Perfect for the winter holidays, these Snowflake Cookies come together quickly and easily. They are such a delightful cookie for gifting or entertaining!
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the flour beating just until combined. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a square. Roll each square on a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Carefully remove the top sheet of parchment and cut out the cookies using snowflake cookie cutters. (It may help to dip the cutters in flour before cutting the dough.) Use a spatula to help transfer the cookies to unlined and ungreased baking sheets, placing 1 inch apart on the sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies appear dry and are lightly golden on the bottom. Immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate with royal icing and let stand on the wire rack until the icing is hardened. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Give these sugar cookies a twist by adding your favorite extract or flavoring, adding the zest of an orange or lemon, or folding in some sprinkles for extra flair.
To pull straight lines without any bumps at the ends of the lines, push a tiny bit of icing out of your piping bag to start. Then, set the icing down without any pressure onto the snowflake cookies, and once the icing is attached to the cookie, lift and pull with consistent pressure and then lay it down onto the cookie. This will give you beautiful clean icing lines!
To add sprinkles such as pearls onto the cookies more manageable, use tweezers.
Cool the cookies completely before decorating with royal icing as they’ll melt on a warm cookie.
It will take a few hours for the decorative royal icing on the snowflake cookies to harden, so be sure to make this ahead of time if you need it on a specific date.
Don’t over mix the cookie dough as you’ll incorporate too much air, leading the cookies to spread as they bake, losing their snowflake shape.
Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake, leading to dense cookies. The most accurate way to measure flour is by using a kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and then use a knife to level it off.