Watercolor Christmas Ornament Cookies Recipes

CHRISTMAS COOKIE ORNAMENTS

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in the honey, egg and vanilla. Gradually add the flour and salt., Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll to an 1/8-in. thickness. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters dipped in flour. Transfer cutouts to ungreased baking sheets., Using a straw, make a hole in the top of each cookie. Remove the center circle of dough. Bake the cookies at 350° for 6 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Remove the cookies to wire racks to cool., For frosting, combine the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Tint the frosting with liquid or paste food coloring in desired colors., Place each color of frosting in a pastry or plastic bag. Cut a small hole in the tip of each bag. Spread and pipe frosting onto cookies as desired., If desired, create stitch marks on a stocking or veins on holly leaves by dipping a toothpick in food coloring and painting on the lines., For hanging loops, cut forty 8-in. strips of 1/8-in.-wide ribbon. Thread a ribbon strip through the hole in each cookie and tie the ends into a bow.

WATERCOLOR CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Generously flour a rolling pin and work surface. Working with 1 disc at a time, roll dough to 1/4" thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cookie cutters (if dough becomes too soft, chill until firm). Place cookies 1/2" apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill 15 minutes.
• Bake cookies until edges are light golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.
• Place icing in a wide shallow bowl. Add water by the teaspoon and stir to combine until slightly runny. Dip cookies face down into icing, just enough to cover the front and reach the outer edges, being careful not to completely submerge. Lightly shake cookies to level out icing. Transfer cookies to wire racks to let icing dry completely before decorating, about 3 hours.
• Mix each food coloring with a small amount of water to dilute in separate bowls; the more water you add, the lighter the colors will be. Fill 2 small bowls with clean water.
• Lightly dampen paint brush with water. Working with half of cookies and 1 color, lightly dab a few patches of watercolor "paint" over icing. Dampen brush in clean water. Brush along edges of darker paint to create a watercolor effect with the color fading out gently. For added texture, lightly tap brush over cookie to splatter droplets of color. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to dry as you work. Repeat painting technique with second color on remaining cookies. Let dry.
• Mix lemon extract and luster dust in a small bowl to create gold paint. Using a clean paintbrush, splatter cookies in gold and paint tops of ornaments. Let paint dry completely before storing cookies.
• Cookies can be made 10 days ahead; store in an airtight container at room temperature.