Making Christmas cookies with my mom is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Today, my mom and I decorated cookies with my sisters and aunt. We planned to make a half dozen to take to all the neighbors on the block. Since it’s a little late in the season, we stuck to a few shapes and a limited color palette. What I love about decorating Christmas cookies is that they don’t have to be perfect, and even with just red, green and white you can make a ton of creative combinations. And this year we had a little extra help!
We have been doing it for years and are always looking for new tricks and tips. It’s easier than you might think to make cookies look like works of art! Here are a few fun ideas if you are making some last minute cookies!
To make candy canes, pipe the outline of the stripes…
then use a toothpick to spread the flood icing on the first color…
let it dry, then repeat with the second color of flood icing. Add clear sprinkles for some sparkle
These tie-dyed looking candy canes are easier than you think. Start with a white canvas….
then makes some stripes…
…then drag a toothpick through the wet icing in opposite directions to make an intricate-looking design!
if you want to put sprinkles on only part of your design, outline, fill and sprinkle the area first, then let it dry before continuing.
To sugar just the outline of the snowflake, you have to work in a few steps. First pipe the outline of the snowflake, then sugar it while it is still wet. Let it dry completely.
Once the piping is totally dry, you can flood the interior. You will probably need a toothpick to spread it completely into the crevices created by the sprinkles.
You can leave it just like that – or wait for it to dry and add a snowflake design on top with piping. These look really classy.
Here are some of my favorites, but even the ones that don’t come out “perfect” still look pretty piled on a plate – and they all taste good!
To make a raised snowflake, wait for the flood base to dry completely, then pipe the snowflake on top (otherwise it will just sink into the wet flood icing). I love using sprinkles and other embellishments to add texture and dimensionality.
My mom says teal isn’t a Christmas color, but I want all the boxes under my tree to come from Tiffany’s so I think it is.
Do you make cookies at the holidays? I’d love to see pictures of your work in the comments! What is your favorite holiday tradition?
