trees and let them cool on a wire rack. To decorate the cookies, you must first wet them lightly with a basting brush. We recommend that you use a solution of sugar and water. Place the stencil on a cookie, then sprinkle on top of the icing sugar. Remove the stencil and transfer the decorated cookie to a pretty tray.

Bet on the mini sugar pearls to make a simple but original decoration

Sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, they can all be decorated with royal icing and embellished with multicolored vermicelli and sugar pearls. Simple and original at the same time, this last minute decoration can be prepared for unexpected situations.

Some tips on decorating Christmas cookies

1. When decorating a Christmas cookie using a pastry bag, you should not touch the cookie with the tip. Rather prefer to fly over it to make the outline.
2. To get an outline that stands out, let the frosting around the outline harden before filling the inside.
3. In order to create the marbled effect, you can use a small ball of baking paper which will help you mix the white and the colored icing by blending them in a subtle way.

* Christmas shortbread flavored with peppermint: thecafesucrefarine.com

* Fairy lights sugar cookies: countryliving.com

* Stamped cookies: thebearfootbaker.com

* Marbled snowflakes: thecookierookie.com