These Christmas wreath cookies are decorated with pretty poinsettia and twigs on deliciously buttery and soft sugar cookies. An awesome tutorial for anyone wanting to learn how to decorate wreath cookies.
Christmas Wreath Cookies
I made these wreath cookies for Christmas. The inspiration for these Christmas cookies came from a wreath I saw in a shopping mall last weekend. It was made of dark brown twigs with lovely red poinsettia at the bottom and holly berries randomly placed all around the twigs.
And so I translated that Christmas wreath into my sugar cookies which I baked using my perfect homemade sugar cookies recipe.
This is the best sugar cookies recipe for anyone wanting to get hold of a good cut out cookies recipe. The baked cookies remain the same shape after baking and are therefore perfect for making any cut out cookies.
In my other post on Christmas snowflake sugar cookies (which I decorated with fondant cutouts using the same cookie-cutter I used to cut out the cookies), you will see that the cutouts fitted the cookies perfectly. This just proves my claim that my sugar cookies hold their shape so well, you do not need any other recipe for cut out cookies.
How to Make Christmas Wreath Cookies
These were the main supplies I used to make the Christmas cookies:
Raw Material
- Sugar cookies – I used my homemade sugar cookies recipe to bake the cookies. For the recipe amount mentioned on my recipe page, I was able to make approximately 44 cookies measuring 6.5 cm in diameter and with the hole in the center measuring 2.5 cm in diameter.
- Star sprinkles – These are tiny star-shaped, gold sprinkles that I used randomly on the wreath.
- Fondant – I used Satin Ice in dark chocolate for the twigs, and red and yellow for the poinsettia and holly berries. I also used white fondant which I tinted green for the leaves.
- Food coloring – I used Americolor Olive green to tint my white fondant green for the leaves on the wreath.
Tools
- Teardrop plunger cutter set – I used 2 cutters from this set, the smaller ones for the poinsettia , and the larger one for the green leaves.
- Round scalloped cutter set – I used 2 cutters from this set to cut out these Christmas cookies. A larger one for the outer diameter and a smaller one to cut out the hole in the center.
- Star fondant tool – I used this tool to shape the poinsettia flower centers before adding the yellow centers.
- Scriber needle tool – I used this tool to mark the lines for the leaves as well as to attach the star sprinkles onto the wreath. You will see in the tutorial below how to use the needle tool to effectively attach the tiny star sprinkles onto the decorated Christmas cookies.
- Fondant glue – This was the gluing agent for this cookie decorating project.
And this was how I baked and assembled these Christmas wreath cookies:
Baking the cookies
- Start with the cookies. With my sugar cookies recipe, the cookies can be baked up to one week in advance. Store them in an airtight container and they will remain crisp and fresh as freshly baked. For the recipe amount on my sugar cookie recipe page, I was able to make 44 Christmas wreath cookies.
- To make sure all your cookies are of a standard height, place 2 dowel rods on either side of your cookie dough when rolling it. The rods will make sure you do not roll your dough too thin nor too thick and the thickness will follow the diameter of your rods.
- Also, when rolling the dough, do it between 2 parchment sheets. That helps prevent the dough from sticking to your workspace and rolling pin, and it also helps to release the cookies better after cutting.
To make the Christmas wreath cookies, start by cutting out a medium sized round cookie dough.
Use a smaller round scalloped cutter to cut out a hole in the center of the cookies.
Once the cookies are baked, if you intend to decorate them immediately, let them cool down to room temperature first.
How to Make Fondant Poinsettia
- Start the decorating by making the poinsettia first. Since these are mini-sized, there is no special cutter for these flowers. I used my teardrop plunger cutter set to make them.
Cutting the petals
- Knead and roll some red thin. Cut out 12 teardrop petals for each poinsettia.
- It is faster to make the flowers all at once, so you can actually cut out all the petals at once and keep them covered as you form the flowers.
- Once the petals are all cut, pinch the pointed ends to make them slightly more pointy.
Assembling the petals
- Start by placing 3 petals as shown below.
- Apply some glue at the rounded ends of each petal.
- Arrange another 3 petals on top of the first set of petals, making sure these are placed right in between the earlier petals set.
Repeat the process with another set of 3 petals, making sure the petals are placed in between the earlier set of petals.
- Finish off the petals with a final set of 3 petals.
- This is how the flower should look like with all the 12 petals on. Notice how the petals are all well distributed and the pointy ends visible from the top.
Shaping the poinsettia
- Next, lift the flower, put it onto a flower former (or any container that is rounded to help the flower set in a rounded form) that has been well dusted with cornstarch and use a star tool to press in the center of the flower.
The flower centers
- For the yellow centers, use some yellow to form 3 tiny balls. Apply glue to the center of the flower and place the yellow centers right in the center of each flower.
- Complete all the flowers and leave them aside to set while you complete the rest of the cookies deco. If you wish, you can even make these in advance.
How to Make Fondant Twigs for a Fondant Wreath
- Next is the twigs for the Christmas wreath. Roll some dark chocolate fondant into a long thin strip or a few shorter strips.
- Gather 4 layers of the strips together and twist them gently to form a twisted rope. The twisting does not have to be perfect nor does it have to be closely formed.
- Brush your cookie with some glue and attach the twisted brown twigs as shown. Place it towards the outer circumference of the wreath and cut off the excess.
- Repeat the process for another layer of twisted brown twigs, this time with only 3 strips of the fondant. Attach the strip below the earlier one and trim off the excess. In deciding on the length of the twigs on the cookie, place 3 of your poinsettia on the cookies and trim off the brown twigs right where the flowers row starts and ends.
How to Assemble Christmas Wreath Cookies
Attaching the leaves
- Once all the twigs are done, it’s time to attach the leaves and flowers. To make the leaves, tint some white fondant with Americolor Olive food color until you achieve the desired depth of color. Roll it thin and use a slightly larger teardrop cutter than the one used for the petals to cut out the leaves. You will need 6 leaves for each cookie. Again, you can cut all the leaves for all your cookies at once and keep them covered as you work on them.
Shaping the leaves
- For each leaf, use your needle tool (or a toothpick or skewer) to imprint a line in the middle as shown. Start from the round end to the pointy end of each cutout. Next, pinch the pointy ends slightly to make them look like leaves.
- Attach the first 4 leaves to the Christmas cookies (with some glue) in the order shown below:
Attaching the flowers
- Next, add 2 flowers on either side of the twigs’ ends (with a light brush of glue). Place another 2 leaves after the flowers.
- And complete the circle with the final poinsettia in the center. Adjust the flowers and leaves as necessary.
Adding the holly berries
- Once the poinsettias and the leaves are all in place, make the holly berries. Pinch tiny bits of red and form them into smooth balls.
- Group them into 3s and attach 3 sets onto each cookie. Start with the first set directly opposite the centermost poinsettia. Apply a light brush of glue so that the berries stay in place. Attach another 2 sets of the berries on either side of the wreath as shown.
Christmas themed cookies
The star sparkles
- Once the berries are done, it’s time to add on the star sprinkles. Since these are so thin and tiny, attaching them with fingers can be quite hard. The best way is to dip your needle tool in fondant glue, touch the star sprinkle with the tip (the stars will stick to the needle tool tip easily) and press it gently onto the wreath where you want to position the star (make sure to apply some glue to the wreath before placing the star on).
- Attach the stars randomly on the Christmas wreath, making sure they are well distributed on the wreath. After that, brush off any excess cornstarch on the decorated cookies with a soft brush.
Christmas Wreath Cookies
And with that, the Christmas wreath cookies are complete.
Top view of my decorated Christmas cookies
Hope this Christmas wreath cookies tutorial was useful. Happy decorating 🙂
Christmas Wreath Cookies
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