Description

These Christmas Lights Sugar Cookies are a festive and fun treat perfect for holiday celebrations. Soft, buttery sugar cookies are rolled out and cut into shapes, then decorated with vibrant royal icing that mimics colorful Christmas lights. With a tender crumb and smooth icing, these cookies not only taste delightful but also add a cheerful touch to any holiday gathering.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Sugar Cookies

6 cups (2 pounds) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Royal Icing

16 ounces (1 pound) powdered sugar
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon meringue powder
⅓ cup water, plus more if too thick
Food coloring (such as Wilton icing gel) for decorating

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Instructions

Prepare the Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to combine thoroughly and remove lumps. Set this mixture aside for later use.
Make the Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, beat the unsalted butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and continue beating for another minute. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Mix until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead and Chill the Dough: Transfer the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper and knead gently with your hands for a few minutes to bring it together. Divide the dough into two portions, wrap each with parchment paper, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm up.
Roll and Cut the Cookies: Place a sheet of parchment paper over the chilled dough and roll it out to a thickness between ⅛” and ¼”. Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes for your Christmas lights cookies. Leave the cut shapes on the parchment, transfer them carefully onto cookie sheets, and discard excess dough.
Bake the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the cookies for 10 to 13 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
Prepare the Royal Icing: In a large bowl, beat together powdered sugar, meringue powder, and ⅓ cup water on low speed for 6 minutes until thick and fluffy. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of water to achieve medium consistency similar to toothpaste.
Create Icing Consistencies for Decorating: Divide the icing in half; add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of water to one half to create a thin, flood consistency that flows easily off a spoon. Color the icings as desired with food coloring gels.
Decorate the Cookies: Using a piping bag with a tiny tip, outline each cookie with the medium consistency icing. Then fill the outlined areas with the flood consistency icing using a squeeze bottle or piping bag. Allow this base layer to dry for about an hour.
Add Details and Final Touches: After the base layer dries, pipe additional decorations, such as light bulb details, using the medium consistency icing to complete the festive Christmas lights design.
Storage: Once decorated and dried, these cookies can be stored in an airtight container for several days, or frozen before decorating to keep for months.

Notes

The calorie count provided includes all ingredients, but since much of the royal icing is leftover, the per-cookie calories may be lower.
Make sure to measure flour by weight for the most accurate results.
Chilling dough helps prevent spreading and makes rolling easier.
You can freeze unbaked cookie dough or fully baked cookies prior to decorating for convenient holiday preparation.
Adjust water amount in royal icing to create the proper consistencies for outlining and flooding.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 cookie
Calories: 220
Sugar: 18g
Sodium: 150mg
Fat: 10g
Saturated Fat: 6g
Unsaturated Fat: 3g
Trans Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 30g
Fiber: 0.5g
Protein: 2g
Cholesterol: 35mg