Description
Delight in the festive spirit with these Christmas Lights Royal Icing Sugar Cookies. Soft, buttery sugar cookies are decorated with vibrant royal icing to mimic colorful Christmas lights, perfect for holiday celebrations or gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Royal Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
- 3 to 4 tablespoons warm water
- Assorted gel food coloring
- Black decorating icing (for light strands)
- Small round piping tip
- Parchment paper (for baking)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined, ensuring a consistent dough texture.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, which makes for tender cookies.
- Add Egg and Extracts: Incorporate the egg, vanilla extract, and optional almond extract into the butter mixture, mixing thoroughly until combined.
- Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Chill Dough: Divide the dough into two halves, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour to make rolling easier.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Set oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Roll and Cut Dough: Roll each dough portion on lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into rectangles or festive holiday shapes.
- Bake Cookies: Place cookie cutouts on prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until edges are lightly golden, indicating doneness.
- Cool Cookies: Remove cookies from oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Prepare Royal Icing: In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, and warm water, beating until the mixture is smooth, glossy, and holds soft peaks.
- Color Icing: Divide the royal icing into separate bowls and tint each with different gel food colors for decorating.
- Decorate Cookies: Spread or pipe a base layer of colored icing onto the cooled cookies and allow it to set before further decoration.
- Add Light Strands: Use black decorating icing with a small round piping tip to pipe thin lines resembling Christmas light strands across each cookie.
- Pipe Light Bulbs: Pipe small dots of assorted colored icing along the black lines to resemble Christmas light bulbs.
- Dry and Store: Allow the decorated cookies to dry completely, preferably several hours or overnight, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Adjust royal icing consistency by adding a few drops of water to thin or extra powdered sugar to thicken the icing as needed.
- Allow decorated cookies to dry thoroughly for several hours or overnight to ensure the icing hardens fully and won’t smudge.
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature to maintain freshness and prevent softening.
