Christmas Ornament Cookies
Submitted by babycinnamon1020
Christmas ornament cookies are sturdy rolled sugar cookies cut into large bauble shapes and pierced with a hanging hole. Bake, decorate, and hang on the tree as edible ornaments or gift tags.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
1 hrsChristmas ornament cookies are the kind of heritage holiday project that kids remember for life. A sturdy rolled sugar cookie dough gets cut into large 7-inch bauble shapes, pierced with a small hole near the top, baked, decorated, and hung on the tree with ribbon.
The dough recipe is specifically built for ornament work. Half butter plus a quarter cup of shortening creates a cookie that holds a crisp edge without spreading or warping, which matters enormously when you want the finished cookie to keep its cut shape. An all-butter dough softens and droops.
Three-and-a-half cups of flour to one and a third cups of sugar is a firm ratio. These cookies are meant to be sturdy and dimensionally stable, not tender or melt-in-your-mouth. They’re structural.
Rolling between sheets of waxed paper is the clutch technique. It saves you from flour-coating both the counter and your dough (which over-dries it), and inverting the paper onto the baking sheet lets you transfer delicate cut shapes without distortion.
Piercing the hole with a toothpick before baking is the critical ornament step. Don’t skip it or your cookies become just cookies, not ornaments. A paper straw gives a cleaner, larger hole.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes until just golden at the edges. Over-baked cookies turn brittle and crack when strung.
Chef Tips
- Chill the dough balls the full 30 minutes minimum. Cold dough rolls clean and cuts sharp. Room-temp dough sticks and tears.
- Use a thin metal spatula to transfer cut shapes if you’re not using the waxed paper invert method. Don’t pick the shapes up with your fingers.
- Cool the cookies completely before decorating. Royal icing on warm cookies melts and smears.
- For ornament use only, add an extra tablespoon of flour. Denser cookies last much longer on the tree without cracking.
Variations
- Color the dough by dividing and kneading in a drop of red or green food coloring for naturally tinted cookie shapes.
- Add ½ teaspoon almond extract in place of or alongside vanilla for a Nordic-style cookie flavor.
- Sprinkle with sanding sugar, edible glitter, or nonpareils before baking for decoration-free ornaments that still sparkle.
Ingredients
Directions
In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter light.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In medium-size bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add half of flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until soft dough forms.
Shape dough into 3 equal balls; wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
To cut and bake cookies: Heat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
Cut 2 pieces of waxed paper the same size as the baking sheets.
Lightly flour waxed paper and roll out one ball of dough between paper to ⅛ inch thickness.
Remove top piece of waxed paper.
Using our 7-inch bauble-shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many baubles from dough as possible, leaving ½ inch between each shape.
Remove all trimmings and press together.
Invert waxed paper with baubles onto greased baking sheet and peel off waxed paper.
Reroll trimmings between waxed paper and repeat cutting and inverting baubles to fill second baking sheet.
If making cookies for ornaments, use a toothpick tp pierce a small hole about ½ inch from top of each cookie.
Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.
Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks and cool completely before decorating.
Repeat rolling, cutting, and baking with remaining balls of dough and trimmings.
Comments
I haven't tried it yet because I thought thar diabetis was not to have sugar. The recipe calls for sugar now what do I do.
I think you can use splenda instead.