Festive holly charm cookies with royal icing magic
Experience the joy of holiday baking with these delightful cookies! Perfect for gifting or sharing, theyll make your festivities even sweeter.
Ingredients:
– 2 cups 345g all-purpose flour
– 1 cup 225g unsalted butter, softened
– cup 150g granulated sugar
– 1 large egg
– tsp baking powder
– tsp salt
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– tsp almond extract optional
– 4 cups 480g powdered sugar
– 3 tbsp meringue powder
– 5-6 tbsp water
– White gel food coloring
– Gold edible paint or luster dust
– Small gold sugar pearls
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F 175C and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. This will ensure that your cookies bake evenly and dont stick.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. This should take about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the egg to the butter-sugar mix, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts if using. Beat until everything is combined into a smooth mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt together until thoroughly combined.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until the dough comes together. You should have a soft, cohesive dough.
6. Divide the dough into two equal portions and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to make it easier to roll out.
7. Once chilled, sprinkle some flour on your work surface and roll out one portion of the dough to about -inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to create holly shapes or any festive designs.
8. Place the cut-out cookies on the prepared baking sheets, allowing some space between each one. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges start to turn lightly golden. Once done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. While the cookies are cooling, prepare the royal icing. In a large bowl, mix together powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. Stir until the mixture is smooth and forms stiff peaks.
10. Divide the royal icing into two bowls; add white gel food coloring to one bowl to create a clean, white base for decorating.
11. Once the cookies are cool, use the white royal icing to outline and flood the cookies. Allow the icing to set for just a few minutes.
12. After the base layer of icing is slightly dry, use gold edible paint or luster dust to add decorative highlights, and finish with small gold sugar pearls to give your cookies a sparkling touch.
13. Allow the decorated cookies to dry completely before serving or packaging for gifts.
Nutritional Information: Each cookie contains approximately 150 calories, with 8g of fat, 20g of carbohydrates, and 1g of protein.
Time: Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Chilling time: 1 hour