Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies for Kids

Christmas Tree Cookie

Looking for something to do with the kids over the holiday break?  Why not bake and decorate some Christmas cookies! 

My son and I used to make the cookies below every year for Christmas and they were always a big hit.  Everyone could not believe we went to so much trouble to make our “Big Christmas Tree” cookies!   Until last year, I had kept how easy these were to create a secret when my niece requested the recipe.  So I shared with her that they are super-easy since we start with already made cookie dough. Most of the time is spent cutting-out with favorite cookie cutters, cooling, frosting, and decorating!  I always made them two weeks ahead on a Saturday with my son and then froze them until my family got together for our holiday party.  Of course, we always needed to sample a few before freezing the rest! 

It looks like a lot of steps, but it is the fun parts that are the most time consuming.  Below are the decorated Christmas cookie-making steps and tips for success:

1.     Start with large 30oz. (or 2 small 16oz.) Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookie dough tube.  If dough seems sticky, break it up in bowl and add about 1/2 cup flour to make dough stiffer and a little dryer to get a consistency that will roll out better.  Blend dough and flour well by working with fingers (may want to put on plastic disposable gloves first). 

2.     On wax-paper, sprinkle flour so you can roll-out cookie dough. Also flour your rolling pin so dough does not stick to it. Roll-out the dough to about 1/4” flat.

3.     FUN PART 1 = Use your desired cookie cutters to cut-out the cookies, alternating their placement in a way to take best advantage of the flattened dough area.  Once you pull the cut-outs away from the remaining dough, you can ball up trimmings and re-roll out for more cookies.  Note:  cookies that have been rolled more than twice will tend to be harder than the first batch!

4.       Place cut-outs on cookie sheet for baking.  Leave more than an inch between cookies on the cookie sheet as they will spread some during baking.  You do not want the cookies to grow together during baking! Note: If making trees, I like to alternate some upside-down so I can get more cookies on the same sheet and save a little baking time.

5.     Bake cookies at the temperature on the package (350 degrees) but watch them as the time for cut-outs will be different from chunks of dough just placed on a cookie sheet.  When cookies start to look done around the outside edge, then you may want to take them out – that is if you want soft cookies. 

6.     Allow cookies to cool!  – This is the hard part of child helpers so have something for them to occupy their time for ten minutes or more.

Snowman Cookie

7.     While cookies are cooling, make and color the frosting.   You can use frosting from a can if you plan to eat the cookies right away.  If you plan to stack and freeze cookies for later, then you should use the Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe and make the stiffer frosting version with water instead of milk.  Divide frosting into multiple bowls for coloring as needed.  Note:  For Christmas trees, I make a large bowl of green for tree, a small bowl of yellow star on top, and sometimes a small red bowl if I want to pipe on tinsel.  If you are only making snowmen, you do not need to add food coloring.

8.     FUN PART 2 = After cookies are cooled, frost and decorate as desired.  Be sure to leave a space somewhere on the cookie for the eater to hold the cookie without getting frosting  on their hand.    Note:  Decorated candy balls, flowers, or dots work well for tree decorations.  You can also drizzle colored sugar for trim/tinsel (my son's method) instead of piping frosting.  We leave the trunk of tree, hand of snowman, or leg of animal frosting-free for holding and eating the cookie mess-free.

9.     If you are planning to freeze them for later, as soon as you get a plate or tray of cookies done - place them in the freezer so the frosting can harden some to make stacking and storing easier.  Usually the first tray is set by the time another tray is done, so you can remove it and begin stacking cookies, with wax paper between each layer,  into your storage container while the next tray is hardening.  Take the stored cookies out of the freezer an hour or more before planning to serve them, they will soften up nicely without sticking together.