How to Make Sugar Cookies

Guide Note: How to Make Sugar Cookies offers tips, tricks and advice on how to bake and decorate sugar cookies for the holidays.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

What is Christmas without tins full of lovingly-decorated cookies or the smell of gingerbread men baking in the oven? If you think about it, cookies are downright necessary when it comes to celebrating Christmas. After all, Santa's got to have something to eat when he pops by on Christmas Eve.

Sugar cookies are an extremely popular choice for Christmas baking. They're easy to make, freeze well and will survive a cross-country journey should you decide to ship them. They also make the perfect canvas for your holiday-inspired icing and gumdrop artistry.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set this bowl aside.
In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, beat the shortening until fluffy.
Add the sugar and corn syrup. Beat until blended.
Add the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat continuously.
Add in the cinnamon. Continue beating.
Slowly add in the flour mixture two teaspoons at a time.
- If the mixture becomes too thick for your mixer, add the remaining flour by hand. Knead the dough on a flat surface until all of the flour is incorporated.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out the chilled dough to approximately 1/8-1/4 inch thick on a flat surface lightly dusted with flour.
Cut out the dough using your seasonal cookie cutters.
- To keep the cutters from sticking to the dough, spray lightly with cooking spray.
Place the cookies on greased cookie sheets.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
- The cookies are ready when the edges start to brown, and the cookie is golden.
Remove the cookies from the oven.
Cool on a rack for approximately 2 hours before decorating or freezing.

Use royal icing to decorate your cookies. (Creative Commons photo by Dan McKay)

The best part of making Christmas cookies is definitely the decorating. You get to personalize your little baked creations, and if you have kids, you get to let them in on the act.

The type of icing typically used in decorating Christmas cookies is called "royal icing." A thick version of the icing can be used to create outlines or piping around your cookie. A thinner version can be used to coat your entire cookie with a layer of icing that will harden into crunchy finish.

In the bowl of the mixer, whip together the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy.
Sprinkle in the sugar gradually. Add the lemon juice and extract, if desired. Continue whipping.
Beat the mixture until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Approximately 5 to 7 minutes on high speed.
Transfer to a pastry bag, filling to 1/3 full. Use standard tips #2 or #3, and decorate!
- Thick icing is good for creating a pipe or outline to be filled in with thinner icing.
- Thin icing is good for filling in an outlined shape or laying a base coat over the entire cookie. Icing can be thinned by adding water.

There's more than one way to decorate a cookie. (Creative Commons photo by Tracy Hunter)

Using uncooked, unpasteurized eggs is considered unsafe by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As an alternative, you can make Royal Icing with meringue powder, which is essentially dried egg with sugar and gum added.

In the bowl of the mixer, whip together the sugar and meringue powder.
Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Add the water. Beat for approximately 5 minutes or until stiff peaks begin to form.
Transfer to a pastry bag.

You can decorate your cookies before putting them in the oven. Try one of these pre-baking decorating techniques:

Sprinkle course colored sugar on your cookies.
Place nuts, colored sprinkles or dragees on your cookies.
Mix beaten egg yolks with food coloring, and paint your cookies before they go in the oven.

To attach candies to your cookies after baking, use a drop of corn syrup or a dab of royal icing to hold them in place.
Dust cookies with powdered sugar.
Use a toothpick or small paintbrush to paint details on your cookies.