One of my favorite things about the holiday season is all of the lights. Whether they’re part of a Christmas tree, garland, or just by themselves, I find holiday lights add such a warm and festive touch to the oftentimes dark and cold winter season. In general, Disney does a great job using lights in their holiday decorations. I love seeing the large trees and wreaths, the lights along the buildings, and of course, the castle. There’s something so magical about seeing the lights sparkle as it gets darker outside.
And so, inspired by Disney’s holiday lights, and the ones we put up at home this weekend, I’m excited to share these colorful Mickey Holiday Lights Cookies! These vanilla sugar cookies are topped with festive green icing and colorful light shaped sprinkles!
In terms of shaped holiday cookies, my family has two standouts–gingerbread and vanilla sugar cookies. When I make gingerbread cookies, I like to use icing sparingly, so you can see the color of the gingerbread. Since I fully covered these cookies with icing, I found vanilla cookies are a better fit.
To make the dough, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla, and then the flour mixture. Once you’ve combined the dough, divide it in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Once the dough has chilled, roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out the Mickey shapes. I used a small Mickey shaped cutter from Wilton. After you’ve cut the cookies out, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Return them to the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This second chill helps the cookies keep their shape while baking.
After the cookies are completely cool, it’s time to start decorating! I started with a layer of royal icing, made with meringue powder but you can also use egg whites. I just find it’s faster and easier to use the powder.
Since you’ll be covering most of the cookie with icing, aim to have a ribbon stage consistency. After you’ve mixed the icing, you can test the consistency by using a spoon to drizzle some icing back into the bowl. The icing should create loose ribbons when drizzled and disappear back into the bowl within 10 seconds of being picked up with the spoon. If your icing is too runny, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add additional water, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
When the icing is ready, you’ll want to dye it. For my decorations, I used green and black icing and multi-colored light shaped sprinkles from Wilton. I found a small package of them at Michaels, but you can also find them on Amazon or as part of the Wilton Christmas tree cupcake kits. If you can’t find these sprinkles, you can also use small round ball sprinkles or dye small amounts of icing and pipe on the lights.
To decorate, you’ll first pipe an outline around the cookie using the green icing. Make sure to leave a little space between the edge of the cookie and the outline as the icing will expand out a little. I used a size 3 round piping tip to accomplish this. After you’ve completed the outline, fill in the cookie by going around the outline until the cookie is covered. The icing will spread out a bit as it settles, but you can also use some decorating tools like a pick to spread out and adjust the icing as needed.
Let the green icing set briefly before before piping the black lines. I piped my lines in the same direction, but you can do them however you’d like. Before the icing sets, place the candy sprinkles onto the lines. I found it easiest to pipe the lines and then add the sprinkles one cookie at a time. Don’t press the sprinkles in too hard or the green icing will start to crack. Once decorated, let set for a couple of hours.
Enjoy!
Mickey Holiday Lights Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ cup warm water
- green gel food coloring
- black gel food coloring
Decoration
- multi-colored light shaped sprinkles
Equipment
- 2 piping bags
- size 1 round piping tip
- size 3 round piping tip
- Mickey shaped cookie cutter
Instructions
Cookies
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In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
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Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until well combined. A smooth dough should start to form.
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Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
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Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Remove one half of the dough from the refrigerator. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness. Cut out Mickey heads, transferring the cut cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Place cut cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
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Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
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In a large bowl, beat sugar and meringue powder until combined.
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Add ½ water and beat on medium high speed until glossy. The icing should creates loose ribbons when drizzled with a spoon. If needed, add additional water, a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Aim to have the icing ribbons disappear back into the bowl within 10 seconds of being picked up with the spoon.
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Place a scoop of icing into a separate bowl. Add black food coloring, stirring until fully incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag with a size 1 round piping tip.
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Add green food coloring to the remaining icing, stirring until fully combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a size 3 piping tip.
Decoration
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Using the green icing bag, pipe an outline around the cookie, leaving a bit of space between the edge of the cookie and the outline.
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Fill the cookie in by piping around the inside of the outline. The icing will spread out as you pipe, but use cookie decorating tools, such as a pick to help fill in any corners. Repeat until all cookies are iced.
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Once the cookies have partially set, pipe small lines across the cookies using the black icing. These will be the lines the light sprinkles will hang from. Carefully place the light sprinkles on the black icing lines. Don’t press too hard or the green icing with crack. Repeat until all cookies are decorated.
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Let cookies set completely before storing.
Recipe Notes
adapted from Joy of Baking