Simple Christmas Decorated Cookies

Today I’ll show you how to create Simple Christmas Decorated Cookies decorated with royal icing. These easy to follow festive designs don’t require advanced cookie decorating skills, they are easy enough for beginners. They are fun and super cute to boot.

Decorated Christmas Cookies on a gray plate.

updated from December 2013

HOW TO MAKE SIMPLE CHRISTMAS DECORATED COOKIES

To make Simple Christmas Decorated Cookies I used 5 cookie cutters :

Tree
Star
Mitten
Stockings/Boot
Bear

BAKE COOKIES

Prepare cookie dough and bake cut out cookies. I used my delicious Honey Cookies or you can use my popular Sugar Cookies instead. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating. Store in an airtight container if not using right away.

PREPARE ROYAL ICING

Prepare traditional egg white based royal icing or use Vegan Royal Icing.

TIP: If desired, you can further flavor royal icing to your liking. Beat in 1 teaspoon Vanilla or Almond Extract. Or substitute some of the water in the recipe for freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice. Don’t use oil-based extracts to flavor royal icing.

ROYAL ICING CONSISTENCIES

To make these simple Christmas Cookies you will need these consistencies and colors:

15 Second Consistency : Red, Light Green, Dark Green, Light Blue, White, Light Brown
Piping Consistency : Red, White, Blue, Light Green, Dark Brown (dark brown is optional, you can also use a black edible marker to make the nose, ought and eyes)

ROYAL ICING CONSISTENCY GUIDE

What is 15 second consistency?

To achieve flood consistency add few drops of water to stiff icing, stir and gradually add more water until you reach 15 consistency icing. To test if your icing is the correct consistency run a spatula thru icing. Watch and count how long it takes for the separation line to disappear. It should take about 15 seconds.

What is piping consistency?

Add a few drops of tap water to stiff icing. Stir. When pulled up with a spatula, the icing should have a peak that bends down but doesn’t get blended with the rest of the icing.

Blobs of royal icing showing different consistencies..

HOW TO CUT A DISPOSABLE PIPING BAG

To cut a disposable piping bag, flatten the seam in the middle. Cut a small tip straight across. It’s better to cut a small opening and then cut again to make it bigger.

MARBLED TREE COOKIES

Outline and flood the cookie with green icing (15-second consistency). Immediately pipe lines across with red, white, and dark green icing of the same consistency (steps 1-4). Take a scribe or a toothpick and drag it thru the icing up and down (steps 5-6). Let icing crust and then decorate the trunk (steps 7-8).

Tree cookie with green icing and white and red lines pipe across and a needle tool being pulled thru the icing creating marbled design.

This simple wet-on-wet technique is popular on Christmas Ornament Cookies, too.

Tree cookie decorated with marbled wet on wet royal icing design.

SNOWFLAKE MITTEN COOKIES

Outline the cuff of the mitten with 15-second consistency red icing. Allow icing to crust for 20 minutes (step 1).
Then outline and flood top/hand section with blue icing of 15-second consistency, allow icing to crust well, about an hour or 2 (step 2).
With white icing piping consistency, pipe a pretty snowflake (steps 3-4).
With red icing piping consistency, pipe an outline and wavy detail on the cuff section (steps 5-6).
Lastly, with blue icing piping consistency, outline the hand section (steps 7-8).

Flooding a mitten shaped cookie with blue and red icing.

Blue colors also looks beautiful on Winter Gingerbread House.

Mitten cookie decorated with blue and red icing on a gray plate.

CHRISTMAS STOCKING COOKIES

Outline and flood the boot with 15 second consistency red icing. Allow red to crust for 20 minutes, (step 1).
Now flood the cuff with green 15 second consistency royal icing. Use a scribe tool to shape the icing, (steps 2-3). Allow icing to dry for 1 hour.
Now with a piping consistency green, white and red pipe details and outlines, (steps 4-8).

Boot shaped cookie decorated with red and green icing.

This classic Christmas color combination shines on 3D Stocking Cookies.

Christmas boots cookies decorated with red and green icing.

GARLAND CHRISTMAS TREES

Outline and flood the cookie entirely with light green icing. Allow icing to dry completely, (steps 1-2).
Then pipe a garland with a piping consistency white icing. Immediately dust freshly piped white icing with sanding sugar, (steps 3-5).
Now take red icing piping consistency and pipe small dots onto the garland, (step 6).
Finish by flooding the stem with green icing. Allow icing to dry, (steps 7-8).

Christmas tree decorated with light green royal icing and white garland.

This popular garland designs also looks great on easy to make ice cream cone Christmas Tree.

Tree cookie decorated with light green icing, white garland dipped in sanding sugar and red polka dots.

CUTE BEAR COOKIES

Outline and flood the legs with 15 second light brown icing, (steps 1-5).

If you don’t have a food-only paint brush, use crumpled piece of food wrap to apply a thin layer of light brown icing onto the ears.
Pipe a dot of 15 second consistency light brown icing onto each ear and then use a crumpled piece of food wrap and a dabbing motion to apply icing onto the ears’ sections, (step 1-2). Let it crust for 10 minutes.
Outline and flood the head with light brown icing. Use a scribe tool to shape and distribute the icing evenly, (steps 3-8). Allow icing to crust for 20 minutes.

Outlining and flooding a head of a bear cookie.

Now, you can create a marbled sweater design. Outline and flood the middle of the cookie with red icing of 15-second consistency. Immediately pipe white lines across with 15-second consistency icing (steps 1-4).
Marbled design method is called wet-on-wet royal icing technique. Immediately take a scribe tool and drag it through the icing up and down creating a chevron/zigzag pattern, (steps 5-8).

Bear shaped cookies with a middle section iced with red icing and white lines and a needle tool pulled thru the icing creating marbled sweater desing.

Pipe the hands, with light brown icing, (steps 1-3).
Now you can pipe a muzzle with light brown icing. Allow muzzle to crust for 20 minutes. Then instead of black edible marker use dark brown icing to pipe the eyes, nose and the mouth, (steps 4-8).

Bear cookies are so cute! I used an easy decorating texture technique to create these textured bear cookies.

Light brown bear cookie decorated with royal icing on a gray plate.

SIMPLE STAR COOKIES

With white icing piping consistency pipe simple snowflake pattern onto the cookies, (steps 1-5). Immediately dip cookies into white sanding sugar, (steps 6-8).

Star shaped cookies with simple white pipe lines.

Star cookie decorated with simple white snowflake like pattern.

Did you make these Decorated Cookies? Tag @hanielas on Instagram and hashtag it #hanielas

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TO MAKE SIMPLE CHRISTMAS DECORATED COOKIES YOU NEED

RECIPES
Honey Cookies
Cut Out Cookie Recipes- Sugar Cookies, Vegan Cookies, Gluten Free Cookies
Royal Icing Recipes : Fresh Lemon Royal Icing, Fresh Egg Royal Icing or use Vegan Royal Icing
TOOLS
Find all the tool in my Amazon Shop
Cookie Cutters : Tree, Stockings/Boot, Bear, Mitten, Star
Piping Bags
Food Gel Colors : Leaf Green, Red, Sky Blue, Ivory/Brown
Scribe Needle Tool
White Sanding Sugar
Edible Marker – optional to draw eye, nose and mouth

MORE HOLIDAY COOKIE DECORATING IDEAS

This post was originally posted on December 20th, 2013. On November 8th, 2020 I updated this post with new step by step picture and written text.