Christmas Sugar Cookies
Cut-out cookies with sharp edges and colorful royal icing: the American Christmas classic.
- Preparation
- 40 min
- Cook/bake time
- 10 min
- Total
- 2 hr 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
Cut-out cookies with sharp edges and colorful royal icing are the American Christmas classic. Keeping those edges sharp is a matter of temperature rather than the recipe, as cold dough will not spread in the oven. For the frosting, egg whites do the heavy lifting, which is why royal icing sets hard instead of staying sticky.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Mix the dough
Knead the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and cold butter into crumbs, then add the egg and vanilla and mix just until the dough comes together. The less you knead, the more tender the cookie will be, as long kneading develops gluten and makes it tough.
- 2
Chill flat
Divide the dough into two portions and roll each one out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3 to 4 millimeters. Stack the sheets on a baking tray and chill them for one hour. Rolling the dough out flat before chilling is much easier than trying to pound a hard ball of dough soft later.
- 3
Cut out and bake cold
Cut the shapes out of the cold dough sheet and place them spaced apart on baking trays. If the cookies become soft while you work, return them to the fridge for ten minutes. Bake them at 180 °C top and bottom heat for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges just barely take on color. The centers should remain pale.
- 4
Cool completely
Let the cookies rest on the baking tray for two minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely for at least thirty minutes. Royal icing will not set on lukewarm baked goods and will instead run over the edges.
- 5
Royal icing and decorating
Whip the egg white, powdered sugar, and lemon juice for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is glossy and holds soft peaks. Set aside one third for the outlines and thin the rest drop by drop with water until it slowly flows together. Draw the outline first, then fill in the surface and immediately scatter the sprinkles on top. Let everything dry for six hours.
