Shortbread Christmas Cookies With Icing Recipes

SHORTBREAD CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; with a pastry cutter, chop in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the rum extract and almond extract into the water in a small bowl. Mix into the dry ingredients, a little bit at a time, until the mixture holds together in a ball when you squeeze it.
• Place the dough onto a floured work surface, and sprinkle with flour; roll out into a sheet 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes with floured cookie cutters, and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Bake the cookies just until the edges are lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool on sheets for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling. Cool completely before decorating.
• For frosting, whisk the confectioners' sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. If desired, divide frosting into small bowls, and tint each bowl a desired shade with food coloring. Frost fully cooled cookies, and sprinkle with edible glitter before the frosting sets.

HOW TO DECORATE SHORTBREAD HOLIDAY CUT-OUT COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix with a fork.
• In a separate large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer for 3-5 minutes, until the butter and sugar are fully combined, but before the mixture becomes fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to incorporate.
• Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, but crumbly. Finish mixing with your hands until the dough comes together in a ball.
• Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough and roll out to about ¼-inch thick. Use cookie cutters of your choice to punch out cookies. Place the cookie cut-outs on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Let cool completely.
• To make the royal icing: In a medium bowl, add the meringue powder to the powdered sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the vanilla and 4-6 tablespoons of water (depending on how runny or thick you'd like your icing.) Whisk until completely combined.
• Divide the icing into smaller bowls and add any desired gel food colors. Immediately transfer to piping bags, or cover with plastic wrap. Do not leave the icing uncovered, as it will develop a film. If this happens, add a small amount of water and whisk to incorporate.
• Decorate the cookies with royal icing as desired and let dry completely, at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
• Enjoy!

SHORTBREAD SUGAR COOKIES WITH ICING

Steps:

• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or generously spray with non stick spray.
• Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add slowly to butter mixture on low speed. Do not overbeat! Only mix until flour is incorporated.
• Form dough into big ball and place in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll out chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter or you can use a pizza cutter and make squares or rectangles. Another option is to roll into a log and cut 1/4 inch thick slices.
• Using a spatula, transfer to cookie sheets leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool 10 minutes on cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling rack.
• When cookies are cool, whisk together the icing ingredients and either dip the cookies or spread on cookies. You can smooth the icing with the back of a spoon.
• These are so good -- you should really double the recipe!

SHORTBREAD CHRISTMAS COOKIES WITH ICING RECIPE

Steps:

• In a KitchenAid standing mixer, mix together ROOM TEMPERATURE butter and cane sugar for 5-8 minutes or until combined.
• Still mixing, add room temperature eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract.
• Stop the mixer. Then, add flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Let the cookie dough mix until everything is combined. Then, chill for 1 hour.
• Next, flour a flat surface. Use a rolling pin to flatten chilled cookie dough, rolling until it's about ⅛" - ¼" thick. It's important to make sure the dough is even for the best bake.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Using festive cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Then, place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. NOTE: Baking times may vary depending on your oven and cookie sheet. Keep a close eye on the cookies so they don't burn.
• Remove baking sheet from the oven. Then, remove cookies and set on a plate. They should be firm enough to slide off the pan with a little assistance from a flat spatula.
• Allow the cookies to chill for 15-20 minutes in the fridge or outside. (Keep them away from animals! ????)
• While the cookies cool, let's make the icing. This is where a KitchenAid standing mixer is REALLY helpful. However, you can use a hand mixer. Though, your hand may get tired. The things we do for Christmas cookies, am I right?
• Add powdered sugar, warm water, meringue powder, and almond and lemon extract to the bowl of your standing mixer. Mix for 7-10 minutes or until very fluffy.
• Place icing into piping bags. If you need some tips on the best way to do this, check out this video! NOTE: If you want to add food coloring to the icing, do it before adding to the piping bags.
• Now it's time to ice the cookies! Have fun with it! Add as much or as little to each cookie as you'd like. There will be enough icing to cover at least 50% of each cookie. Keep in mind that taste testing is important here, too. Feel free to take a bite and THEN decide how much icing you want to add. ????
• Enjoy!

HOLIDAY SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt; process until smooth. Add flour and pulse just until combined. Form dough into an 8-inch-long round or square log; wrap tightly in plastic and freeze until firm, 30 minutes (or up to 1 month).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Dip edges in sugar if desired and transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.