Christmas Cookie Ornaments Recipe
This year, many people are cutting back on their Christmas spending and focusing more on friends and family.
Baking gifts is always a great idea – but this year you might also consider baking Christmas tree ornaments, either for your own tree or for your loved ones’ trees.
Cookie Christmas ornaments are both easy and fun to make, and they add old fashioned charm to any Christmas celebration.
Gather Materials
There are two basic types of cookie recipes suitable for Christmas tree decorations: Sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. Which you choose depends on the look you’re after – and whether you plan to eat the cookies.
Sugar cookies are more edible than gingerbread (which must be hardened in order to create an ornament) after they’ve been on the tree several days.
Before you begin, gather all the baking ingredients. You’ll also need a large mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a mixing spoon, parchment paper, cookie cutters, a drinking straw, pastry brush or bag, ribbon (9 yards of 1/8-inch-wide ribbon for one batch of cookies).
Sugar Cookie Ornaments Recipe
- 1/2 Cup softened butter
- 1/3 Cup shortening
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 Cup honey
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments Recipe
- 1 Cup sugar
- 6 Tablespoons shortening
- 2 Teaspoons baking soda
- 2 Teaspoons ground cloves
- 2 Teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 7 Cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ Cups water
Frosting for Either Recipe
- 6 2/3 Cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 Cup water
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food coloring
Remember, you can bake the cookies ahead of time, then freeze them. When you’re ready to decorate them, allow them to defrost on the counter first.
Making Sugar Cookie Ornaments
- Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar, then add honey, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Finally, add the flour a little at a time, then the salt.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters to create shapes in the dough and transfer those shapes to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Use a straw to make a hole at the top of each cookie (for stringing ribbon through so the cookie can hang from the Christmas tree).
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 6 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are light brown.
- Place cookies on a wire cooling rack and allow to completely cool before decorating.
Making Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments
- Cream the shortening and sugar together, then add baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, flour, and water.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften on the counter for about 10 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ¼ inch thick.
- Using cookie cutters, cut shapes in the dough and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Poke one hole in the top of each cookie, using a drinking straw.
- Bake in a 325 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Turn off the oven but do not remove the cookies.
- After 1 hour, remove the cookies to a wire cooling rack.
- Allow to sit at least one day before decorating. (This hardens the cookies so they won’t fall apart on the tree.)
Decorating
Mix the frosting ingredients together, adding just a drop or two of food coloring at a time until the desired color appears.
Brush frosting on with a pastry brush, or put frosting in a pastry bag so the frosting can be piped into place on the cookies.
If desired, you may also add sprinkles, balls, and other decorative trim.
Cut 8 inch strips of ribbon for each cookie.
Thread the ribbon through the hole in the top of each cookie and tie off the ends.
Viola!
