How to Make Christmas Cactus Cookies

Because everyone makes Christmas trees.

The holidays are right around the corner, and these cookies may just prickle your fancy. Even though cactus sugar cookies may not be traditional, you can’t deny that these are an adorable take on Christmas. Take them to a party or give them to loved ones — they might just light up someone’s day.
 

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1 MAKE AND BAKE

Use a cactus cookie cutter to cut out the dough. Get the recipe.

While the cookies are cooling, you can prepare the icing. Using gel food coloring, dye the majority of the icing green. You’ll also need small portions of black, red, yellow and blue food coloring for the Christmas lights later on. Be aware that you may need to add more water or icing sugar to achieve the right consistency for each area. For instance, the finer details will need thicker icing, while the green cactus base should have icing that is easy to spread.

After mixing the coloring in, transfer the icing into piping bags fitted with thin tips, or just cut a small hole at the tip of the bags.

 

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2 ICE THE BASE

Using green icing, pipe outlines on the cookies. Fill in the the middle of the cookie, using a toothpick to smooth out the icing. Repeat this process with all the cookies, then leave to dry for an 1 hour or until the outer surface has set.
 

3 CACTUS TEXTURE

Using a thicker consistency icing than before, outline the cookies and add vertical lines for texture. Leave to dry for 30 minutes.
 

4 DETAILS

Pipe on diagonal black lines, which will be the ‘string’ for the Christmas lights. Add gold stars to the top of the cookies, using icing as the glue. If you don’t have gold sprinkles, paint stars of any color with a combination of gold luster dust and alcohol based liquid. Draw on some cute expressions to add character to the cacti.

 

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5 FINISHING TOUCHES

Pipe on Christmas lights with the prepared red, blue and yellow icing. Alternatively, you can use different colored sprinkles.

 

6 ENJOY!

If you want to package the cookies as gifts, leave them out to dry for at least 8 hours. Otherwise, go ahead and enjoy these cute cacti. Happy holidays!
 

About Vickie L.

Vickie is a baking and design creative - born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Her studies in Architecture and Interior Design can be seen through her creative eye for detail, which has led to collaborations with brands from all over the globe.