Christmas Cookie Boxes

Phew! What a week. Like yours, no doubt, the holidays always come to our house with a whirlwind of activity – decorating the house, shopping for gifts, cleaning (or not 😛 ), and baking! Baking Christmas cookie boxes for friends and family has long been a favorite holiday tradition in our family.

Why do we spend time baking cookies for friends?

Gifting cookie boxes is really not intended to be a stressful time-sucker. For us, baking is fun. Sharing our Christmas cookies is a simple way for us to tell our friends and family that we remember them, and show our appreciation at the end of the year. If you don’t love baking, don’t add cookie boxes to your lengthy to-do list! Instead, you might consider boxing up a no-bake treat like this. Or this. (Equally thoughtful, but with much less of a time investment.)

What is a good cookie for gifting?

We’ve made a lot of different types of cookies over the years. Some were great cookie choices (like candied orange peels, chocolate covered peppermint chocolate cookies, and fudge). These recipes were optimal for gifting because they retain their texture, hold their shape, and stay good at room temperature over night. You don’t want to spend time creating a beautiful cookie box, only to have your gorgeous goodies reduced to crumbs by the time your recipient opens the box!

In previous years, we’ve gifted a variety of cookies in each box. Mom and I each choose a few recipes to make, then we swap cookies so we have more variety in each box. Extra bonus – our family gets to enjoy a bounty of “edge pieces” and “rejects” that don’t make the cut for our friends and family.

One of my favorite cookie recipes to gift is decorated sugar cookies. It’s a cookie with wide appeal, and with your choice of cookie cutters has plenty of festive possibilities. Plus, the base cookie is a great canvas for endless creativity! Kiddos in the house will especially enjoy decorating these cookie cutouts with edible adornments!

How to decorate sugar cookie cut outs for Christmas cookie boxes:

When gifting sugar cookie cutouts, I like to start with a general theme in mind. Last year, I decorated using red, green, and white icing. This year, I used all white icing with a green watercolor technique. By mapping a theme in advance, you save yourself time! Not to mention, the finished boxes look neat and cohesive.

There are SO many ways to decorate sugar cookie cutouts – that’s part of the appeal! It’s always been my opinion that sugar cookies are (always) best with a generous smear of fresh buttercream frosting. However, those don’t gift well because the buttercream gets dinged and damaged, and forms a dry crust if left out overnight. For Christmas cookie boxes, I prefer to use a simple icing that hardens. (Recipe below.) The icing doesn’t contain egg whites, or meringue powder, is super easy to whip up, and hardens beautifully!

After the icing is made, I like to fill a plastic zip bag with a snipped corner to begin decorating. I like a fast cleanup, and plastic baggies are easily tossed in the garbage when you’re finished. (You can also use a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #2 tip, if you want to be fancy.) Then, add your favorite accessories – sprinkles, sparkly sugar, more icing tinted with various colors, etc.

This year, I opted for a something new – a “watercolor technique.” The kids and I had fun painting our pictures onto cookies! And bonus, I didn’t need to make additional colors of icing. Have you painted watercolor cookies before? I love the way the watercolor looks! 

 

 

How to decorate Christmas cookies with the “watercolor technique”: 

This is a fun little technique I stumbled upon while gawking at gorgeous cookies. It looks more intense than it is. Here’s a quick step-by-step, below. If you want to give this activity a try and have more questions – you know where to find us!

Step 1: Begin with baked, cooled, iced cookies in the shapes of your choice. I like to use white icing because I think the colors appear more vibrant – but you can color the icing if you wish. Note: be sure to use icing that HARDENS (some people use royal icing, some use fondant. I use a very simple mixture of powdered sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract because I don’t like the taste of royal icing or fondant. You can find the recipe below.) Another important note: the icing must be completely dry before you start the watercolor painting. 

Step 2: Choose the colors you’ll use, and opt for gel colors! You can find a wide variety of gel food coloring at craft stores and online. 

Step 3: Lay out your cookies to decorate and make a plan for your painting. Seems simple. But if you don’t have a plan, things tend to get a little frustrating – simple designs are often better. Trust. 

Step 4: Pour a tablespoon of high quality extract (almond works great) into a small container and mix in your gel color. Use a separate container for each color mixture. Note: not to sound uppety…but the “high quality” extract is actually really important for this. You need a product that has the least amount of water possible – or the water in the extract will wet the icing and make the cookies a sticky mess. If you’re up for it, vodka makes a great substitute for the extract. 🙂 (If you use vodka, same process. Use a tablespoon in a small container and mix in the color/s of your choice.)

Step 5: Paint! 

Step 6: Let your cookies dry completely before you pack them up to gift! 

Merry Christmas to you!

We wish we could send a little Christmas cookie box to all of you! Thanks for hanging with us this year on Root and Bloom! Merry Christmas!

Want to see last year’s cookie boxes? Click here!