Christmas at Robert Pallant Designs! 

Mix things up this year from the traditional Christmas cookie for Santa with our great alternative cookie recipes that will be sure to make it a very holly jolly Christmas this year! 

Perfect Sugar Cookies

What you will need: 
FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH
– 3 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
– 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
– 1 c. granulated sugar
– 1 large egg
– 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 1 tbsp. milk

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
– 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
–  5 c. powdered sugar
– 1/4 c. heavy cream
– 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
– 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
-Food colouring 

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined, then add flour mixture gradually until totally combined.
3. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4. When ready to roll, preheat oven to 350º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out dough until 1/8” thick. Cut out shapes and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Freeze 10 minutes (so your shapes hold while baking!).
5. Meanwhile, make frosting: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter until smooth, then add powdered sugar and beat until no lumps remain. Add cream, almond extract, and salt and beat until combined.
6. Bake cookies until edges are lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. 
7. Let cool, then frost and decorate as desired.

Christmas Tree Cookie Stacks

What you will need: 

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 350º and line two cookie sheets with parchment.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla and almond extracts. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Dough will be thick.
3. Make three sizes of cookie dough balls: 1 teaspoon, 2 teaspoons, and 3 teaspoons. (You should have an even number of each.) Place medium and large cookies on a cookie sheet and press down slightly on each. Bake until center looks mostly cooked, 7 to 8 minutes. Place smallest balls of dough on another cookie sheet and press down slightly. Bake until center looks mostly cooked, 5 to 6 minutes. When cookies are done, remove from oven and let cool 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a cookie rack to finish cooling.
4. Make frosting: Beat butter until smooth. Add half the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons water and mix until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add green gel icing color to frosting and mix until your desired shade of green.
5. Assemble cookies: Get one size of each cookie. Fit a piping bag with a medium sized star piping tip (I used Wilton 32) and fill bag with green frosting.
6. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the largest cookie, then add the second medium sized cookie on top. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the second cookie, then top with the smallest cookie. Pipe a swirl on top of the final cookie and decorate with a star and round ornament sprinkles. Continue building cookie trees, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Melted Snowman Cookies

What you will need: 

Method: 

1. Spread white cookie icing on sugar cookies to create melted blobs.
2. Decorate marshmallows with black cookie icing to make dots for eyes and a smile (or smirk).
3. Insert an orange jimmy into the marshmallow for a nose.
4. Place marshmallow on cookie icing and add more cookie icing around the neck to secure it.
5. Decorate buttons and arms: Place mini M&M’s on cookie icing for buttons and add chocolate jimmies for arms.