Flag cookies for Simchat Torah are ordinary butter cookie dough given a new shape: a rectangle with a dough stick instead of a circle, decorated with colorful icing that turns it into a real flag in a child's hand.

How to shape the flag

Roll the dough to an even thickness, not too thin, since a thin flag breaks easily once it's held up on its stick. Cut rectangles about the size of a palm, and leave a long narrow strip attached to one side of each to serve as the flag's stick, so flag and stick are one piece.

Before baking, gently score a few lines with the edge of a knife on the rectangle to suggest stripes, so even before icing it already reads as a flag. That way they bake as one and don't come apart when a child holds the flag.

The icing and the batch size

The colorful icing is made from powdered sugar and a little water, split into a few bowls with different food coloring. Pipe it on with a small piping bag only after the cookies have cooled completely, or the icing melts and runs off the shape.

This recipe makes about 20 medium flag cookies, enough to hand out among a few kids before the hakafot. Bake them Thursday evening or Friday morning, so they're fresh and ready before the holiday sets in.

Flag Cookies for Simchat Torah

Butter cookies shaped like flags on a dough stick with colorful icing, made for handing out before Simchat Torah hakafot.

Flag Cookies for Simchat Torah
Servings: 20 cookiesPrep time: 1 hr 30 minCook time: 12 minTotal time: 1 hr 42 min

Ingredients

  • 8.75 oz / 250 g butter (softened)
  • 7 oz / 200 g sugar (about 1 cup)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 13 oz / 375 g all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 8 oz / 225 g powdered sugar (for icing, about 2 cups)
  • 3 tbsp water (for icing)
  • food coloring (a few colors of your choice)

Instructions

  1. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla and beat again.

  2. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until a uniform dough forms.

  3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

  4. Preheat the oven to 340°F / 170°C and roll the dough to about a quarter inch thick.

  5. Cut rectangles for the flags, leaving a narrow strip attached to one side of each as the stick, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

  6. Bake about 12 minutes until the edges just start to turn golden, then cool completely on a wire rack.

  7. Make the icing from powdered sugar and water, divide among bowls with coloring, and pipe onto the cooled cookies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes, it keeps in the fridge up to two days, wrapped well in plastic wrap.

Does the icing crack easily?
Only if you pipe it onto a still-warm cookie. Wait until the cookie is fully cool before decorating.

How long do the cookies keep?
Up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature, kept away from moisture.