Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies (aka A Snowy Night in the Mountains Cookies)

Don't fancy yourself as a fancy cookie maker? Check out these Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies, they're one-bowl, no-mixer and simply delish!

Four years ago, Scott and I moved from Raleigh, NC to the mountains of North Carolina near Asheville. We'd lived in Raleigh for almost 40 years and, though we still miss our friends, it didn't take us long to adjust to this beautiful little corner of God's creation. In early December of that first year in the mountains, we got 18 inches of snow! We were socked in for 4 days before the snow plow came to rescue us but we didn't mind as we had heat and power. We pulled out the Christmas decorations and enjoyed making the house look like a magical snow globe. The inspiration for these Snowy Night in the Mountains, Easy Decorated Christmas cookies came in the midst of that first mountain snow adventure.

I wanted them to be a simple representation of an evergreen tree on a snowy night. It's an easy technique, as you will see from the step-by-step tutorial below. Stir together the buttery, delicious shortbread dough (one bowl, no mixer needed!) and roll it out. Cut the cookies, chill, and bake.

These Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies are a take-off on my Christmas Shortbread Cookies, another fun and easy shortbread holiday cookie. I was thrilled to come up with a pretty Christmas cookie that didn't require any decorating expertise. Apparently, they made other bakers happy too, as I've gotten lots of comments and emails about these festive cookies. They've been pinned over 1,000,000 times!

I love that you can make these Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies in steps. Make the dough and roll out the cookies. At this point, they'll need to chill a bit but you can also freeze them for a baking day in the future. Once they're baked you can either decorate them right away, store them in an airtight container or pop them in the freezer. When you're ready to decorate, they will be too!

Easy (and fun) decorating technique!

To decorate, make a simple two-ingredient icing in deep blue and dip the cookies to coat the top. I call this my Dip, Drip and Flip technique. After the top is dipped in the icing, let it drip back into the bowl for 20-30 seconds. When the dripping slows down, simply flip the cookies over and give it a gentle shake to even out the icing. It's an easy alternative to the more complicated, royal icing method of decorating cookies - and, unlike royal icing, this stuff actually tastes good!

These Easy Decorated Christmas cookies then get a sprinkle of  "snow" (tiny white nonpareils). After the cookies are set squiggle on a simple white tree (no fancy decorating skills needed!), add more sprinkles to the tree and you've got a "snowy night in the mountains" cookie!

What do I mean by "squiggle on a simple white tree"? Don't be intimidated! You'll need a disposable pastry bag and a plain decorating tip  (links below under Café Tips). Make the easy buttercream (again one bowl and no mixer needed!) and start squiggling! You can practice on a small plate until you're happy with your squiggling.

I have a hard time piping Christmas trees in consistent sizes so I came up with a little trick to help me. I cut out a small paper tree, lay it on each cookie before piping and lightly cut along the sides of the paper with a small sharp knife. Then, starting at the top, I pipe (squiggle) my trees to cover the cuts. Voila! All the trees are the same size.

We've created a video to demonstrate this fun, easy "Snowy Night in the Mountains" decorating technique:

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I use this easy shortbread dough for so many of my cookies because it's a dream to work with. There's no chilling before rolling and it doesn't stick easily to the counter or rolling pin. A bit of cornstarch in the dough (and a stint in the fridge after being rolled) helps keep those nice, crisp edges in the oven.

How to roll dough to an even thickness

You might be a pro, but I have trouble rolling dough to a consistent thickness. There are several tricks to help remedial rollers like myself to achieve that even thickness. I've found that the easiest technique is to use a rolling pin with graduated rings on the ends. You simply choose the thickness you want (1/16, ⅛, ¼, or ⅜-inch) and roll away perfectly consistent cookies! The rings are removable, so you can use it as a conventional rolling pin as well.

We've added a video for this part too - so you can see exactly how this rolling pin makes things SO easy. Check it out:

A lovely gift idea!

We've created a free printable gift label for these cookies.

To receive the labels via email, simply leave a comment requesting them and we'll send the labels as well as instructions on how to use them.

So you can stop looking for your signature holiday cookie! Whip up a batch of these Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies; I think you'll be sure to hear lots of oohs and ahhs when you pull out the coffee and cookie platter or the gift bags/boxes

Café Tips for making these Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies

• Because there’s no mixer used, the butter needs to be very soft when mixing up these Christmas Shortbread Cookies. That can be difficult at this time of year, even if you let the butter sit out for hours. A short stint in the microwave on the very lowest power level (on mine, it's 10%, check to see what yours is) works like magic to soften butter. You’ll need to experiment a bit with your microwave though, as they’re all different. Start with 20 or 30-second increments at power level 10 until you learn how long your microwave will take to get the butter nice and soft, but not melted.
• If you prefer to use a mixer, by all means, go ahead. We love not having to drag out the mixer and the ease of mixing up this dough by hand but it will work fine with a mixer. Just don't overmix the dough or it will get tough.
• I used peppermint extract in my glaze and buttercream. Feel free to use other flavorings. Almond, vanilla, orange, lemon and coconut extracts are also delicious.
• Flavor extracts can vary in intensity. It's better to start with a small amount in the icing, then take a little taste. You can always add more, but you sure can't remove it! If you're looking for a good peppermint extract I love this LorAnn Peppermint Bakery Emulsion.
• The recipe calls for a one-hour (or longer) chill for the cutout cookies. If I'm in a big hurry, I just pop them into the freezer for 10-15 minutes (don't tell anyone I cheat!).
• A few tips on rolling and cutting out cookies:
  • Keep your work surface and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour.
  • I also like to rub the cutting edge of my cookie cutter in a little flour in between each cookie.
  • Press fairly firmly when cutting out the cookies, but don’t twist the cookie cutter as the shape will get distorted.
  • If you don’t have room in your refrigerator to chill the cookies on two sheet pans, just transfer all of them to one pan after cutting. Then later, once they’re chilled, you can divide them between the two pans for baking.
  • When re-rolling the scraps, incorporate as little of the flour on the work surface as possible but enough so that the dough doesn't stick.
  • The rolling pin mentioned above is WONDERFUL and makes rolling dough like this a breeze!
• Occasionally, some of the cookies will be slightly puffed on the top when removed from the oven. You can give them a nice flat top by pushing on the top gently with a flat metal spatula.
• Sometimes the glaze for these cookies will have lots of bubbles. These bubbles will cause imperfections in the surface of the glazed cookies. Simply stir the glaze very slowly to get rid of the bubbles.

• I love to have a supply of these super sturdy decorating bags. They’re not expensive, and a box will last forever. The bags come in a nice flat box, so they’re easy to store. I used to buy my bags at the local craft store and got about 10 bags for slightly less than this whole box of 100 bags! Definitely a wonderful deal.
• The tip that I use to pipe the Christmas Trees is a Wilton #3 Round Piping Tip.
• I love these pre-cut parchment paper sheets when making cookies. They are the perfect size for a cookie sheet pan and also come in a nice flat box for easy storing. This 100-pack will last forever - and save you some time and hassle.
• I used Wilton Delphinium Blue paste food coloring.
• I like to add a little star on the top of the tree. I used these mini pearlized snowflakes for mine.
• Don’t roll these cookies too thin, otherwise, they will be difficult to dip into the glaze when decorating. I roll mine to a ⅜-inch thickness and use an adjustable rolling pin. How do you roll them to the desired thickness? This reasonably priced rolling pin is a super-easy way to achieve the same perfect thickness for all your cookies. It has 1/16, ⅙, ¼, and ⅜-inch removable discs, making it easy to flatten your dough to a uniform thickness. Have a baker on your shopping list? This would make a lovely gift that can be used year-round. You might even be the lucky recipient of some perfect, even Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies!

Thought for the day:

What we're listening to for inspiration:

There is a King

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.

5 from 16 votes

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Easy Decorated Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Don't fancy yourself as a fancy cookie maker? Check out these Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies, they're one-bowl, no-mixer and simply delish!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Christmas Cookies, Easy Decorated Christmas Cookies, Easy Decorated Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Prep Time: 25 mins

Cook Time: 34 mins

Total Time: 59 mins

Servings: 24

Calories: 184 kcal

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 8 ounces very soft salted butter 2 sticks
• 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 I used Wilton Delphinium Blue

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 for the tree topper optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the cookies:

1. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Place soft butter in a medium-size mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula until nice and smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix together by hand for about 30 seconds, until fluffy and well blended.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch evenly over the top. Stir until flour is incorporated and the dough is shaggy. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and press dough in a ball. Knead a few times until fairly smooth then form into a ball again and press with your hands into a flat disk.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a ⅜-inch thickness. Keep work surface, dough and rolling pin lightly dusted with flour. Cut circles and place on prepared pans. Re-roll scraps as many times as needed to use up the dough.
5. Place cutouts in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350˚F. Remove cookies from refrigerator and bake for 12-16 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. Rotate pans halfway through for even browning. Cool completely before icing.

For the glaze:

1. Combine powdered sugar, half and half and ¼ teaspoon peppermint (or other flavored) extract in a medium-size bowl. Mix until smooth. The glaze should be thick but pourable. Add a little more half and half if too thick. Taste the glaze and add more peppermint extract, if needed (see the note above in the post).

2. Dip the tip of a small knife into the blue food coloring and swirl some of it into the icing. Stir well and add more food color until desired shade of blue is achieved. Transfer the glaze to a shallow bowl.

To glaze the cookies:

1. Holding onto the edges of a cookie, dip the top surface into the glaze, being sure all of the surfaces touch the glaze. Pull cookie up and out of the glaze. Allow excess glaze to drip back into a separate bowl.

2. When the glaze stops dripping, quickly flip the cookie right side up and give it a gentle jiggle to allow the glaze to flow evenly over the surface. Repeat with remaining cookies. Allow glaze to dry for 15-30 minutes.

For the buttercream piping:

1. Place butter in a medium-size bowl and stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1½ tablespoons of half and half and the mint extract and stir vigorously until smooth, adding a bit more half and half, if needed to achieve a fairly thick but spoonable consistency.

2. Place buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a small round icing tip (I used a Wilton #3 round tip). Starting at the upper edge of one cookie, pipe the Christmas trees by making increasingly wider lines, stopping about ¼-inch above the lower edge of the cookie (see pictures in the post). Immediately sprinkle trees with a few more white nonpareils. Set aside to dry.

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above for lots of extra tips and instructions.

Half and half is an American convenience product often used in coffee as a creamer. If half and half is not available where you live, you can use a combination of half milk and half cream, just milk or just cream.

The recipe makes 16 large (3-inch) or two dozen smaller (2-inch) cookies.

Once cookies have been dried for 4-5 hours or overnight, they can be stacked in an airtight container.

 

Nutrition facts per serving (1cookie)

Calories 184kcal

Fat 9g

Saturated fat 5g

Trans fat 1g

Polyunsaturated fat 1g

Monounsaturated fat 2g

Cholesterol 23mg

Sodium 74mg

Potassium 17mg

Carbohydrates 26g

Fiber 1g

Sugar 17g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A 263%

Vitamin C 1%

Calcium 8%

Iron 1%

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