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Easy Decorated Sugar Cookies

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Today, we’re bringing you an easy, delicious and sturdy sugar cookie. Why are they “sturdy?” So that you can decorate them, of course!

We know that many kids enjoy being involved with baking, and even more so when decoration is involved! This recipe for Easy Decorated Sugar Cookies includes the cookie recipe as well as some kid-friendly decorating tips. Baking these cookies makes the perfect family activity to enjoy when you need some good quality time with the children in your life! You’ll have fun making them- and eating them – together! These cookies are great any time of year. However, we are sharing them this week because this sugar cookie makes a great base for decorating your “cookies for Santa.” Whenever you make them, and however you choose to decorate them, we hope you love them!

 

Bonus: Want to have some educational fun with your children or grandchildren?

Baking isn’t just fun; it can also be educational! After all, if you have your children or grandchildren help you bake and decorate these cookies, you’re utilization: math,  direction-following skills, working on completing steps in a process, team work, and possibly even practice taking turns (if you have more than one child who’s helping you)!

If you are interested in incorporating some extra learning, be sure to check out the link below to our sister site,  Only Passionate Curiosity. There, you’ll  find some printable sugar cookie-themed activities to add to your fun. Click here to go to the Sugar Cookie Printable Games!

 

For the Cookies:

To make the basic sugar cookie, cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until it’s fluffy. Then beat in the eggs and the vanilla and almond extracts. To finish off the dough, mix in the flour and salt until everything is thoroughly combined.

Next, prep your dough by dividing it into fourths, forming these into discs, and wrap with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate your dough for one hour, or make ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. This will help your cookies retain their shapes, later on!

When your dough has had time to chill, remove it from the refrigerator and roll one wrapped disc on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/4” thick.

Go ahead and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees at this point. Then, lightly flour the cookie cutters and press into the dough (this is a great tip to help your shapes come out perfectly!) Move your cutouts to an ungreased cookie sheet with a spatula, and bake at 350° for 8 minutes, or until they just start to turn a golden color.

After removing your cookie pans from the oven, transfer the cookies to wire cooling racks and let them cool before decorating.

For the decoration:

While the decorative designs are totally up to your (and your kids’) imagination, I do have some kid-friendly tips to help you out with the cookie-decorating process! Here are a few things you can do to set up your decorating station to make it easier (and less messy) when working with kids!

One of the best things you can do before getting into cookie decorating with kids is to set up an easy-to-clean station.  It can really help to use plastic tablecloths to cover your work-area/table. I’d also suggest using disposable bowls, plates and cups to mix frosting and contain sprinkles and/or other candies that you plan to use in your decorations.

Once your station is ready, mix together frosting and food coloring in different bowls (again, disposable works well) until the color is well blended. Scoop each different color of frosting into an empty condiment bottle. The the easiest, fastest, and least messy way to do this is to fill ziploc bags full of the frosting, snip a hole in the corner of one end and squeeze it into the bottle. Voila–you’ve created incredibly easy to work with frosting vessels to contain a variety of colors!

Lastly, and especially if you are working with more than one child, set up each child with his or her own tray–stocked with frosting bottles and candy/sprinkles!

All that’s left is to let your imaginations get to work (and then, of course, to eat your cookies).

Do you plan to use these Easy Decorated Sugar cookies to make Christmas cookies for Santa, enjoy some quality time baking with your children, or to put a culinary spin on traditional academics? Let us know how you use this recipe/fun family activity!

 

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Easy Decorated Sugar Cookies

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  • Author: Wendy Hilton

Description

We know that kids enjoy baking, especially when decoration is involved. This recipe for Easy Decorated Sugar Cookies includes the cookie recipe as well as some kid-friendly decorating tips. You’ll love baking, decorating and eating these sweet treats together!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  •  1 cup white sugar
  •  1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  •  2 eggs
  •  1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  •  1 ½ tsp almond extract
  •  ¾ tsp salt

Additional Items:
• Stand mixer is helpful, but not necessary.
Decorating Items:
• 5 (or more) empty plastic condiment containers
• Food coloring (one color for each bottle)
• Candy Sprinkles
• Store bought cake frosting or homemade buttercream (the cake frosting
holds up best in the bottles and during decorating)


Instructions

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts.
• Mix in flour and salt until thoroughly combined.
• Prep dough by dividing into fourths, form into discs, and wrap with plastic.
Refrigerate for one hour or make ahead and refridgerate overnight.
• Remove chilled dough from refrigerator and roll one wrapped disc on a
lightly floured surface to 1/4” thick.
• Lighlty flour the cookie cutters and press into dough. Move cutouts to an
ungreased cookie sheet with a spatula.
• Bake at 350° for 8 minutes, or until they just start to color.
• Transfer to wire cooling racks.
Easy Decorating:
• In separate bowls, mix together frosting and food coloring until well
blended.
• Scoop frosting into a condament bottle (the easiest, fastest, and least
messy way to do this is to fill ziploc bags full of the frosting, snip a hole and
squeeze it into the bottle.
• Set up the kids with a tray of frosting bottles and candy sprinkles and let
them create their delicious masterpieces.



Nutrition

  • Serving Size: approx 36

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