Learn how to easily decorate store-bought cookies for Christmas in a few simple steps. These are super easy Christmas cookies for kids to make and will look like you spent hours slaving over cookies!
There is something about decorating Christmas cookies that makes the holiday season complete. It is amazing to see how creative kids can get when it comes to icing and decorating cookies.
It’s a tradition at my house to decorate Christmas cookies, which for us means icing topped sugar cookies. This easy Christmas cookie below lets kids’ creativity shine while keeping things easy for you.
What you will need
- baking pan
- kid-friendly knife
- mixing bowl
- stir spoon
- small bowl
- 2 small dressing bottles or ziplock bags
- food coloring
- toothpick or wooden skewer
Ingredients
- 1 package premade sugar cookie dough
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 2 teaspoons light karo syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon Wilton White Sparkling Sprinkles (optional)
How to Make
Bake cookies.
Open the premade cookie dough and set it on a flat surface like a countertop or cutting board. Have kids slice the log of dough into circles. Place the circle cookies on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies per package instructions. Let cool.
TIP: Kids can slice the dough into cookies by using a butter knife or plastic kids knife.
Prepare the icing.
To a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients and then blend until smooth:
- powdered sugar
- milk
- light karo syrup
- almond extract
How to Thicken Icing:
You want the icing to be on the thicker side. If the icing is too runny add 1 TBSP of additional powdered sugar and stir. Repeat until the icing is thick enough that it won’t run off the cookie.
Divide and color the icing.
Divide the icing by leaving a little over half in the mixing bowl. Place the other half of icing into a small bowl. Then, add 1 teaspoon of milk to thin. You should end up with 1 bowl of thick icing and 1 bowl of thin icing.
Divide the thin icing into 2 small dressing bottles or ziplock bags.
TIP: A kid-friendly way to fill a ziplock bag with icing is by placing the ziplock bag into cup, folding the top of the bag over the lip of the cup and then having kids stuff the bag with icing.
Add red food coloring to one bottle or ziplock bag and green to the other. Blend by shaking the bottle or squeezing the ziplock bag until mixed.
Snip a small portion of a corner of the ziplock bag off, twist the bag as if it were a piping bag, and you’re all set to decorate!
How to Decorate Store-Bought Cookies:
After the cookies are completely cooled, ice each cookie with the thicker white icing. Place small dots of both red and green onto the white icing.
Using a toothpick or wooden skewer, gently drag through the colored dots to swirl the colors together or create a heart pattern.
FAQs
You can definitely roll out store-bought cookie dough if your kids really want to use cookie cutters to punch out a variety of shapes. Form the dough into a disk then roll out on a floured surface to 1/4-in thickness. Cut out cookies.
I wish I had the secret behind mess-free cookies. Then again, making a mess is half the fun for kids. One option to minimize the mess is to set up a cookie decorating station for each kiddo. Place the cookies on a paper plate or parchment-lined baking sheet or cutting board. This will help minimize the amount of sprinkles that end up on your floor. After the cookies are decorated, toss the paper plate or parchment paper.
First, let the cookies dry after iced. Then store in an airtight container or freeze. You can add a piece of parchment paper between each layer of cookies if desired. This helps to easily separate the cookies when your kids are ready for a treat.
After the colored icing has been swirled to blend into the white icing, it is officially time for the sprinkles! Grab a pinch of sprinkles with your fingers then dust over the top of each cookie.
Looking for other decorating options? White chocolate crumbles, crushed peppermint pieces, powdered sugar, crushed walnuts or pecans, or crumbled Oreo cookies are great alternatives or additions to the sprinkles.
More Kid-Friendly Holiday Recipes:
- BEST Hot Chocolate Mix
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites
- Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Orange Smoothie Recipe
- Candy Cane Pizza
- Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Balls
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
CKC Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.
The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn’t require a helper.
Easy Christmas Cookies For Kids
Equipment
- kid-friendly knife
- 2 small dressing bottles or ziplock bags
- food coloring
- toothpick or wooden skewer
- White sprinkles ✅optional
Ingredients
- 1 package premade gluten-free sugar cookies
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 2 teaspoons light karo syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract ✅
Instructions
- Bake cookies. Bake cookies per package instructions. Kids can slice the dough into cookies by using a butter knife or plastic kids knife. Let cool.
- Prepare the icing. To a mixing bowl, add powdered sugar, milk, light Karo syrup, and almond extract. Blend until smooth. Divide the icing, leaving a little over half in the bowl. You'll use this to ice all the cookies before adding any color. You want the icing to be on the thicker side so if it's too runny add additional powdered sugar to thicken (so it won't run off the cookie).
- ⭐️ Divide and color the icing. Divide the other half of the icing into a small bowl adding 1 teaspoon of milk to thin. This icing should be thinner than the other icing. Divide into 2 small dressing bottles or ziplock bags. Add red food coloring to one bottle or ziplock bag and green to the other. Stir until blended.
- Ice the cookies. Ice each cookie with the thicker white icing. Place small dots of both red and green onto the white icing. Using a toothpick or wooden skewer, gently drag through the colored dots, blending into the white icing. Top with sprinkles if desired. Let dry then store in an airtight container or freeze.
Notes
Nutrition
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Jess says
We only had a straw to use, but it worked great! Super pretty.