Christmas Lights Cookies Recipes

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Shape into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 4-in. Christmas light-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and enough water to reach desired consistency. Reserve 2/3 cup frosting for bottom of cookies and reflections. Divide remaining frosting between four bowls. Tint one red, one blue, one green and one yellow. Frost tops of cookies. If desired, sprinkle with colored sugar. Tint half of the reserved frosting gray; frost bottom of cookies. With remaining white frosting and a #5 round tip, pipe on reflections. Let stand until completely set., To Make Ahead: Dough can be made 2 days in advance. Wrap and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator., Freeze option: Freeze undecorated cookies in freezer containers. To use, thaw in covered containers and decorate as desired.

COOKIE BALL CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Steps:

• Grind the cookies in a food processor, then add the cream cheese and pulse until the mixture comes together. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Scoop the cookie mixture into 36 balls; form each into a bulb shape with your hands. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze 10 minutes.
• Melt the red candy melts in the microwave as the label directs. Remove 9 cookie bulbs from the freezer and insert a toothpick or skewer into the wide ends. Fill a small bowl with red sugar.
• Dip a bulb in the red candy melts, leaving just a small circle around the toothpick uncovered. Let the excess drip off.
• Working quickly, sprinkle red sugar over the whole bulb. Set on a clean parchment-lined baking sheet. Coat the other 8 bulbs with red candy melts and red sugar.
• Repeat with the other colors, making 9 bulbs in each color. Let all the bulbs set at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, then remove the toothpicks.
• Unwrap the Tootsie Rolls; cut them in half crosswise. Use a paring knife to create ridges in each piece to look like the base of a bulb.
• Using some melted candy melts, attach a Tootsie Roll half to the uncovered end of each bulb. Let dry for about 10 minutes.
• Brush the Tootsie Rolls with silver luster dust. Attach the bulbs to licorice laces with more melted candy melts, if desired.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill in the freezer for 25 minutes or until easy to handle., For lights: On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-1/2-in. light-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using a plastic straw, make a hole 1/2 in. from the top of each cookie., Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Use a plastic straw to reopen holes in cookies. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., For Santas: Roll remaining dough directly on an ungreased baking sheet into an 11x8-in. rectangle. Cut lengthwise into two strips, but do not separate. Cut each strip into seven triangles (do not separate)., Bake at 350° for 10-13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes; cut around cookies to separate. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely., To decorate: Microwave corn syrup for 6-8 seconds or until thinned. Working with a few cookies at a time, brush corn syrup over the surface. For lights, decorate with sprinkles as desired. Thread licorice through holes., For Santas, press coconut onto faces for beards. Attach chocolate chips for eyes and baking bits for noses. For hats, coat top of cookie with sprinkles; attach marshmallow halves for pom-poms.

STRING-LIGHT CHRISTMAS-TREE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat butter with sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture, beating just until combined. Divide dough in half, transfer each to plastic wrap, form into disks, wrap tightly, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days (or freeze up to 1 month).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let 1 disk of dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Stamp out tree shapes with an approximately 4-inch-tall cookie cutter, transferring cutouts to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Use a star-shaped aspic cutter to stamp out tree toppers from dough scraps. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Freeze cutouts until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake, rotating rack positions halfway through, until cookies are set and edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Transfer melted chocolate to a pastry bag fitted with a small, plain tip, such as Ateco #2 (or use a small freezer bag, and snip the tiniest possible hole in one corner). Starting at top of each tree, drizzle chocolate in a random back-and-forth pattern, then adhere candies intermittently to mimic string lights. Pipe a small dot of chocolate at very top of tree, and adhere a cookie star. Let stand at room temperature until chocolate sets, about 4 hours; or refrigerate just until set, about 15 minutes. (Do not keep cookies in refrigerator.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature, between sheets of parchment, up to 1 week.