Iced Christmas Cookies: How to Cut Shapes and Decorate Sugar Cookies

Iced Christmas Biscuits – Cut out shapes and decorate

Equipment

• Christmas cookie cutters
• Gingerbread man cutter
• Rolling pin
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Piping bags

Ingredients

Christmas cookie cutter biscuits

• 200 g butter (room temperature)
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 400 g plain flour (you may need a little more for the right consistency)

Royal icing

• 350 g icing sugar
• 2 pasteurised egg whites (or egg white powder/meringue powder)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• Food colouring gel (your choice of colours)

To decorate

• Sprinkles, edible sparkles, small chocolate pieces or other decorations

Instructions

Make the biscuit dough

1. Bring the butter to room temperature. In a bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric whisk or stand mixer for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. If mixing by hand it will take longer.
2. Add the beaten egg and vanilla extract and mix for 1–2 minutes until combined.
3. Stir in the baking powder and half the flour with a spoon. Then add the remaining flour bit by bit. The dough should come together to a play-dough-like consistency — add a little more flour if it’s sticky, or a splash of cold water if it becomes too dry.
4. Divide the dough into three equal balls. Each ball will make about 12 biscuits (approx. 8 cm each).
5. Place the dough balls in a sealed bag and chill in the fridge for 25 minutes or in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.

Roll, cut and bake

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (180°C fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Roll one chilled dough ball between sheets of parchment paper to around 1 cm (¼ inch) thick. Transferring the dough on parchment makes it easy to move to a baking tray.
3. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes directly on the parchment, then use the back of a fork or the handle end to push shapes out without distorting them. Reroll scraps and repeat.
4. Bake for 7–9 minutes. Watch carefully and remove from the oven before they change colour — they should be pale. Look for tiny surface cracks as a sign they’re ready.
5. Allow the biscuits to cool on a rack; they will firm up as they cool.

Make the royal icing

1. Combine the icing sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla and pasteurised egg whites (or prepared egg white powder) in a bowl.
2. Mix on a low speed until smooth. You want a thick consistency for piping outlines so the icing doesn’t run.
3. Divide the icing into separate bowls and colour each portion with food gel — for example white, red, green and black.
4. Fill piping bags: keep a small amount of thick icing for outlines and thin the remaining icing with a little water for “flooding” larger areas. Transfer thinned icing to separate piping bags.

Decorating

1. Ensure biscuits are completely cool before piping.
2. Pipe outlines with the thicker icing, then fill in with the thinner icing. Use a toothpick to help spread the icing if needed.
3. Add sprinkles or other decorations while the icing is still wet so they stick.
4. Royal icing will be touch-dry in about 30 minutes but allow a couple of hours to fully set before stacking or storing.

Storage

Once fully dry, store biscuits stacked in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. If you want to pause decorating, sealed piping bags of icing will keep in the fridge for up to three days.

Notes and tips

• Use pasteurised egg whites, egg white powder or meringue powder for the royal icing to avoid any risk of salmonella — do not use raw egg white straight from the shell.
• Cream the butter and sugar well for a light biscuit. Room-temperature butter is important — do not melt it.
• Check dough texture by rolling a small ball: if it sticks, add more flour; if it cracks, add a little water.
• When baking, remove the biscuits while still pale; over-baking will make them hard and brown.

Nutrition (per biscuit)

Approximately 147 kcal, 25 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 2 g protein.