Holiday Painted Cookies

Dec 24, 2018

Recipe & photos from McCormick

Make a quick and easy glaze for cookies by warming canned white frosting in the microwave. Then paint colorful designs on the cookie shapes using Flavor Paints – a fragrant mix of vanilla or lemon extract and food color.

Prep time: 45 min  •  Cook time: 10 min •  Calories: 313 •  Makes: 24 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 containers (16 each ounces) white frosting

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually stir in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll dough on generously floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes with holiday cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4. Spoon 1 container of the frosting into medium microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 20 to 30 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds. (Frosting should be a pourable consistency.) Dip tops of cookies into frosting. Microwave remaining container of frosting as needed. Place frosted cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet. (The baking sheet will catch drips.) Let stand 10 minutes or until frosting is dried.
5. Prepare desired colors of Holiday Flavor Paints (see below). Using small clean paint brushes, paint designs on cookies.

Holiday Flavor Paints:

Winter Sky: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Lemon Extract and 2 drops McCormick® Blue Food Color

Holly Berry: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Red Food Color

Rosy Cheeks: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and 5 drops McCormick® Red Food Color

Coal: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Black Food Color

Evergreen: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Lemon Extract and 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Green Food Color

Candle Light Yellow: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Lemon Extract and 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Yellow Food Color

Tinsel: 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and 1 drop McCormick® Black Food Color

Instead of Flavor Paints, try decorating with Colorful Cookie Icing. Mix 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 3 to 4 teaspoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract in small bowl. (Stir in additional milk as needed to thin icing or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, if needed.) Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired. Stir 3 to 4 drops McCormick Assorted Food Colors & Egg Dye into icing until desired shade is reached. To ice cookies, hold cookie by its edge and dip top of cookie into icing. (Or spoon the icing onto cookie using a teaspoon.) Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch drips.) To add decorative details to cookies, spoon tinted icing into resealable plastic bag. Snip off a tiny piece of the corner. Squeeze icing through hole in plastic bag to decorate cookies. If desired, Colored Sugar may be sprinkled onto freshly iced cookies.

Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2018 McCormick & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Taste You Trust™