Description
Celebrate the holiday season with these festive Christmas Light Cookies, featuring soft sugar cookies topped with smooth royal icing and decorated with colorful M&M candies to mimic glowing Christmas lights. Perfect for holiday parties and family gatherings, these cookies are fun to decorate and delightful to eat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- Your favorite sugar cookie dough (store bought or homemade)
Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 8-10 tablespoons warm water
Decoration
- Black writing icing
- 1/2 cup M&M candies, cut in half
Instructions
- Prepare Cookie Dough: Prepare the sugar cookie dough according to the package or your homemade recipe’s directions. Bake as needed, then allow the cookies to cool completely before decorating.
- Make Royal Icing: In a large mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 8 tablespoons of warm water. Beat with a hand mixer for 1 to 2 minutes until the icing is smooth. If the icing is too thick, slowly add more warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches a consistency that is smooth but not runny, allowing the icing to meld back together for a smooth surface on the cookies.
- Prepare Piping Bag: Transfer the royal icing to a piping bag and snip off just the very tip to allow precise control when decorating.
- Outline and Flood Cookies: Pipe a circle of royal icing around the edge of each cookie, then flood the inside of the circle with icing. Use a toothpick to gently spread the icing if there are any blank spots, being careful not to over-flood. Let the icing settle and create a smooth even surface.
- Let Icing Set: Allow the royal icing on the cookies to set completely, which may take about 20-30 minutes, so it becomes firm and ready for decoration.
- Create Light Strand: Using black writing icing, draw a pattern resembling a strand of Christmas lights across each cookie. You can be creative with your design to mimic stringed holiday lights.
- Add M&M Bulbs: Cut about 1/2 cup of M&M candies in half, then place the flat, cut side down onto the black icing strand to represent colorful Christmas light bulbs. Let everything set completely before serving or packaging.
Notes
- Make sure cookies are fully cooled before icing to prevent melting or sliding.
- Royal icing consistency is key: too thick and it’s hard to spread, too thin and it runs off the cookie.
- Allow plenty of time for royal icing to set completely for best decorating results.
- You can use other small colorful candies if you prefer instead of M&Ms.
- Store the decorated cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.
