Sugar Cookie House Mug Toppers

Hot chocolate bombs are super trendy right now and make great gifts. In order to make them even sweeter, why not add a homemade mini sugar cookie house mug topper? Not only do they look adorable, but they taste so good!

In this Instructable, I will show you how to make these cute little houses with just a few ingredients. The decorating possibilities are endless, so unleash your creativity and follow these steps to begin.

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Royal Icing, for assembly & decorating
• sprinkles and sanding sugar, as desired for decorating

Tools:

• Bowls
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Electric mixer
• Rolling pin
• Parchment paper
• Cookie sheet
• Cookie cutters
• Piping bags and tips

Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl with a whisk.

Step 3: Cream Butter and Sugar

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer with paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Step 4: Add Egg and Vanilla

Beat in egg and vanilla.

Step 5: Add Flour, Wrap and Chill

Add flour mixture and stir on low until combined. Turn out on the counter and form into a flattened disc, about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Step 6: Roll Out Dough, Cut Out and Bake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Cut out front, back, sides and roof of house using a mini house cookie cutter set. You will need a front, a back, 2 sides and 2 roof panels to make each house. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 12 - 14 minutes until edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Step 7: Decorate House Pieces

The houses are much easier to decorate before assembly, so decorate each piece with royal icing and sprinkles as desired and let dry completely. For these houses, I filled decorating bags with white and light blue royal icing and fitted them with #2 decorating tips. I flooded the front, back and sides with blue icing and the roof panels with white icing and sprinkled with sanding sugar. After that dried for about an hour, I piped details like the windows and doorways with white icing and added sprinkles. Feel free to keep it simple or get as creative as you like here!

Step 8: Assemble the Houses

After all the pieces have dried, assemble into houses using thick royal icing. Pipe a line of icing on the edge of each side panel and affix to the front panel. I found it easier to make this side/front assembly for all of the houses at once. This allowed the first ones to dry as I was completing the rest.

Next pipe a line of icing on the exposed edges of the side panels and attach the rear panel. Repeat for all the houses. After this has dried a bit, it's time to assemble the roofs. Pipe icing along the top edges for the front and back of the house and add the 2 roof panels. Repeat for all of the houses.

To finish, pipe icing along the peak and edges of the roof to fill in.

Step 9: Make Some Hot Chocolate and Enjoy!