Description
These Easy Decorated Christmas Shortbread Cookies are a festive treat featuring buttery, soft shortbread cookies topped with a smooth peppermint glaze and beautifully piped buttercream Christmas trees. Perfect for holiday celebrations, the cookies combine delicate texture with decorative charm, making them as delightful to look at as they are to eat.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cookies:
- 8 ounces very soft salted butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
For the Mint Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons half and half or milk, maybe more
- ¼-1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- blue paste food coloring (Wilton Delphinium Blue recommended)
For the Buttercream Piping:
- 1 tablespoon very soft butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½-2 tablespoons half and half or milk
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- white nonpareils
- small white pearlized snowflakes (optional, for tree toppers)
Instructions
- Prepare the Cookies: Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl, cream the very soft butter with powdered sugar and vanilla extract using a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until fluffy and well blended, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch evenly over the mixture and stir until incorporated and the dough becomes shaggy.
- Knead and Roll the Dough: Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface, press into a ball, knead a few times until smooth, then shape into a flat disk. Roll the dough out to a ⅜-inch thickness, keeping the surface and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour. Cut circles and place on prepared pans, re-rolling scraps as needed.
- Chill the Dough: Refrigerate the cutout cookies for at least one hour, or up to 24 hours, to firm up before baking.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Bake chilled cookies for 12-16 minutes until edges just begin to turn golden, rotating pans halfway through. Allow cookies to cool completely on wire racks before icing.
- Make the Mint Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar, half and half, and ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract together until smooth and thick but pourable. Adjust thickness with more half and half if needed. Stir in blue paste food coloring until desired shade is reached.
- Glaze the Cookies: Dip the top surface of each cookie into the glaze, letting excess drip off. Flip right side up and gently jiggle to spread glaze evenly. Set cookies aside to dry for 15-30 minutes.
- Prepare the Buttercream Piping: Cream butter in a medium bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1½ tablespoons half and half, and peppermint extract; stir vigorously until smooth and thick but spoonable. Adjust consistency with more half and half if necessary.
- Pipe the Christmas Trees: Fit a pastry bag with a small round icing tip (Wilton #3 recommended). Pipe trees on cookies by drawing progressively wider horizontal lines from top to bottom, stopping about ¼-inch above the cookie edge. Immediately sprinkle white nonpareils over the trees and add white pearlized snowflakes as toppers if desired. Let the icing dry before serving.
Notes
- Half and half is an American dairy product; if unavailable, substitute with a combination of milk and cream, or just milk or cream.
- The recipe yields approximately 16 large 3-inch cookies or about 24 smaller 2-inch cookies.
- Cooled and decorated cookies can be stored in an airtight container for several days once fully dried.
- For best results, keep the work surface, dough, and rolling pin lightly floured to prevent sticking during rolling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 75mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
