Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure PolicyYou’re in for a treat today! I’m showing you how to make these Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies! They are a flavorful sugar cookie cut out into a mushroom shape and decorated with red and white royal icing. They are almost too cute to eat.
I know we are knee-deep into the Christmas season and you’re probably thinking, “Michael, mushrooms aren’t very Christmassy.” Well my friends, I’m here to tell you otherwise. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I decorated a Christmas tree in my family room in the colors of red and white. I also filled it with dozens of whimsical mushroom ornaments. They are pretty special. So in my world, mushroom cookies are totally Christmas.
(If you’re looking for even more Christmas cookie recipes, I have you covered. I have an entire post dedicated to my favorites. You can find that HERE.)
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I have to tell you how much fun I had making these cookies. This was the first time I’ve ever used royal icing to decorate a cut-out sugar cookie. I was a bit intimidated, but once I got the swing of things, I really enjoyed myself.
With that being said, royal icing can be tricky to master. You need just the right consistency for things to flow and to get a smooth cookie. If you’re a novice baker, set aside a good chunk of time when you dive into this recipe. You’ll need it, along with a good dose of patience.
Also, a shout-out to my friend Glory for this recipe, her fabulous tips and her encouragement. These Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies wouldn’t have been possible without her. She made some of these cookies for me last year and I went crazy over the orange / almond flavor combination. It’s ridiculous in the best way possible.
I’m going to walk you through the recipe now and share some tips along the way. You can find the full ingredient list and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
How to Make
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
To the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Beat on medium until light and fluffy: about 3 minutes. I really recommend a stand mixer for this as it’s a sturdy dough to beat.
Next, add the egg, zest from one orange, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Beat for another 1-2 minutes to combine; scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Now, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds. Start with your mixer on low, then speed up to combine. Continue adding and mixing until all of the flour is incorporated.
The dough will seem crumbly. This is normal. You’ll know the dough is ready when it starts pulling away from the side of the bowl and the bowl looks clean. Remove the bowl and knead the do ughwith your hands to fully combine and form into a ball.
Take half of the dough and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness. Then cut out your cookies into the desired shapes and place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the baking sheet of cookies into the freezer for about five minutes.
If you’re looking for the exact mushroom cookie cutters I used, you can find them HERE.
Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. (The time will depend on the size and thickness of your cookies.)
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for just about one minute. Then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
In the meantime, let’s make some royal licing.
Add the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Whisk to combine.
With the mixer on low, add one tablespoon of warm water at a time. Once all six tablespoons have been added, add in the corn syrup.
Continue to mix on low-medium speed adding more warm water, one tablespoon at a time, until you have achieved the desired consistency. The ideal consistency is something that is a bit thicker than corn syrup. As I mentioned above, making “proper” royal icing takes time and practice. You need to get a feel for it in order to know the consistency you need. It took me 30 minutes to figure it out and I still needed to adjust things. Have patience and take your time.
Once you’ve reached the ideal consistency, remove half of the royal icing and place it into a separate bowl. Add food coloring to achieve the desired color. I used mostly red, with a very small touch of orange. (I really like this food coloring HERE. I have the set and it’s fabulous. It is pricey, but it included a ton of colors and has lasted me for years. )
Transfer the icing to a piping bag or piping bottle. If you’re looking for the bottles I used, you can find them HERE. They worked wonderfully well! The tip is the perfect size for detail and flooding the cookie with icing.
Pipe the red icing onto the cookies first. Let it harden, then move onto the white icing.
Allow the icing to completely harden. Then pack and store these cookies in an airtight container.
And that’s it. Your Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies are complete and undoubtably looking as adorable as these mushroom cut-outs!
I think these are going to make the perfect addition to my Christmas cookie tray. Don’t you? They are so fun, unexpected, and crazy delicious. The orange / almond combination is off-the-chain yummy!
Looking for more festive cookie recipes? Try these:
- Pinwheel Christmas Cookies
- Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Christmas Sprinkle Cookie Cups
- Cream Horn Cookies
- Peppermint Kiss Cookies
- Classic Gingerbread Cookies
I hope you enjoyed this recipe and embrace the quirkiness these cookies add to the season. We need all of the unexpected joy and good cheer we can get – so spread some!
Happy baking!
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Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies
Orange-Almond Mushroom Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 orange zested
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Royal Icing:
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 6 tablespoons warm waterto start, plus 4-6 more
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- red and orange gel food coloring
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- To the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, the butter and sugar. Beat on medium until light and fluffy: about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg, zest from one orange, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Beat for another 1-2 minutes to combine; scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds. Start with your mixer on low, then speed up to combine. Continue adding and mixing until all of the flour is incorporated.
- The dough will seem crumbly in the bowl. You’ll know the dough is ready when it starts pulling away from the side of the bowl. Remove the bowl and knead the dough with your hands to fully combine and form into a ball.
- Take half of the dough and roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut out your cookies into the desired shapes and place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the baking sheet of cookies into the freezer for about five minutes.
- Remove baking sheet from the freezer and bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. (The time will depend on the size and thickness of your cookies.)
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for just about one minute. Then move the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- In the meantime, prepare the royal icing. Add the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Whisk to combine.
- With the mixer on low, add one tablespoon of warm water at a time. Once all six tablespoons have been added, add in the corn syrup.
- Continue to mix on low-medium speed adding more warm water, one tablespoon at a time, to achieve the desired consistency. The ideal consistency is something that is a bit thicker than corn syrup.*
- Remove half of the royal icing and place it into a separate bowl. Add food coloring to achieve the desired color. I used mostly red, with a very small touch of orange.
- Transfer the icing to a piping bag or piping bottle. (I’ve linked the bottles I used in the notes section below.)
- Pipe the red icing onto the cookies first. Let it harden, then move onto the white icing.
- Allow the icing to completely harden. Then pack and store these cookies in an airtight container.
These are adorable! Planning to make some for my daughters first birthday. Would they freeze and thaw okay? I’d like to make them a week or so in advance. Thank you!
Yep! I froze mine for Christmas and they looked just the same after taking them out of the freeze.
xo Michael
This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe I have ever made!! Everyone loves it!
Some of the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made; Incredible flavor & texture. I even refrigerated half the dough for 3 days before baking and the second batch came out just as perfect as the first. Perfection! Thank you for sharing.
Hi there,. Just made these. Tasty but sorry to say they are lacking in crispness that is often associated with sugar cookies.
I think that’s personal preference really. I prefer a soft sugar cookie. If you want these to be more crisp, you just need to bake them longer.
xo Michael
You know, these cookies are just fine and probably very good. But I’ve been a wild mushroom hunter for over 30 years and im just concerned that someone or even a child seeing one of these lookalikes in the wild would think that they are edible. They are extremely deadly. Not knocking your recipe because we’ve seen this type of mushroom on numerous tv shows and cartoons. Just don’t want someone getting extremely sick or worse.
So cute! Are these cookies soft or somewhat crispy? I’ve been looking for something inbetween.
Thanks!
I just read a home tour in Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas (I’m going back through old issues and saw (and of course LOVED) your tour), and the house featured Swedish decorations. Lots of Dala horses, Tamte, and sweet little red and white mushrooms just like you made.
Michael! You always amaze me, but truly – these are amazing! I feel like I can totally handle royal icing now, but I know that’s a lie. lol Love these!
You are making me want to try my hand at royal icing! Also, I love orange so these cookies sound fabulous!
I have been waiting for you to share these here! The absolute cutest cookies I’ve seen!
These are so fun, Michael! I’m so impressed with your royal icing skills and I love the how-to tips. Maybe I’ll finally try to tackle royal icing. So inspired!