Splatter Paint Christmas Cookies

Baking and Christmas go hand in hand. See our guide for our fave recipes + tips and tricks for perfect cookies.

For the Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt

For the Icing

• ¼ cup light corn syrup divided
• ¼ cold water divided
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ teaspoon almond or pure vanilla extract

For the Splatter Paint

• Food coloring white, red, and green
• Extra water or vodka
• 3 food-safe small paintbrushes

For the Cookies

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  1 cup unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat at medium speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute.
  1 egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, table salt, and coarse sea salt.
  2¼ cups all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon table salt, ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
• In one addition, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until no flour is visible. Do not over beat the dough or the cookies will be tough.
• Scrape around the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all flour has been incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half and place one half on a large piece of parchment paper. Roll out the dough to be ¼-inch thick, and transfer the dough with the parchment paper to a large sheet pan.
• Roll out the other half of the dough and place the rolled dough (with the parchment paper) on top of the first half of rolled dough on the sheet pan.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (To freeze the cookie dough at this point, cover the rolled dough on the baking sheet with plastic wrap and foil. Freeze until ready to bake).
• After the cookie dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut the rolled and chilled cookie dough into desired shapes. Place onto prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are just beginning to darken.
• Remove cookies from the oven and let cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet, then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to fully cool before icing.

For the Icing

• In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together corn syrup and water.
  ¼ cup light corn syrup, ¼ cold water
• In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, 6 tablespoons of the corn syrup/water mixture, and flavoring (reserve the remaining corn syrup/water mixture to thin the icing, if needed).
  4 cups confectioners’ sugar, ¼ teaspoon almond or pure vanilla extract
• Mix in enough of the white food coloring to make white icing. Pour the white icing about an inch deep into a dish slightly larger than the size of a cookie.
  Food coloring
• Test the icing consistency by turning a cookie upside down and dipping it halfway top-down and flat into the icing. Let the icing drip off the top of the cookie, then quickly flip the cookie over and place on a wire rack. The icing should be thin enough for dipping but thick enough not to drip off the cookies. (If too thin, add a little more sugar, if too thick, add a little corn syrup/water mixture.)
• Frost all the cookies with white icing and let them dry several hours or overnight.
• When the icing has dried, splatter each cookie with gel food coloring of your choice and allow to dry overnight before storing.

How to Splatter Paint Cookies

• Use a different food-safe paintbrush for each color.
  3 food-safe small paintbrushes
• When the cookies are completely dry, add several drops of one color of gel food coloring to a very small bowl. Add a tiny bit of water or vodka and mix well.
  Extra water or vodka
• Before splattering the cookies, test the food color consistency over a piece of paper or paper towel – it should splatter easily – not too watery or thick.
• Splatter the ‘paint’ by dipping the paintbrush in the food coloring, hold it (brush side down) over what is being splattered, and use your other hand to tap your wrist. Alternately, this is very messy but works a little better, hold the brush (brush side down) over the cookie and flick the food coloring off of the brush and onto the cookie with the tip of a finger on the opposite hand.
• Use a different paintbrush for each color and splatter one color until done with that color, then repeat with other colors until all cookies are decorated.
• Let cookies dry overnight.
• Arrange on a serving platter and enjoy!

• Plan Ahead: It is best to start making these cookies 2-3 days before serving to allow the icing to completely dry.
• Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.