Make This Llama Orange-Spiced Cookies Recipe for the Holidays
Ingredients
- 130 grams butter (softened)
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 350 grams plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- gel food coloring
- Christmas-themed sprinkles (stars and holly)
Directions
In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add in egg and mix until just incorporated. Gradually add flour, spices and zest while mixing on low speed until all ingredients are combined. Shape into 2 discs, then wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
When ready to roll dough, line a large baking tray with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 350°F. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, then cut dough using a llama cookie cutter.
For the llama with the Santa hat, use a small triangle cookie cutter to cut off the top right corner of the llama. Cut out triangles, and stick onto the rest of the llama with egg white.
Place in freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.
Leave cookies to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating. In the meantime, begin to prepare the royal icing. The majority of the icing used will be beige, for the base. This consistency will need to be quite thin, as the cookies will be dipped into the icing. The rest of the colors needed are: white, black, red, yellow, blue and green.
Time to decorate! First, dip all the cookies into the beige icing. Gently tap the cookie to drip off excess icing, then place on a tray to dry.
When the outside coating has set, you can pipe on the face using white icing. Allow to dry completely before drawing on facial expressions.
We’re almost done! Below are three different festive designs to further decorate these cute llamas! You can choose your favorite, or go for all three of them.
Christmas Tree: Add gold star sprinkles at the top of the llamas, using icing as glue. Pipe on thin black lines for the “strings” of the Christmas lights, then add red, blue, yellow and green icing in teardrop shapes to resemble lights.
Santa Hat: Fill in the Santa hat with red icing, and leave to dry. In the meantime, using holly and heart sprinkles, add bow ties and buttons to the body of the llama. When the red icing has dried, pipe on the white sections of the hat with thick royal icing through a small star tip.
Scarf: Attach holly sprinkles to the top of the llama using icing as glue, and outline the scarf. In a zigzag motion, pipe on scarf details with green and red icing. The consistency of the icing will need to be thicker, in order to achieve the knitted texture.
