Caramel Apple Decorated Cookies
36 cookies
Beautiful Caramel Apple Cookies are fall-themed cut-out cookies decorated with royal icing in the easiest way. Learn how to bake sugar cookies and make easy royal icing and decorate the cookies with it.
Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookies:
- 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (420g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 recipe Royal icing click for the recipe!
- Green gel food coloring
- Brown gel food coloring
Instructions
To Make the Sugar Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, or 160°C fan oven. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until smooth, light in color and creamy (2-3 minutes).
- Add vanilla and egg and mix again until the egg is incorporated but don’t over whip (the longer you whip the egg, it can souffle up and the cookies will rise and you don’t want that).
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix again until just combined. Scrape the sides with a spatula so no dry flour is left. The cookie should pull away from the sides of the bowl (if it doesn’t add ½ cup of flour).
- Divide the dough into 4 portions, and roll out each using a rolling pin into ¼ inch thickness. Cut out using the apple cookie cutter and with the help of an offset spatula transfer to the cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes rotating at 6 minutes for even browning (one sheet at a time). Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely before icing the cookies.
To Decorate:
- Separate your royal icing into 3 small bowls. Leave one of them white. Add a few drops of green food coloring to one to create a nice bright green. Add brown food coloring to the third bowl to get brown. Fill your piping bags with the icing, and snip off the corners of the piping bags.
- Working on just a few cookies at a time, use the icing to outline and fill the brown part of the cookie (it should be uneven as if the apple was dipped in caramel - see image above), then do the same with the green part. If needed, use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles or coax the icing to fill in the corners. With the white icing, outline and fill to create the "stem".
- After the cookies are decorated, set aside on a cookie sheet or a wire rack, and allow the iced cookies to set/dry for at least 2 hours at room temperature, but preferably overnight.
Notes
- To Store: Decorated cookies with royal icing can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. The icing keeps the cookies from drying out. Undecorated cookies will stay fresh for up to 1 week if you’d like to make the cookies one day and then decorate them later.
- To Freeze: Seal the cookies in an airtight container with a layer of parchment or wax paper between layers. Decorated and undecorated sugar cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 236kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Sugar: 26g