Marius Cookies

Inspired by a classic Norwegian knitting pattern, these decorated sugar cookies are sure to bring a sense of "hygge" to your home. Be sure to scroll all the way through for step-by-step instructions as well as tips on making and storing these delicious treats.

While there are many things that are quintessentially Norwegian, there are few things that come to mind quite as quickly as cozy winter nights nestled in front of a crackling fire in the dead of winter and warm, hand-knit sweaters. Preferably together.

And few things shout Norwegian sweaters quite like the Marius pattern.

How to make these Norwegian cookies

First, make your sugar cookies.

Start by making your cookies and allowing them to cool overnight. I decided to make chocolate sugar cookies, but you can really use any flavor you want.

I wrote a whole post on making sugar cookies, including common sugar cookie problems and how to fix them, so be sure to check that out if you’re new to sugar cookie baking.

To make these sugar cookies, follow the directions in chocolate sugar cookie post. Once your dough is made, flatten it into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead it on a lightly floured surface until malleable. Roll the dough out to about ¼″ thick and cut it out using a round cookie cutter.

Bake your cookies at 350F for 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie cutter you used, or until the tops are no longer shiny. My largest cookies took about 8 minutes to bake.

Second, whip up a batch of royal icing.

You’re going to want about a 20-second consistency for this recipe. If you’re not familiar with consistencies or working with royal icing, check out my comprehensive guide to royal icing.

In a nutshell, a 20-second consistency means that you can pick up a spoonful of icing, drop it back in the bowl and it will take roughly 20 seconds to reabsorb completely.

Finally, ice your cookies.

Traditionally, the Marius design uses a dark, navy blue base with white and red accents, but I've also seen a white base with navy blue and red accents. I decided to do both for my cookies, but you don't have to; both are in keeping with the traditional design.

Color a few tablespoons of icing red and divide the remaining icing into two equal parts. Tint one navy blue.

Pour your white and blue icing into two separate piping bags and use it to ice the tops of your cookies. Using a swirling, circular motion with a toothpick, work the icing out to the edge of the cookie and into any area around the face outline that the icing didn’t naturally move into.

Pour the remaining blue and white icing into separate bowls, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for later.

Once you're royal icing base has dried, you can start adding the pattern.

Starting at the top of your cookie with the red icing and a small round tip (either clipped in the bag or a #1 piping tip), pipe a straight line of icing across the top.

Pipe another line of red icing just about a centimeter below the first. Connect the lines by making small dots of icing.

To make the square part of the red design, make four dots of icing (two across and two down). These squares should be two dots of icing apart (I'm including the blank spaces on the line in this number).

Once the red design is finished, you can move onto the blue/white design. If your base color is blue then you'll need white for this part, but if your base is white, you'll need blue.

This icing should be the same consistency as the red icing. Start by piping two lines about a centimeter apart, and connecting them with small dots of icing.

Starting in the middle, and using the band you just made as a guide to help keep your design straight, pipe an X shape using dots. The X should be nine dots down one side, and nine down the other.

At this point, I like to pipe another band at the bottom of the X design with two lines about a centimeter apart connected by dots to help keep the design straight. You can choose to do this step now, or at the very end.

Back to the X design, pipe two Vs, one in the top of the X, and one in the bottom. Add a small dot of icing at the top and bottom of the X.

Depending on what hand you pipe with, you can now choose to start working your design to the left or right (if you're right handed, go to the right, if you're left handed, go to the left). Using the dots that make up the X as a guideline, pipe a diamond shape.

Fill the diamond in with dots of icing. Make another X, using the diamond as a guide, and fill it in the same way you did the first.

Continue this pattern until you reach the end of the cookie. Turn the cookie around so you can continue working in the same direction as before, and fill in the rest of the design using the same method.

Let the cookies dry overnight before packaging.

Tips for making these cookies

• Working ahead: Sugar cookie dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up 5 days before use. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months. To use frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.
• To prevent butter bleed, cool your cookies on a cooling rack rather than the pan, make sure they’re completely cool before working with them (I like to leave them out over night so they cool and dry as much as possible).
• If your cookies spread during the baking process, use the same cookie cutter to “cut them out” again immediately after removing them from  the oven. When the cookies are hot and soft, you can make a clean cut.
• Royal icing darkens as it dries: whatever color you want on your cookie, you’ll want to mix it slightly lighter as it will darken as it dries.
• Some colors are hard to mix: red and black in particular can be difficult colors to mix. The good news is that they will darken as they dry. It also helps to use a highly pigmented gel food coloring like “super black” or “super red” by Americolor.
• Make more of each icing color than you think you’ll need: because royal icing darkens as it dries, it’s very hard to match a color if you end up not having enough. It’s always a good idea to make more of a color than you think you’ll need.
• If you end up with any little air bubbles in your icing, you can pop those with your toothpick or quilling tool.
• Storage: Cookies can be stored in a cool, dark place in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!

Recipe

Marius Cookies

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Inspired by a classic Norwegian knitting pattern, these decorated sugar cookies are sure to bring a sense of "hygge" to your home

• Author: Claire Gregory
• Prep Time: 8 hours
• Total Time: 8 hours
• Yield: 12
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking

Ingredients

• A dozen sugar cookies
• A batch of royal icing
• Red and blue food gel coloring

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Instructions

1. Make a half batch of chocolate sugar cookies. Cut the cookies out with large, round cookie cutters.
2. Make a full batch of royal icing that has a 20 second consistency.
3. Tint a few tablespoons of royal icing red, and then divide the remaining icing into two equal parts. Tint half of the remaining icing a dark blue.
4. Pour the dark blue and white icings into separate piping bags and pipe directly onto the cookies. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the icing into any bare patches.
5. Empty the remaining blue and white icing from the piping bags into separate bowls and cover with plastic wrap.
6. Allow the icing to dry completely (at least 8 hours or overnight).
7. Whip the remaining icing for each color until it reaches a piping consistency.
8. Pour the icing into separate bags and snip a small, round hole in the end of each (or use a #1 piping tip).
9. Starting at the top with the red, pipe a line of icing followed by a second line of icing about a centimeter below the first.
10. Connect the lines by making small dots of icing.
11. Add four dots of red icing that are two across and two down to the bottom line to create squares.
12. Using the remaining color that is not the same as the base coat of icing, pipe two lines about a centimeter apart, connecting them with small dots of icing.
13. Starting in the middle, and using the band you just made as a guide to help keep your design straight, pipe an X shape using dots. The X should be nine dots down one side, and nine down the other.
14. Pipe another band at the bottom of the X design with two lines about a centimeter apart, connecting them with small dots of icing.
15. Pipe two Vs, one above the top of the X, and one below it.
16. Add a small dot of icing at the top and bottom of the X.
17. Using the dots that make up the X as a guide, pipe a diamond shape.
18. Fill the diamond in with dots of icing.
19. Make another X, using the diamond as a guide, and fill it in the same way you did the first. Continue this pattern until you reach the end of each side of the cookie.
20. Let the cookies dry overnight before packaging.

Notes

• Working ahead: Sugar cookie dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up 5 days before use. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months. To use frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.
• To prevent butter bleed, cool your cookies on a cooling rack rather than the pan, make sure they’re completely cool before working with them (I like to leave them out over night so they cool and dry as much as possible).
• If your cookies spread during the baking process, use the same cookie cutter to “cut them out” again immediately after removing them from  the oven. When the cookies are hot and soft, you can make a clean cut.
• Royal icing darkens as it dries: whatever color you want on your cookie, you’ll want to mix it slightly lighter as it will darken as it dries.
• Some colors are hard to mix: red and black in particular can be difficult colors to mix. The good news is that they will darken as they dry. It also helps to use a highly pigmented gel food coloring like “super black” or “super red” by Americolor.
• Make more of each icing color than you think you’ll need: because royal icing darkens as it dries, it’s very hard to match a color if you end up not having enough. It’s always a good idea to make more of a color than you think you’ll need.
• If you end up with any little air bubbles in your icing, you can pop those with your toothpick or quilling tool.
• Storage: Cookies can be stored in a cool, dark place in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Keywords: norwegian cookies, sugar cookie decorating

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Update Notes: This post was originally published in December of 2013 but was republished with step-by-step photos and tips in November of 2021.