Sugar cookies are a must in my house during Christmas.  My kids look forward all year until they get to help me make the sugar cookies and then decorate them.  I was having a really hard time finding a good sugar cookie recipe that held it's shape. It seemed that no matter what I did the sugar cookies just spread and lost their shape too much and became a big blob. It was always so disappointing because we cut out these cute shapes and then after baking them, they just looked so ugly.  Well, no more! These sugar cookies are perfect and hold their shape with no problem and minimal chilling time.

Not only did they turn out perfect after baking but they tasted so good.  The sugar ratio is just right and they are not too sweet.  I am not a fan of super sweet sugar cookies because you always add frosting or icing to them so you don't want the cookie itself to be too sweet. These are just right and even without frosting, they are so good.  This is also coming from someone who really isn't a fan of sugar cookies. They just aren't my favorite but since my boys love to decorate them so much I put up with them but these cookies I found myself not being able to stop eating them!
So for the frosting part, I wanted to demonstrate how to make them look extra pretty.  My sister in law, Katie Pinson, went to culinary school and then worked as a pastry chef for a few years so she was the perfect person to come and help show how to decorate them properly. I didn't want her to do anything too fancy because I wanted the rest of us to be able to do them and she delivered.  Not only did they turn out beautiful but they were not hard! After I watched her do it, I was able to go and decorate some of them myself and they didn't turn out half bad.
She used the flooding technique and it was quite simple to do. You want to make sure that the frosting is the right consistency.  As you add the water keep checking on it to make sure that you don't add too much.  If you do, just add a bit more sugar.  You want the icing to melt back into itself a few seconds after its drizzled.  The video down below demonstrates what the right consistency should be. When you are done making it, they just add the colors that you want.  She showed how to use it in a piping bag as well as the squeeze bottles.  She said that you get more of a precise line with the piping bag but the squeeze bottles are so convenient, especially when doing this with children. I could see the benefit to using both but I will for sure be using the squeeze bottles when I decorate with my own children.  They are a lot easier to use.
You can also use sprinkles or any other decorations that you want with this icing to make them extra fun.  After you are done decorating them let them dry overnight before serving.  Another reason that I loved these so much was that they weren't very messy.  Regular frosted cookies turn  into a disaster with my kids but these were fairly tidy especially after they dried.  I also like that the frosting isn't too thick.  With a thin layer on top, it added just the right amount of sweetness.
I hope that you all give these a try because they are so fun and so good!  Also, don't be put off by the thought of doing royal icing because if I can do it, so can you! Decorating is not my strength but they turned out so cute and I bet Santa will be really happy to be eating these when he comes down our chimney.  Make sure to check out my YouTube channel for more great recipes and product reviews and make sure to watch the video down below to find out exactly how to make and frost these cookies.