Easy cookie decorating without baking

Check out these great Christmas cookie decorating ideas for pre-made cookies! There are also decorating ideas for store-bought fudge and candies!

Related story The Ina Garten Christmas Cookies We'll Be Making All Season Long

Fun and frugal cookies

No mess, no fuss, just decorating fun!

Santa Claus Nutter Butter Christmas Cookies

Using store-bought peanut butter sandwich cookies. 

Ingredients:

• Nutter Butter Sandwich Cookies
• Pillsbury canned white frosting
• Red sanding sugars (hat)
• Vanilla chips (mini size) (decoration for hat)
• Chocolate chips (mini size) (eyes)
• Red Hot candies (nose)

Directions:

Here’s what we did…

1. Hat: Spread white frosting or melted white chocolate over top part of Nutter Butter cookie.
2. Beard: Spread bottom of Nutter Butter cookie.
3. While still moist, sprinkle part of hat with red sanding sugars, leaving a brim of white. Add vanilla chip on hat for decoration, chocolate chips for eyes and red hot candy for nose — use a dab of frosting as the “glue.”

Snowman Nutter Butter Christmas Cookies

Here’s what we did… We covered the entire cookie with canned vanilla frosting. We used a rolling pin to flatten various colors of Gum Drop Candies and cut in strips for scarfs, pieces for hats, eyes, etc. These were really really cute! Thanks to Better Homes and Gardens “Holiday Baking” Cookbook although we did our own thing!

Related story The Ina Garten Christmas Cookies We'll Be Making All Season Long

Sugar Cone Spruce Trees

Using pointy-tip sugar ice cream cones 

Ingredients:

• Ice cream cones with pointy ends
• Pillsbury canned vanilla frosting
• 1 can Green Spray Mist
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Green food coloring (we used the paste)
• Mini assorted color candies

Directions:

1. We sprayed each cone with Green Spray Mist to cover. Add Confectioner’s sugar to canned frosting to thicken (if you use frosting out of the can, it will be too soft to hold the star decorating — ask us, we tried it!)
2. Using a pastry bag with a star tip, we quickly covered the entire cone (put tip close to ice cream cone, squeeze bag and pull up and away quickly). White the frosting is still moist, push candies into the frosting.

 

Christmas Cookie Sleds

 

Ingredients:

• Graham crackers
• Pillsbury canned vanilla frosting
• Mini candy canes
• Candy Jimmies sprinkles
• Red licorice laces

Directions:

1. Cut each graham cracker in half (trying to break the cookie was usually disasterous and we had to just eat them, dipped in frosting first, of course!)
2. We spread white frosting over graham cracker, leaving some of the cookie showing around all sides.
3. While the frosting is still moist, we added various colors of Candy Jimmies and even added some crumbled Christmas candies (used a zipper lock bag and a rolling pin to get mini chunks).
4. We added the red licorice laces.

 

Christmas Tree Round Cookies

Using already-made round cookies or cookie dough from the grocery store.

Ingredients:

• Round sugar cookies
• Pillsbury canned vanilla frosting
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Green food coloring (we used paste)
• Red Hot candies

Directions:

1. We added some confectioner’s sugar to the frosting and then added a dab of green food coloring, mixing well, until we got the color green we wanted.
2. I used a pastry bag with a writing tip and my grandson cut the tip off a zipper lock bag and we started at the top of the cookie, making one continuous line of zig-zag frosting to form the tree.
3. While frosting was still moist, we added one Red Hot candy to the top of the tree. Can’t get much faster than this!

 

Santa Cookies

Using already-made Madeleine Cookies from the cookie section of your grocery store 

Ingredients:

• Madeleine Cookies
• Red Spray Mist
• Pillsbury canned vanilla frosting
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Red, blue and green food coloring (we used paste)
• Cherry or red candy for the nose

Directions:

1. We sprayed the top third of the Madeleine cookie with Red Spray Mist. We colored a small portion of the vanilla frosting: green for holly leaves, red for holly berries and blue for eyes.
2. I dabbed on white frosting for brim of the hat, tip of the hat, eyes and beard just to cover the cookie. Using a pastry bag with a writing tip, I added touches of white lines and squigglies to accent the brim and tip of the hat to resume fur and smaller squiggly lines to resemble Santa’s curly beard. Add blue eyes, green leaves and red holly berries. Using a star tip, add mouth and rose red cheeks. Add cherry or red candy piece for the nose using a dab of frosting to hold it to the cookie.

 

Cookie Cutter Gifts

Using inexpensive tin or plastic cookie cutters, fill with fudge and decorate! You can make your own homemade fudge or buy it pre-made. I made these holiday gifts for many years, and the cookie cutter is a lasting gift after the fudge has been eaten!

After frosting decorating has dried, wrap each one in clear cellophane bag and tie with ribbon.

Snowman fudge directions:

Spread white frosting over entire Snowman fudge. Color a little white frosting: Black for the hat, red for the scarf and mittens. Using black frosting, dab on the hat and while still moist, sprinkle with white sanding sugars. While the white frosting is still moist, sprinkle with white sanding sugars. Dab on red frosting for mittens and scarf and add star candy confetti sprinkles, one at a time. Add mini candies for eyes, mouth and coal buttons.

Up next: Santa Crackers, Snowman 3-Dimensional Cookies, Crispy Tree Treats and more!