Get Into The Holiday Spirit And Design Your Cookies As Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Christmas time is the season for baking cookies. Think scrumptious chocolate chip, buttery shortbread, and, of course, fun and festive shape cookies topped with sprinkles and frosting. Speaking of shape cookies, most people go for standard cutouts such as reindeer, snowflakes, and mittens. However, this year, why not get a bit more creative and make ugly Christmas sweater cookies instead?

These cute treats involve cutting your dough into sweater shapes. Then, once they're baked, use frosting to create designs as intricate (or unappealing — after all, they are called ugly Christmas sweaters for a reason) as you like. Not only will the desserts look über cute, but they're also the perfect way to emphasize the theme for your holiday party.

If you want to make ugly Christmas sweater cookies of your own, there are a couple of considerations to keep in mind as you prep them. Afterward, cut them out, bake them as normal, and break out the toppings to decorate them!

The first step to making ugly Christmas sweater cookies is to choose what kind of dough you'll use. If you're after a more neutral flavor, a standard sugar cookie dough can work well here. However, you can also go for a twist by making a chocolate variety instead. Another option is to use a gingerbread men recipe instead. Whichever you choose, make sure that it can be rolled.

One more thing to consider as you prep your ugly Christmas sweater cookies is whether you'll use homemade dough or go for a store-bought version. The latter can come in mixes that require you to add a couple of ingredients, and in fully-made dough that's ready for you to cut out. Note that cookie dough from the supermarket may contain preservatives and other additives, even though it may save you some time. On the other hand, homemade recipes tend to be much more flavorful. 

You could also skip the baking altogether and buy a ready-to-decorate ugly sweater kit that comes with the cookies already baked (although this takes some of the fun out of the process).

Whichever you choose, once you've chosen a dough, it's time to roll it out on a table. You can either purchase a sweater-shaped cookie cutter or cut them out free-hand with a knife. Once you've cut all your dough, bake them according to the directions on the cookie dough recipe you're using.

When your cookies come out of the oven, it's time to get down to the decorating. This is where you're going to bring your cookies to life. The first step to decorating them is to make the right frosting. For decorating cookies, royal icing tends to be the best pick. Royal icing hardens once it goes cold, which makes it ideal for creating designs on your little sweaters.

You can also use a buttercream or a glacé icing, which consists of just icing sugar and water (or milk). However, a glacé icing is more prone to cracks, has a less shiny appearance, and takes longer to set. It also doesn't become as hard as royal icing once it's dry. For its part, buttercream may give your cookies a better taste, but it doesn't harden in the same way as royal icing does. Instead, it hardens slightly on the top, but underneath is still soft, and can make your cookies become this way over time as well.

Once you've chosen a frosting, feel free to separate it into different bowls. Then, add a few drops of different food colorings to each one. Finally, spoon the frosting into a plastic bag with a hole snipped in the corner or a piping bag and squeeze the icing onto your treats in whatever design you see fit. The result is a tray of deliciously ugly Christmas sweater cookies!