These fun holiday character cookies are a great afternoon project for you and the kids. Hit up your local bulk store to stock up on edible decorations for the eyes and noses. Once the cookies have cooled, divvy them up according to how you'd like to decorate them—there's enough icing to make several of each character. Keep in mind, you'll need half of the white icing for the Santa cookies, and half for the snowmen.
- Portion size 20 servings
- Credits : Canadian Living: Holiday Baking 2014
Ingredients
Royal Icing:
Method
In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture in 2 additions just until combined. If necessary, knead to form dough. Divide dough in half; shape into discs. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)
Let dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll out, about 15 minutes. Between waxed paper or on lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Using 3-inch (8 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out shapes, re-rolling scraps as necessary. Arrange, 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, on parchment paper– lined rimless baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in 375°F (190°C) oven just until firm and edges and bottoms are light golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on pans for 1 minute; transfer directly to racks to cool completely. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container; store for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.)
Tip from The Test Kitchen: When working with multiple bowls of royal icing at once, cover the surface of the icing you're not using with damp paper towel to keep it from drying out.
Royal Icing: Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat meringue powder with 1/2 cup water until foamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in icing sugar until stiff and glossy, about 9 minutes. Divide among 4 bowls. Using food colouring, tint 1 bowl of the icing red and 1 bowl of the icing brown; leave remaining 2 bowls white. Cover with damp towels.
Santa Cookies: Spoon red icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip; pipe outlines of hats onto top thirds of desired number of Santa cookies. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Working with 1 bowl of the white icing, spoon white icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip; pipe outlines of beards onto bottom halves of cookies. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Spoon remaining red icing into bowl; gradually add water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until mixture is consistency of molasses. Working with 1 cookie at a time, pipe or spoon red icing onto centres of hats; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes.
Using white icing, pipe trim over bottom edges of hats. Using icing, attach marshmallows to tips of hats for pom-poms. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Spoon remaining white icing from piping bag into bowl; gradually add water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until mixture is consistency of molasses. Working with 1 cookie at a time, pipe or spoon icing onto centres of beards; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Cover beards with white sprinkles; let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Using icing, attach decorating pearls to centres of cookies for noses; attach chocolate chips to cookies for eyes. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. (Make- ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.)
Snowman Cookies: Meanwhile, working with remaining bowl of white icing, spoon icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip; pipe outlines along edges of desired number of snowman cookies. Pipe hat outlines onto top halves of cookies. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Spoon remaining white icing into bowl; gradually add water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until mixture is consistency of molasses. Working with 1 cookie at a time, spoon icing onto centres of hats; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Sprinkle hats with decorating sugar, gently shaking off excess. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes.
Working with 1 cookie at a time, spoon icing onto centres of snowman faces; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. Using icing, attach marshmallows to tops of hats for pom-poms; attach chocolate chips to faces for eyes and mouths and orange sunflower seeds for noses. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.)
Reindeer Cookies: Meanwhile, spoon brown icing into piping bag fitted with small plain tip; pipe outlines along edges of desired number of reindeer cookies. Let stand until dry, about 20 minutes. Spoon remaining brown icing into bowl; gradually add water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until mixture is consistency of molasses. Working with 1 cookie at a time, spoon icing onto centres of cookies; using toothpick or skewer, spread to piped edges, popping any air bubbles. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. Break pretzels in half to form antlers; using brown icing, attach to top halves of cookies, leaving overhang. Using icing, attach marshmallows to centres of cookies for eyes; attach chocolate chips to marshmallows for pupils and red candy to cookies for noses. Let stand until dry, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.)
Nutritional facts per cookie: about
- Sodium 55 mg
- Sugars 17 g
- Protein 2 g
- Calories 175.0
- Total fat 7 g
- Potassium 19 mg
- Cholesterol 24 mg
- Saturated fat 4 g
- Total carbohydrate 27 g
%RDI
- Iron 5.0
- Folate 10.0
- Calcium 1.0
- Vitamin A 6.0
