Holiday Sugar Cookie Recipe (with Royal Icing) (2024)

Dessert Recipes

Posted on November 30, 2016

Winter is my most favorite time of the year, because it represents tradition for our family. Family tradition. My most memorable experiences as a child were when our families gathered together for some amazing home cooking and catching up on old times. When the kids are home for winter break, things don’t have to be boring for them. Get creative and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty…literally!

Here’s a super easy and quick Holiday Sugar Cookie recipe we whipped up that will be sure to bust boredom – and it comes complete with royal icing! At the end, all the kids can show off their cookies and everyone wins and gets to eat them for a snack! Afterward, the kids can work together to easily clean up the mess with Cascade Platinum (the kids will be amazed that you don’t have to pre-soak, pre-scrub or pre-wash all the messy dishes, pots and pans!).

Holiday Sugar Cookie Ingredients
(Ethel’s Sugar Cookies on page 18 of the Betty Crocker Cookie Primer Book)

Directions:

#1. Mix the shortening and butter combination, sugar, vanilla and eggs.

#2. Blend the flour, salt and baking soda together and slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

#3. Place dough in the fridge (covered) for 30 minutes.

#4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough 1/8” thick on a floured surface and use your favorite holiday cookies cutters to cut the dough.

#5. Place the cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 6-8 minutes. I prefer mine chewy so I always opt for the shorter baking time.

**Makes about 4-dozen 3” cookies

Royal Icing Recipe
1 C. powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk
2 tsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
food coloring of your choice

Directions

Mix all the ingredients together and depending on how thick it is start adding 1 tsp. extra of milk at a time. Keep in mind you do not want it so thin as it will run off the cookies.

Once your icing is made you can divide it up into separate bowls and color it as you wish.

Now, once you’re icing is ready to go, you have a few options. You can add each color to a small sandwich baggie and snip the corner and use it like that OR you can buy plastic ketchup and mustard containers which hold a lot and are the perfect seize for kiddos to work with.

Simply fill each container with a color you’re ready to start decorating your cookies.

Decorating Your Cookies

#1. First choose a cookie and a color. Grab a few toothpicks – trust me.

Outline your cookie with your frosting (see photo). Next, fill the cookie in with the same color frosting only leaving small gaps. Use the toothpick to fill the gaps in by carefully dragging the toothpick.

It’s not hard but it might take a cookie or 2 to get them looking ‘professional’ 😉

#2. Once your cookie is filled in, you have a few choices – add some sprinkles or candies and call it a day or you can get a little bit fancier with the frosting.

#3. Too get fancy I frosted my bell red. After making it red, I simply took my white bottle of royal icing and drew some lines across the cookie. Easy.

Then, I took another toothpick and simply dragged it up and down the cookie to give it a cool looking design. Seriously easy.

After your cookies are all decorated, let them air dry for an hour or 2 and then you can stack them and keep them in an airtight container or give to friends.