Easy Decorated Cookies

Name: Easy Decorated Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 60
Ingredients: Type 00 flour 2 ½ cups; Powdered sugar 3 cups; Butter cold 3.5 oz; Eggs (about 2 medium) cold 3.9 oz; Lemon peel ½; Powdered yeast for sweets ½ tsp; Powdered sugar 2 cups; Water at room temperature 3 tbsp; Food coloring to taste

Calories per serving

Vegetarian

Energy Kcal 59
Carbohydrates g 10.4
of which sugars g 6.4
Protein g 0.8
Fats g 1.6
of which saturated fat g 0.91
Fiber g 0.1
Cholesterol mg 11
Sodium mg 3

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Makes: 60 pieces
Cost: Low
Note + dough resting time in the refrigerator (at least 2h)

PRESENTATION

Easy to prepare and perfect as gifts, easy decorated cookies are a very sweet idea that can be customized for any occasion! Romantic little hearts for Valentine's Day, Christmas trees for Christmas, stars and little flowers for the Epiphany stocking of the little ones, and not least, the bunnies, doves, and eggs in the form of delicious colorful Easter cookies... with this recipe, or similar ones like the milk cookies, you can shape your creativity and make little treats to dedicate to the people you love. Starting from a simple shortcrust pastry base, classic or with alternative flours, just choose the most suitable molds to get delicious fragrant cookies: but the most fun part will be using the icing to decorate them, letting only your imagination guide you! You can stuff them with creams or add food coloring to get a wide range of color shades, or choose to use natural icing or a chocolate icing for an even more genuine version... in any case, your simple decorated cookies will be more than appreciated because a gift made with the heart, as you know, is always better!

Also try:

Butter-free Chocolate Cookies
Rice Flour Cookies
White Chocolate Cream Cookies

INGREDIENTS

Calories per serving

Ingredients for about 50/60 cookies:: Type 00 flour 2 ½ cups (300 g); Powdered sugar 3 cups (100 g); Butter 3.5 oz (100 g) - cold; Eggs 3.9 oz (110 g) - (about 2 medium) cold; Lemon peel ½; Powdered yeast for sweets ½ tsp (2 g)

for the icing: Powdered sugar 2 cups (250 g); Water 3 tbsp (40 g) - at room temperature; Food coloring to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Easy Decorated Cookies

To make simple decorated cookies, first prepare the dough: pour the flour on the working surface together with the sugar 1 and the baking powder 2, then add the grated lemon zest 3

and butter cubes 4. Work quickly with your fingertips until you get a fine and crumbly mixture 5, then pour the eggs 6

and knead quickly just long enough to compact all the ingredients well 7. Shape the dough obtained into a dough ball 8, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After the resting time, place the dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper and beat it with a rolling pin to soften it 9,

then cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll it out to a thickness of about 1 inch and a half 10. At this point, you can choose your favorite molds and cut out the cookies from the obtained sheet 11. Transfer the cookies to a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spacing them slightly apart from each other 12 and bake in a static oven preheated to 355°F for about 18-20 minutes.

Once baked, let the cookies cool on a wire rack 13 and prepare the icing: pour the icing sugar into a bowl, add water 14 and mix with a teaspoon until you get a fairly viscous cream 15.

If you wish to make icings of various colors, divide the mixture into several bowls and add a small amount of coloring to each 16, then transfer the different types of icing into as many parchment paper cones 17 and cut the tip 18: for further instructions, you can consult the sheet "How to make a parchment paper cone".

When the cookies have completely cooled, you can create your decorations: you can start by drawing the outline of the cookie 19, fill the inside 20 and then use a plastic coffee spatula or a toothpick to distribute the icing evenly 21.

Alternatively, you can draw dots to color the petals 22 and the center of a flower 23 or take inspiration from the simple decorated cookies we have made 24... in short, let your imagination run wild and have fun!

How to store

Easy decorated cookies can be stored in a cool place, covered with a glass dome, for 3-4 days. If you prefer, you can prepare the cookies in advance and glaze them later. The icing can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature for 4-5 days, preferably covered with a damp cloth or with plastic wrap.

Tips

If you are unsure about which type of coloring to use, we recommend choosing gel colorings for your simple decorated cookies because they provide better color and consistency. Liquid colorings could make the icing too soft, whereas powder colorings would dry the mixture. If you wish to flavor your icing, you can use vanilla sugar or replace the water with lemon or orange juice! To make the dough with a mixer or a stand mixer instead of by hand, you can follow the instructions of the Shortcrust Pastry recipe. If you don't have molds, you can try the Spoon Cookies recipe!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.