Christmas Wreath Sugar Cookies

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Chilling/Cooling Time 8

Total Time 9 30

Servings cookies

Calories 233kcal

Author Wanda Simone

Equipment

2 small mixing bowls
food processor
rimless cookie sheet
parchment paper
rolling pin
large fluted biscuit cutter
small fluted biscuit cutter
thin spatula
wire cooling rack
stand mixer with mixing bowl
plastic wrap
Piping bag
Piping tip #4 (#3 or #5 will also work)
Coupler (optional) - helps to keep icing from leaking
tweezers

Ingredients

Cut out cookies

2½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup 2 sticks cold unsalted butter
1 package white or green sprinkles and/or sanding sugar
1 package sugar balls

Royal icing

4 cups (or 1 pound) icing sugar
3 Tablespoons meringue
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup WARM water
green gel food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Cut out cookies

In a small bowl, mix together 2½ cups of flour, ¼ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon baking powder. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat an egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract and ¾ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Cut 1 cup (2 sticks) of cold butter into ½ inch chunks.
In a food processor, blend the butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add in the egg mixture. Process until combined, about 10 seconds.
Then add the flour mixture and process until all of the flour is combined, about 30 seconds.
Divide the dough in half.
Place a piece of parchment paper underneath and on top of the first ball of dough.
With a rolling pin, roll the cookie dough out between the pieces of parchment paper. It should be about 1/8" thick.
Place the rolled-out dough on a large platter or cookie sheet with the parchment paper left in place.
Repeat with the other ball of dough.
Refrigerate the two sheets of rolled out dough for 1½ hours, or freeze for 30 minutes.
When the cookie dough is stiff, take the first sheet of cookie dough out of the refrigerator.
Peel off the top layer of parchment paper.
Place the larger biscuit cutter on the cookie dough and press down to cut the dough.
Then center the smaller biscuit cutter in the center of the larger one. Push down on to cut the dough.
Repeat to make additional cookies. Don't remove them from the excess dough yet.
Do the same thing with the second sheet of cookie dough.
If the cookie dough has softened, refrigerate it for another 30 minutes or until the it is stiff. This will make it much easier to remove the cookies while keeping their shape.
Use a thin spatula (or a cake knife) to separate the cookies from the bottom layer of parchment paper. Remove the excess dough from around the cookies.
Remove the cookie dough from the center of wreaths.
Put another piece of parchment paper down on a cookie sheet.
Then lay out both the wreath cookies about ½ inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake at 300℉ for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies are slightly brown.
Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then move to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
Repeat with the other sheet of cut-out cookies.
Roll out the extra dough to create another batch of cookies.

How to make white royal icing

Mix 4 cups icing sugar, 3 Tablespoons meringue powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla and ½ cup of WARM water in a stand mixer on low speed
Once they are combined, increase to medium speed.
Mix for 5 to 8 minutes until the icing forms soft peaks and it takes about 15 seconds to close if a knife is run through it.

How to make green royal icing

If you want to decorate your wreaths with green icing, mix in a few drops of green gel food coloring to the white icing.

Decorating wreath cut out cookies

Put the icing in a piping bag with a #3, #4 or #5 piping tip attached.
Outline the inner edge of the wreath with royal icing.
Do the same with the outer edge.
Then flood (fill in) the middle of the cookie between the lines.
Use a knife or toothpick to spread the icing into any gaps.
(Optional) While the icing is still wet, sprinkle sanding sugar or sprinkles over the top.
Use tweezers to place sugar balls around the wreath cookies so they look like ornaments. Or if you are using red balls, put them on in groups of three to look like holly berries.

Store the cookies

Let the cookies stand for a few hours allowing the icing to dry before storing in an airtight container for a few days or freezing for up to 3 months.

Notes

Covering the cookie sheet with parchment paper prevents the cookies from spreading which helps to keep their shape.
Only bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time since stacking them in the oven will cause uneven heating
To keep the cookies looking good when storing, separate each layer with a piece of parchment paper.

Nutrition