These adorable red truck Christmas cookies are the perfect sweet treat for your farmhouse Christmas. So pretty on a platter, these cookies are almost too cute to eat.
WHY ARE RED TRUCKS SO POPULAR FOR CHRISTMAS?
Vintage red tucks with a tree in the bed have become popular and are seen all over the place at Christmas time. The pickup truck depicted in so many Christmas items is an old Chevy pickup.
I think this old red truck brings people back to memories of a simpler time. Seeing the Christmas tree in the back of the truck reminds folks of times that were more focused on family, and going into the woods and cutting down your own Christmas tree.
Vintage décor is popular, and this truck is straight out of a vintage period in American history.
INGREDIENTS FOR RED TRUCK CHRISTMAS COOKIES
This red truck Christmas cookie tutorial is going to show you how easy it is to decorate these Christmas sugar cookies.
- Sugar Cookie Dough
- Powdered Sugar
- Egg Whites
- Vanilla Extract
- Red Gel Food Coloring
- Black Gel Food Coloring
- Green Gel Food Coloring
- Yellow Star Sprinkles
- Truck Cookie Cutter
HOW TO DECORATE RED TRUCK CHRISTMAS COOKIES
You will hear a big theme in my recipe posts and that theme is finding short cuts and making it easier. One way to save you time in the kitchen is to buy store-bought sugar cookie dough.
You are welcome to make the sugar cookie dough from your favorite family recipe if you choose, but we went with a faster option here buy purchasing ready-made dough.
STEP ONE: MAKE COOKIES
This step will vary a little bit depending on if you are rolling out store-bought sugar cookie dough or making your own from scratch.
Either way…once you get the cookie dough, roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. I like to put down parchment paper and sprinkle it with a little bit of flour so the dough doesn’t stick.
Remember that the cookies shouldn’t be thinner than 1/4 inch thick or they will break easily and will be hard to decorate.
Use a truck cookie cutter to cut the shape out of the cookie dough. Remove the excess dough in between the truck shapes.
It is easiest to just transfer the sheet of parchment paper to a cookie sheet so you don’t have to move the cookie dough shapes.
Bake the cookies according to your family recipe or to the package directions. When the cookies are done, set them aside to cool.
STEP TWO: MAKE ICING
Make the icing in one batch and then separate out smaller amounts of icing to add food coloring for the colors you need.
Combine the powdered sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
Take 1/3 cup of the icing and place into a small bowl. Take another 1/3 cup of icing and place into another small bowl. Lastly take 1/2 cup of icing and place into a third small bowl.
STEP THREE: ADD COLOR TO ICING
In the bowl with the largest amount of icing add 5 or more drops of red gel food coloring. Stir this very well and add more color if needed to achieve the shade of red you are looking for.
In the bowl with the 1/2 cup of icing add around 9 drops of green gel food coloring and stir to get the shade of green you desire.
In one of the 1/3 cup icing bowls add 9 drops of black gel food coloring and stir to get a nice solid black icing.
The last bowl gets about 4 drops of black gel food coloring and will be stirred to make gray icing.
STEP FOUR: DECORATE COOKIES
Use piping bags with a small round tip.
Place each of the icing colors into a separate piping bag.
- Pipe the red icing to make an edge line all the way around the outer edge of each cookie where you want the truck body to be and immediately fill it in, covering the truck’s whole body with red icing. Do this with each cookie and then let this layer dry for 2-3 hours.
- With the black icing, pipe an outline of the tire shape on both the inside and outside rings. Immediately fill it in, covering the tire’s whole outer ring. Then add one 1/4-inch long line of black icing to make a door handle.
- Use the green icing and pipe the outline of the Christmas tree shape then fill it in with icing so it covers the whole tree area. Let these layers dry for another 2-3 hours.
- Now use the red icing to trace the shape of the truck door and any other outline areas you want to make such as fenders.
- Use the gray icing and fill in the center of the hole for the tire rims. Pipe and outline for the truck window and fill that area in right away. Then pipe an outline for each of the bumpers and fill those in too.
- Add some dots of red icing for ornaments on the tree.
- Last, add a drop of red icing to the top of the tree and immediately add a yellow star sprinkle on top of the dot so the star will stay in place.
- Let all this dry for 2 or 3 more hours.
- Store cookies in a covered airtight container.
RED TRUCK CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECIPE
Print off the complete ingredients and instructions for this fun Christmas cookie recipe via the recipe card below.
Adorable Red Truck Christmas Cookies
Equipment
- Piping Bags
- Small round decorating tips for piping bags
- Parchment Paper
- Farm Truck Cookie Cutter
Ingredients
- 2 tubes Store-bought sugar cookie dough ready to roll and bake
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Red gel food coloring
- Black gel food coloring
- Green gel food coloring
- Yellow Star Sprinkles
Instructions
- Roll out store-bought sugar cookie dough to 1/4-inch thick on parchment paper.
- Use a farm truck cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Remove the dough between the cookies instead of moving the cookie after the shape has been cut.
- Transfer the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies onto your baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies according to package directions.
- Leave the cookies on the parchment paper and transfer them to a rack, allowing the cookies to cool completely before you frost them.
- In order to make the icing, combine all of the icing ingredients in a small bowl and beat on low speed until smooth.
- Set aside about ⅓ cup of icing in a second bowl; set aside about ⅓ cup of icing in a third bowl, and about ½ cup of icing in a fourth bowl.
- Use the larger portion of icing and add 5-ish drops of red food coloring then stir it until the color is the red you want.
- With one smaller portion of icing, add 9 drop of black food coloring and stir it until the color is the black you want. Put this black icing in an airtight container and set aside.
- Use the other smaller portion of icing, add 4-ish drop of black food coloring and stir it until the color is the grey you want. Put this grey icing in an airtight container and set aside.
- With the ½ cup portion of icing, add 9-ish drop of green food coloring and stir it until the color is the green you want. Put this green icing in an airtight container and set aside.
- Place the red icing in a decorating bag with your smallest round tip. Pipe an edge line all the way around the outer edge of each cookie where you want the truck body to be and immediately fill it in, covering the truck’s whole body. Allow this layer of icing to dry for 2-3 hours.
- With the black icing, pipe an outline of the tire shape on both the inside and outside rings. Immediately fill it in, covering the tire’s whole outer ring. Add one ¼-inch long line of black icing for a door handle.
- Use the green icing to pipe the outline of the Christmas tree shape. Immediately fill it in, covering the tree’s whole area. Allow this layer of icing to dry for 2-3 hours.
- With the red icing, trace the general shape of the truck door and any other outline areas you’d like to make, including fenders
- Use the grey icing to fill in the center of the hole for the tire’s rim; pipe an outline for the truck’s window and immediately fill this in; and pipe an outline for each of the bumpers and immediately fill them in.
- With the red icing, add dots of “ornaments” on the Christmas tree, adding one at the top of each tree, then immediately pressing a yellow star sprinkle into this dot of red icing. Allow this layer of icing to dry for 2-3 hours.
- Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container in a single layer.
If you loved this Christmas recipe be sure to check these other great holiday recipes out:
- Christmas Angel Cupcakes
- Christmas Appetizer Tree
- Easy Rolo Pretzel Rudolph Noses
- Adorable Grinch Cookies for Christmas
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