Description
These Christmas Lights Royal Icing Sugar Cookies are festive, buttery sugar cookies decorated with colorful royal icing to resemble brightly glowing Christmas lights. Perfect for holiday celebrations, these cookies combine a soft, tender crumb with beautifully detailed icing work featuring a delicate string of lights. The royal icing is made from powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water, colored with gel food coloring for vibrant hues and piped to create a smooth, glossy finish and intricate decorations.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp meringue powder
- 6–8 tbsp water
- Assorted gel food coloring
- Black food coloring or edible marker (for light string)
- Small round piping tips and piping bags
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to evenly combine.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together using an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract until fully incorporated into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until the dough comes together without overmixing.
- Chill Dough: Divide the dough in half, shape each into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm up.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
- Bake Cookies: Arrange the cutouts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are set but not browned. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make Royal Icing: In a mixing bowl, beat together powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 6 tablespoons of water until stiff peaks form. Add more water 1 teaspoon at a time if icing is too thick to pipe.
- Color Icing: Divide small portions of the royal icing into separate bowls and tint each with assorted gel food colorings to create vibrant colors for the lights.
- Flood Cookies: Use white royal icing to flood the surface of each cooled cookie evenly. Let the icing dry completely to a hard finish.
- Pipe Light String and Bulbs: Using black food coloring or an edible marker, pipe or draw a black line across each cookie to represent the light string. Then, with small round piping tips, pipe small colored bulbs along the line using the colored royal icing.
- Dry Decorated Cookies: Allow the decorated cookies to dry thoroughly for at least 4-6 hours or preferably overnight before storing or serving.
Notes
- Use a scribe tool or toothpick to help shape and smooth the royal icing during flooding for a clean, polished finish.
- Royal icing can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an airtight container for up to one week.
- Edible markers can be used instead of piping black icing for the light string for easier detailing.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
