Festive Chamomile Charm Holly Cookies with Royal Icing and Golden Touch
These charming holly cookies will light up your holiday celebrations with their delightful flavors and stunning decorations! Perfect for gifting or sharing with loved ones.
Ingredients:
– 1 cup 225g unsalted butter, softened
– 3 tbsp meringue powder
– tsp salt
– 4 cups 480g powdered sugar
– 2 cups 345g all-purpose flour
– 5-6 tbsp water
– cup 150g granulated sugar
– tsp baking powder
– 1 large egg
– tsp vanilla extract
– tsp almond extract optional
– White gel food coloring
– Gold edible paint or luster dust
– Small gold sugar pearls
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F 175C and prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter along with the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts until thoroughly combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt until well mixed.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until the dough comes together into a smooth consistency.
6. Divide the dough into two halves, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
7. Once chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about -inch thickness. Use a holly leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, placing them on the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges turn lightly golden. Then, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. To prepare the royal icing, mix the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water in a mixing bowl and beat until the icing forms stiff peaks.
10. Add a few drops of white gel food coloring to the icing and mix until it is fully incorporated.
11. Once the cookies have cooled, pipe the royal icing onto each cookie, creating beautiful holly leaf details on each one.
12. For an added festive touch, brush the edges of the holly leaves with gold edible paint or luster dust, and decorate the center with small gold sugar pearls.
13. Allow the royal icing to dry completely before serving or storing the cookies in an airtight container.
Nutritional Information: Approximately 135 kcal per cookie, serving size of 24 cookies.
Time: Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes including chilling and decorating