Decorated Grinch Cookies are guaranteed to bring a smile. The Grinch’s wobbly grin makes everyone grin back. These chocolate and vanilla sugar cookie sticks are the perfect shape for dunking in a glass of milk or a mug of hot chocolate. Bake a batch and share some Whoville-style Christmas cheer!
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I made these Decorated Grinch Cookies for a Grinch-themed military care package I sent to my adopted soldier for Christmas. This post is part of a series that also includes Grinch Brownies and a Grinch Care Package resource guide.
I like including iced sugar cookies in care packages because they travel well and can stay fresh for two weeks or longer. With simple step-by-step designs, even a beginner decorator can create cookies that add a special touch to themed packages.
I usually use a round cutter for decorated sugar cookies because circles are compact, have no fragile corners, and pack well. Circles also suit many designs like snowmen, Elf on the Shelf, or spring flowers. For these Grinch cookies I switched to long, thin rectangles—cookie sticks—because the shape works nicely for the Grinch face and is fun to dunk.
Cookie sticks are trendy among cookie decorators; there are even cutters made specifically for them. The narrow shape encourages focused designs: a small section of a character, like the Grinch’s face, can suggest the whole figure. I kept the design simple so beginners can make cute, recognizable Grinches without advanced piping skills.
If you’re new to decorating, don’t be intimidated. Breaking the design into small steps makes this project approachable. My own obstacle is perfectionism—I often fixate on tiny imperfections—but these cookies are meant to be eaten and enjoyed, not framed. A slightly wobbly piped line tastes the same as a perfectly piped one.
One short text from my son helped me let go of perfectionism. After sending him a care package, he messaged to say thanks and that the Grinch cookies were “very Grinchy. Also tasty.” He hadn’t worried about missing eyebrows—he saw the cookies, smiled, and ate them. That’s the point.
To save time, I decorated half the cookie sticks with the Grinch face and the other half in solid green with sprinkles. For gifting and shipping I paired one Grinch cookie with one green sprinkled cookie in each self-sealing cellophane bag.
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING DECORATED GRINCH COOKIES
BASIC DECORATING TOOLS NEEDED
- Food coloring gel: green (I used Americolor Electric Green), red, yellow, black
- Black food coloring marker
- Disposable piping bags
- Decorating tips (#3, #4, #5)
- Christmas sprinkles
RECIPES NEEDED FOR GRINCH COOKIES
The quantities below yield 24 vanilla cookie sticks (1 ½” x 5″) and 24 chocolate cookie sticks (1 ½” x 5″). You’ll need two batches of icing to cover all 48 cookies.
- One batch Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- One batch Vanilla Sugar Cookies
- Two batches Glaze Icing
BAKING THE COOKIE STICKS
- Prepare one batch each of vanilla and chocolate sugar cookie dough according to your chosen recipes.
- Roll dough to 3/8″ thick on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of wax paper.
- Cut rectangles 1 ½” x 5″ and place on a prepared baking sheet about 2″ apart. Bake about 9 minutes or until edges are set.
- Cool on the baking sheet 5–10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
PREPARING THE ICING
- Prepare the first batch of glaze icing to a “white glue” consistency and tint it green with about 5 drops of gel color. Divide into two piping bags fitted with round #4 or #5 tips for easier handling.
- Prepare the second batch of icing. Remove 1/4 cup, tint it yellow for the eyes, and place in a piping bag with a round #3 tip. The remaining icing should be thinned slightly with tiny amounts of water to reach white-glue consistency.
- Remove 1/2 cup of the thinned icing and tint red for the hat and a small heart; place in a piping bag with a round #4 tip.
- Remove another 1/2 cup of icing and leave it white for the fur trim; place in a piping bag with a round #4 or #5 tip.
- To the remaining icing add 1 teaspoon baking cocoa and a few drops of black gel color to make the dark icing for outlines and details.
DECORATING THE GRINCH COOKIES
1. Use the black food marker to draw two wavy lines that mark the white fur trim of the Santa hat.
2. Outline the area below the lower wavy line with green icing, then flood-fill that area with green icing.
3. Trace over the wavy marker lines with black icing to define the fur trim. Allow the icing to set for an hour or longer.
4. Fill the fur trim area with white icing.
5. Use the red icing to outline and flood the hat area above the white trim.
6. Make a simple eye stencil from a small rectangle of paper the width of the cookie. Cut almond-shaped holes for the eyes so the stencil lines up under the hat.
7. With the stencil in place, use the black food marker to lightly dot the eye outlines.
8. Flood the dotted eye shapes with yellow icing. Pipe a small red heart on the lower right of the cookie as a whimsical accent. Allow the icing to dry another hour or more.
9. Use black icing to outline the yellow eyes, pipe a small “c”-shaped nose and a short vertical line beneath it. Add remaining facial details—eyebrows, pupils, lines above the nose, mouth, and chin—either with black icing or, after the icing has dried overnight, with a black food marker.
Let the decorated cookies dry overnight before storing or wrapping.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container with wax paper between layers for up to two weeks. Placing one or two cookies in a self-sealing cellophane bag helps preserve freshness and makes attractive gift packaging.
PACKING TIPS
Wrap or enclose each cookie in a self-sealing cellophane bag or plastic wrap. Pack wrapped cookies snugly in a storage container or freezer-grade zip-top bag to prevent shifting during transit.
Give cookie decorating a try and enjoy the process. Have fun! Your Decorated Grinch Cookies will taste even better because of the care and love you put into making them.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE CARE PACKAGE THEMES
For a full list of themed care package posts from The Monday Box, see the Military Care Package Ideas section on the blog.
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