Christmas Paintbrush Cookies

These are the holiday cookies your kids will remember. Instead of icing cookies after baking like a typical sugar cookie, you paint the unbaked dough with tinted egg yolk paint and let the colors bake right into the cookies. The result is glossy, jewel-toned ornaments and trees and stars with the kind of shine that frosting can’t fake.

The paint is the unique part. Egg yolk thinned with a few drops of water and tinted with food coloring acts like a watercolor wash. It dries onto the cookie in the oven and gives a slightly shiny, lacquered finish. Once you’ve used it, dollar-store frosting tubes feel like a step down.

The dough itself is a standard rolled Christmas cookie dough: shortening for structure (it holds shapes better than butter), sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour. The fridge chill of at least an hour is important. Cold dough rolls thinner without sticking and the shapes hold their edges instead of spreading.

Watch the bake closely. Six to eight minutes goes fast at 400°F (200°C), and these are meant to come out pale golden with the painted designs still bright. Over-baked cookies brown into the paint and dull the colors.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a small clean watercolor brush, ideally one set aside just for food use.
• If the paint thickens in its cup, thin with a few drops of water and stir; don’t add more egg.
• Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment to skip the floured-cloth step and avoid extra flour in the dough.
• Let cookies cool fully before stacking so the paint sets and doesn’t smear.

Variations

• Use gel food coloring instead of liquid for more saturated colors.
• Brush with a coat of plain egg wash before painting for an even glossier surface.
• Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the dough for a more traditional Christmas cookie flavor.