Frosted Holiday Sugar Cookies Recipes

SOFT FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat vegetable shortening, white sugar, 1/4 cup milk, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract together in a bowl. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Slowly beat flour mixture into shortening mixture to make a smooth dough.
• Roll dough out 1/4-inch thick on a floured work surface and cut into shapes. Arrange cookies on baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
• Beat butter, confectioners' sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons milk in a bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until frosting is spreadable and slightly fluffy. Frost cooled cookies.

FROSTED HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, then beat in egg.
• Add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the dough in half, pat into flat rectangles, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
• Divide each dough parcel in half, and roll out to 1/8-inch thickness between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line four cookie sheets with parchment paper, sprinkling with a little flour if the dough seems sticky. Cut out shapes from the rolled and chilled dough and place on prepared sheets 1-inch apart. Bake until golden around the edges, 8 to 13 minutes. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the royal icing: in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Whisk until stiff and glossy.
• To tint the frosting, divide into small bowls. Cover the ones you aren't using with plastic wrap; the frosting dries out very quickly. Use a rubber spatula to stir in desired food coloring. Though not necessary, it makes life easier if you make two versions of each color - one that is thick to pipe the outline on the cookie, and one that is thinned out slightly with a little water to flood the outline. Transfer frosting to piping bags fitted with very small round tips (sizes 1 to 2 work best).
• Pipe frosting onto cooled cookies and let set, at least 2 hours. Or use a pastry of paint brush to decorate cookies with the frosting.

PERFECT HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
• Beat in the egg yolk and extracts.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda-gradually add to the creamed mixture.
• Divide into two equal portions and wrap well.
• Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
• Note; Refrigerating your dough and baking sheets is the secret to perfectly shaped cut-out cookies/ The cookies won't"spread" as they bake- in other words, the shapes will be well-defined/ The points on the stars will be sharp, etc/ Also, your dough will be much easier to work with and won't stick to your cookie cutters, so the extra chilling time is well worth it.
• When dough has chilled, remove one half from refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• While oven is preheating, place cookie sheets in refigerator to chill.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to less than 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut with 2 1/2 inch floured cookie cutters.
• Reserve trimmings for re-rolling.
• Remove cookie sheets from fridge (do not grease them) and place cookies on them, 1 inch apart.
• Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
• Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
• Repeat with remaining portion of dough.
• Don't forget to put your cookie sheets back in the fridge once they have cooled/ They only need to chill for about 10 minutes.
• For your frosting, in a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff, about 5 minutes.
• Tint frosting with paste food colorings if desired.
• Keep tightly covered to prevent from drying out.
• Note; Of course you can use the regular food colorings you find in the supermarkets if you desire/ If you haven't tried the paste colorings, the colors are much more vivid than the regular food colorings/ Your X-mas trees will be much greener, Valentine hearts a brilliant red, etc/ Although they're somewhat pricier, a drop or two goes a long way.
• For detailed decorating, you can use decorating bags with small pointed tips/ You may need to thin frosting a bit to obtain right spreading or piping consistency.
• I sometimes collect pictures of decorated holiday cookies from my favorite magazines to give me some ideas.
• After decorating the cookies, set on wire racks to allow frosting to dry.
• Store in airtight, covered containers.
• Note: I am updating this recipe just to let you know about a little tip I just saw in a magazine. The person had cut out their cookies, placed them on baking sheets, and THEN refigerated them for about an hour before baking. You can do it this way also but I'd still chill your dough beforehand too, as it's easier to work with.

HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into three 10-in. rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks., In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk and food coloring until smooth; transfer to a resealable plastic bag; drizzle over cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree. Place one Red Hot at the top of each tree.

RITA'S HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For cookies:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a mixer, beat shortening until soft. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour. Remove half of the dough, leaving the remaining in the mixer. Add a couple of drops of food coloring to the dough in the mixer, until the desired color is achieved and beat until combined. Form each half of the dough into disks and wrap in plastic film. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out cookies with cookie cutters. Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until firm, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
• For frosting:
• In a mixer, beat butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add more milk, a very small amount at a time. Divide frosting into several small bowls. Add a different color of food coloring to the frosting in each bowl. Glaze each cookie with a different color frosting.

FROSTED SHORTBREAD HOLIDAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Cream butter and sugar in another large mixing bowl. Mix in eggs, then mix in vanilla. Gradually add in dry ingredients until incorporated. Remove dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out to desired thickness on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle more flour on top of and under the dough, and on the rolling pin as needed to help prevent dough from sticking to the surface. Cut cookies with a round cookie cutter and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake until cookies are firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 30 minutes.
• Generously apply frosting to cooled cookies with a butter knife. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over top.

ROYAL ICING FOR HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix sugar, water, and meringue powder with a mixer on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes. Icing should be the consistency of glue. (If icing is too thick, mix in a little more water. If icing is too thin, add more confectioners' sugar.) Add food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until desired color is achieved; if making more than 1 color, divide icing and work in batches. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Stir before using.