An ideal recipe to prepare for the holidays: Cinnamon Christmas cookies with royal icing… Easy to make and delicious with their good taste of cinnamon and spices. A great activity while waiting for Santa Claus! I also give you my tips for successful icing and decorations.
What You'll Love About This Cinnamon Christmas Cookie Recipe
- flavors : we feel the taste of Christmas spices, with a touch of honey.
- Texture : these are dry, crunchy biscuits that keep for a very long time in an airtight box (or to give as a gift).
- Difficulty level : I would say rather easy. This is an ideal activity to do with children, for example. The longest part will be decorating each cookie one by one with royal icing. But know that they can also be eaten without icing!
Ingredient details
- Cinnamon + 4 spice mix : these are the spices I use to bring out the Christmas flavors as much as possible (and it will smell very good in your kitchen too!)
- brown sugar + whole sugar cane : I mix these two sugars because they bring a caramel side that the classic powdered sugar does not bring. Whole sugar is the most fragrant of the two.
- Honey : it brings a gourmet and comforting side that works very well with spices.
How to make cinnamon Christmas cookies?
- First mix the dry ingredients together.
- Separately, beat the butter with the two sugars, the honey and the eggs.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the dough and refrigerate to make it easier to work with.
- We lower the dough on the work surface then we cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
- Refrigerate again and bake, then let cool completely before decorating.
- Royal icing is prepared by simply mixing the ingredients.
- Fill a piping bag with this mixture and cut the end very finely, like a pencil.
- We decorate the cookies as we wish!
NB: the detailed recipe with a complete list of ingredients is given to you at the bottom of the page.
My tips for perfectly successful cinnamon Christmas cookies
- to roll out the dough more easily on your work surface (without adding flour), I advise you to spread the cookie dough between two sheets of baking paper.
- so that your cookies keep their shape while baking (and do not spread): it is very important to refrigerate them before putting them in the oven.
- to find out if your royal icing is the right consistency to use : we draw a knife line in the icing. If the line disappears completely in less than 15 seconds, you must add icing sugar. If it fades more slowly, a few drops of water should be added.
How to properly store your cinnamon Christmas cookies?
Those are dry biscuits, so they have the advantage of keeping well. This is why they are easily offered at Christmas! I advise you to place them in an airtight box at room temperatureaway from any heat source. They keep this way up to 2 weeks.
To avoid damaging their decor, you can arrange them in a box on several levels, interspersed with a sheet of baking paper. On the other hand, I do not recommend the cookie box: it is better not to put them in bulk, it would damage their decor.
Other recipes to try
If you like these kind of homemade Christmas treats, I suggest you take a look at these other recipes from the blog for the holidays:
- Lemon meringue log
- Crispy chocolate pear speculoos log
- Christmas shortbread with jam
- Matcha white chocolate raspberry log
- Vanilla caramel pecan nut log
- Chocolate Christmas cookies with icing
- Chocolate crinkles, the recipe for cracked cupcakes
If you make these cinnamon Christmas cookies, don't hesitate to tag @liliebakery on Instagram so I can see your cute cookies!
Cinnamon Christmas Cookies (+ Frosting)
Ingredients:
Biscuits
- 330 g of flour
- 125 g cornflour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1,5 tsp four spice blend
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 40 g light brown sugar
- 100 g dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 170 g soft butter
- 50 g of honey
Royal icing
- 1 egg white
- 2 cc lemon juice
- 280 g icing sugar
Instructions:
Biscuits
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, salt, spices, cinnamon).
- In the bowl of the food processor, beat the diced butter and the sugars (brown sugar and wholemeal) to obtain a creamy mixture. Then add the honey and the eggs.
- Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients. It will stick but it's normal! Form a ball with the dough and place it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 190 ° traditional heat.
- Roll out the dough to a height of about 3mm between two sheets of baking paper. Cut the desired shapes using a cookie cutter. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, refrigerate for 10 minutes (so that the biscuits do not deform during baking).
- Bake each plate for 8-10 minutes, the cookies should be golden. Then leave to cool on a rack.
Royal icing
- Mix the egg white and lemon juice. Gradually add the icing sugar while mixing. Add a few drops of water if the mixture is too compact.
- Little tip: when you draw a line in the bowl of icing, wait 15 seconds for the line to disappear: if it disappears too quickly, it is too liquid (add icing sugar), if it disappears too slowly it is too compact (add a little water).
- Fill a piping bag with this icing, very finely cut the end and decorate the cooled cookies.
Rosehazelnuts
They are cute as everything, really too cute!
Chachoualacreme
I love baking little Christmas cookies. I keep your recipe!
LadyMilonguera
These little cookies are delicious!
Aude
How beautiful are your cookies !! I discovered gingerbread cookies not long ago and love it :)
Marie / Madeleines feathers
Very cute these little cookies!
Chachoualacreme
I also just posted a gingerbread cookie recipe! Yours are so cute!
May
I want to achieve these little wonders today, we have to put cornstarch… I don't have any. Can we replace it with koi?
Lilie bakery
Hello, with the same dose of flour :)
I am greedy but I take care of myself
Cute and seasonal! I get started as soon as possible!
nats
Hello
Can you replace brown sugar with powdered sugar?
Lilie bakery
Hello, here I do not recommend it (unrefined sugar has more taste) for the cookies it's great. But if you only have that, go ahead, but put in less.
potatotroll
Good. I made Christmas cookies for the first time so I am so happy! On the other hand, I had difficulty getting rid of all the sugar crystals (mixer not powerful enough I think) so they come out on top of the cookie ^^ And for the icing, it was super duuuur to draw, I admire people who do nice things because all my guys have a mean smile and a mean look and my reindeer look like goats.
Overall, I'm happy with your recipe but phew it was long, I'll have to practice to reach a good level hahaha.
Thank you very much and have a great holiday season!
Lilie bakery
Hello, glad you liked the cookies! It's an activity that takes up a whole afternoon, it's perfect in winter :) For your crystals, it depends on several things: the sugars you used, your creaming with the butter ... is a skill that is acquired over time :) In any case, children always love to do it, adults too! See you soon :)
Claude
Hello, is it possible to leave the dough for 3 hours in the fridge? Thanks
Lilie bakery
Hello Claude, 3 hours is a bit long: the dough will harden. It will therefore be necessary to leave it at room temperature longer to be able to lower it without too much difficulty. Goodbye :)
Claude
Thank you Lily. Very good recipe.
Happy New Year
Laura
Hello,
Can you specify the 4 spices present in the 4 spice mix?
Thank you!
Lilie bakery
Hello Laura, in a 4 spice mix sold commercially, you have: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg. See you soon :)
Cindy
Recipe made today, the smell that fills my living room is succulent and the shortbread delicious. This recipe will become my favorite, thank you!!
Lilie bakery
Thank you Cindy for your feedback! Glad you like them so much :) See you soon
Nanette
I made this recipe to test it before Christmas. I've made it twice already for my family who ask for more and certainly not the last. Many thanks to you.
Lilie bakery
Thank you very much Nanette! It's time to make lots of batches of cookies, you're right :) See you soon
Elise
Great recipe!
Well I'm not putting photos because they were made with children but we loved it!
I replaced the unrefined sugar with moscavido and added half t80 and half t65 flour to have a rustic side.
Quick question: I doubled the quantities and it ended up being too much, can this dough be frozen?
Lilie bakery
Thank you Elise for your feedback! Yes you can freeze freshly made dough. You wrap it well in cling film then in aluminum foil to protect it from humidity in the freezer. You will defrost in the refrigerator or at room temperature when you want to use it. See you soon :)
Nadège
A very good recipe, it caused a sensation! And with your recipe I finally made the frosting which was delicious!
Lilie bakery
Oh thank you very much Nadège!
Oxana
Hello,
Thank you for this recipe! The cookies are very good, and they smell like Christmas!!! :)
My husband asked me to make him some for the office Christmas party with his colleagues :)
Lilie bakery
Thank you very much Oxana! I'm glad you like them, see you soon :)
Sabera
Hello, I would like to know how many biscuits for this recipe? THANKS
Lilie bakery
Hello Sabera, it’s written in the “24 biscuits” recipe card, see you soon :)
Celine
Hello,
I don't have a mixer but just a whisk (old fashioned) can that still do it?
Lilie bakery
Hello Céline, you're going to need strength and patience to properly cream the butter by hand with the sugars :) If you're not afraid, go for it! Happy holidays :)
Elodie
Hello,
The cookies were made last night, I'm continuing this morning and I'm wondering:
I didn't have any cornstarch so I replaced the equivalent with flour, i.e. 455g, and when tasting I feel the taste of flour and they are a little heavy...
Other than that they are very fragrant!
Thank you ☺️
Elodie
Lilie bakery
Hello Elodie, you already have the answer: you must always follow the instructions on the ingredients if you want to make your recipe a success. I can't say anything more! Happy holidays :)
Anne Laure
These shortbreads are delicious! I have made them several times with or without frosting and it is very good. Thank you for this recipe !
Lilie bakery
Thank you very much Anne-Laure, glad you like the biscuits decorated or not :) See you soon