Happy Christmas Eve! I can’t believe Christmas is just about here! I’m lucky to be able to see my family this year and one of our favorite things to do for the holidays is make cookies and so I’m excited to share these Poinsettia Mickey Cookies! Inspired by the ones at Disneyland, these vanilla shortbread cookies are topped with a layer of white chocolate, white sparkling sugar, and royal icing poinsettias. These festive cookies are perfect for Christmas!
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One of the more complicated parts of this recipe is the royal icing poinsettias. Since they need a few hours to dry completely, I’d recommend starting there. For the royal icing, I used meringue powder but you could also make royal icing with egg whites. Make sure your royal icing is pretty stiff. A good way to tell is to see if it holds stiff peaks.
Once you’ve made the royal icing, divide it into two bowls. You’ll need more red icing than green, so it’s doesn’t have to be even. If you don’t have pearl sprinkles, you can also reserve a very small amount in a third bowl to make the centers of the poinsettias. Dye the bowl with the larger amount of icing red using gel food coloring. Dye the other bowl green using gel food coloring. For these, I used Americolor food coloring. If you’re using royal icing for the flower centers, you can either leave it white or dye it yellow.
Transfer the red icing into a piping bag fitted with a leaf tip (Wilton 352). Place a piece of wax paper onto your work surface. Using the piping bag, pipe four poinsettia leaves in a cross shape. To make the shape, press gently but firmly at a 45 degree angle, then gently release as you pull your hand up. Let dry briefly and repeat, filling in the empty space with more leaves. To make smaller poinsettias, pipe five small leaves in a circle, making sure they meet in the center.
To add the green leaves, transfer the green icing to a piping bag fitted with a leaf tip. Using the same motion as the poinsettia leaves, pipe a small to medium sized leaf on one edge of the poinsettia. Place a pearl sugar sprinkle in the center or pipe a small drop of white or yellow royal icing into the center of each flower. Let the decorations dry completely, 2-3 hours.
To make the cookies, start by whisking together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
Add half of the flour mixture, mixing on low speed. Once incorporated, mix in the other half of the flour and mix until combined. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate the dough until firm, 30-60 minutes.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out the cookies using a large or medium sized Mickey Mouse shaped cookie cutter. For these cookies, I used a large cookie cutter I got in Disney World a long time ago and a medium sized cookie cutter. Place the cut out cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 350 F for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble the cookies, melt a cup or so of white chocolate melting wafers in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. For this I used Ghiradelli White Melting Wafers, but Wilton Candy Melts would also work.
Place a piece of wax paper onto your work surface to catch the excess sprinkles. For this part, work one cookie at a time. Use an offset spatula to spread a layer of the white chocolate onto the top of the cookie. Then, sprinkle the white sparkling sugar onto the top. Gently shake off the excess sprinkles and place the cookie on a cooling rack other surface to dry, about 15 minutes. repeat with remaining cookies.
Once the cookies and the poinsettia decorations are dry, use a small dab of melted white chocolate to adhere the poinsettias to the cookies. Let dry, about 15 minutes, before serving.
Enjoy these Poinsettia Mickey Cookies!
If you’re looking for some other classic holiday cookies, be sure to check out my Gingerbread Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Linzer Cookies, and Chocolate Crinkles!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Poinsettia Mickey Cookies
Ingredients
Vanilla Cookie
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing Poinsettias
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons meringue powder
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- red gel food coloring
- green gel food coloring
Decoration
- white sanding sugar/sprinkles
- white chocolate melting wafers
- white or yellow pearl sprinkles
Equipment
- piping bags
- leaf piping tip (Wilton 352)
- large or medium Mickey Mouse shaped cookie cutter
Instructions
Royal Icing Poinsettias
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In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.
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Add the warm water and beat on low speed until combined. Turn to medium high speed and beat until the icing is glossy and holds stiff peaks. The icing should be thick but pipable. Mix in additional water or powdered sugar if needed.
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Divide the icing into two bowls. Mix the desired amount of red gel food coloring into one of the bowls. Transfer the icing to a piping bag fitted with a leaf tip. Mix the desired amount of green food coloring into the other bowl. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
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Line a baking sheet with a piece of wax paper.
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For larger poinsettias, pipe 4 poinsettia leaves in a cross shape. Let dry briefly. Pipe additional 4 poinsettia leaves in the spaces between the first leaves. Repeat to make additional poinsettias. To make smaller poinsettias, pipe 5 smaller leaves in a circle shape, making sure they touch in the center. Repeat to make additional poinsettias.
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To add leaves, transfer the green icing to a piping bag fitted with a leaf tip. Pipe a small to medium leaf on the side of each poinsettia.
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Place a white or yellow pearl sprinkle into the center of each of the poinsettias.
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Let the icing decorations dry, uncovered, until hardened, about 2-3 hours.
Vanilla Cookies
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
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In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
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Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Add the remaining half of the flour and mix until combined.
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Roll the dough into a large ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness.
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Cut out the cookies using a large or medium size Mickey Mouse cookie cutter. Transfer the cut-out cookies to the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
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Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assembly
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Place a piece of wax paper on your work surface. Set up two cooling racks near your work area.
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Place 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers into a heat-safe bowl. Microwave until melted, stirring every 30 seconds.
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Working one cookie at a time, use an off-set spatula to spread a layer of white chocolate onto the cookie.
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Pour the white sprinkles onto the top of the cookie, making sure to cover all of the chocolate. Gently shake the excess sprinkles off of the cookie and onto the wax paper.
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Set the cookie on the cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cookies, collecting and reusing the sprinkles from the wax paper as needed.
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Let the cookies set for 15 minutes.
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Gently remove the hardened poinsettia decorations from the wax paper. Dab the back of a poinsettia with melted white chocolate and gently press onto the cookies.
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Let the cookies set 15 minutes before serving.