Christmas was a fun time around our house. And part of that fun was when Mom made her Christmas cookies. As I recall, Mom didn't frost hers. Instead, she sprinkled them hot from the oven with soft sugar that melted and formed a light, twinkly crust on top. But once in a while, every few years, Mom did give in and frost with a Royal icing that hardened up and snapped when you bit through it.
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- Preheat oven to 325.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a different bowl, cream the white sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs.
- Add the dry to the wet, making sure to scrape.
- Form into a ball, flatten to a 1" disc, and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Chill overnight.
- Remove from fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Lightly flour your work surface and press out a little before rolling.
- Flour your rolling pin and roll 1/4" thick if you plan to cut out with cookie cutters or roll into 2" logs if you plan to cut them into circles.
- Bake at 325 for 10 minutes.
- Allow cooling on the tray for 1 minute before transferring.
Do you want to frost them? You can go as simple or fancy as you like, but I STRONGLY recommend using Royal Icing. Here's the basic:
- 3 egg whites
- 1 pound confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minute.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.
- Once fully incorporated, increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form shiny peaks form.
- Divide icing among small bowls, and dye with gel food coloring if desired. (Keep any icing that isn’t being immediately used covered with plastic wrap as it dries out very quickly.) Transfer to piping bags and decorate cookies.
You may not want to use raw egg white; if that's the case, you can use meringue:
- 4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners’ sugar
- 5 tablespoons warm water
- 3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
- Beat all ingredients together until icing forms peaks (about 7 to 10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10 to 12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).
- Let the icing sit for 15 to 30 minutes to let air bubbles rise naturally.
- You can also tap the bowl on the table several times to force the air bubbles up.
- Gently stir the top surface to release the air.
Add flavorings and color, as desired.
For more information about frosting Christmas cookies, see this link to the Wilton Company instruction guide.