🎄 Holiday Baking, Balkan Style: How to Make Pig-Shaped Sugar Cookies (With Royal Icing!)

If you grew up in a Balkan home, you already know: holiday baking is a full-contact sport. Someone’s rolling dough, someone’s yelling “WHERE’S THE VANILIN ŠEĆER,” and someone else is guarding the oven like a hawk, waiting for the first batch to be ready for “testing”.

So today, we’re taking that beloved chaos and turning it into something adorably Balkan:
Roasted Pig Sugar Cookies — complete with royal icing.

These cookies are soft, buttery, nostalgic, and just the right amount of extra… which feels very on-brand for us.

And yes — we linked every single tool you need so you can bake right along with us.

Because nothing says “Sretni Praznici!” like cookies shaped like one of the most iconic Balkan Christmas foods. These pig-shaped cookies are a cute twist on the star of every Balkan celebration — the roasted pig. But instead of the rotisserie… these babies get baked, iced, and devoured.

This recipe is festive, funny, Balkan-coded, and dangerously delicious.
Plus, it’s the perfect “wait… WHAT?!” moment to bring to holiday parties this year.

This recipe has been for:

✔ Beginner bakers
✔ Holiday crowds
✔ Kids + cousins coming in “to check something”
✔ TikTok aesthetic moments
✔ Gifts, classroom treats, and holiday platters

🐷 Why Roasted Pig Cookies?

Because it’s the most iconic Balkan holiday energy you can bake into a cookie that will surprise everyone at the table this year while blending North American-Balkan culture. 

These cookies are:

• Funny and unexpected (everyone will laugh)
  

• Kid-friendly to decorate
  

• Perfect for holiday gifting (or to leave out for Santa with a cup of milk)
  

• A guaranteed conversation starter
  

• Easy to make with simple ingredients
  

And yes — they taste even better than they look.
(But they still look amazing.)

🎁 What You’ll Need

For those of you looking to save time, use store-bought dough! They’ll still taste just great and no one will know!

✔ Ingredients

For the Sugar Cookies

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
  

• 1 cup granulated sugar
  

• 1 egg
  

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

• ½ tsp almond extract
  

• 1 tsp baking powder
  

• ½ tsp salt
  
  

For the Royal Icing

• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  

• 2 tbsp meringue powder or pasteurized liquid egg whites
  

• 4–6 tbsp warm water
  

• Gel food colouring (pink + brown for shading)
  

• Optional: 1 tsp clear vanilla or almond extract

⭐ Shop the Tools Used in This Recipe

Baking is 100× easier with the right tools — and yes, we hand-picked the best options for you.

Everything we used — baking sheets, pig cookie cutters, gel food colouring, piping bags, and more is linked in our curated list:

Tools

🐷 Pig-Shaped Cookie Cutters: https://amzn.to/4oxOBG2 

🍪 Cookie Decorating Kit: https://amzn.to/3XpTZQt 

👉 Balkanish Kitchen Essentials – Shop the Full List of Tools 🛍️

📹 Watch the TikTok Tutorial

Sound like too much work? Watch our video for the lazy-baker’s version of this recipe!

👉 Watch the full TikTok baking video here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@balkan__ish/video/7582053848366353682?_r=1&_t=ZS-925tDP0qDJv 

Save it, share it, duet it — spread the Balkan baking love!

🧈 How to Make Roasted Pig Sugar Cookies: Step-by-Step Instructions

 These cookies are super easy and perfect for beginners.

Step 1: Make the Sugar Cookie Dough

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add your egg, vanilla, and almond extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.
Slowly combine wet + dry ingredients until a soft dough forms.

➡ Baking tip: Don’t skip chilling. It prevents spreading and gives you perfect piggies.

Wrap dough and chill 30–45 min.

Step 2: Roll & Cut Your Pig Shapes

Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness.

Use a pig-shaped cookie cutter (linked in our Amazon list!) to cut out your cookies and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets.

➡ Want clean edges?
Use a silicone baking mat — we linked our favorite one.

Step 3: Bake

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 8–10 minutes.

You want:

✔ Light edges
✔ Soft centers
✔ No browning

Cool completely before icing.

⭐ Step 4: Make the Royal Icing (Glossy + Foolproof!)

Royal icing is what gives your pigs that shiny, roasted look — perfect for outlining and flooding.

1. Mix base ingredients

Combine:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
  

• 2 tbsp meringue powder
  

• 4 tbsp warm water
  
  

Beat on medium speed for 5–7 minutes.

It should look:

✔ Thick
✔ Smooth
✔ Slightly glossy

2. Adjust consistency

• Too thick → add water ½ tbsp at a time
  

• Too thin → add powdered sugar
  

3. Colour the icing

Split into bowls:

• Light pink → main pig colour
  

• Brown-pink → “roasted edges”
  

• White → accents
  

Use gel food colouring ONLY — it won’t water down your icing.

4. Prep for decorating

Transfer icing to piping bags fitted with:

• #3 round tip (outline)
  

• #2 round tip (details)
  

• Flood tip
  

Pro Tip: Proper consistency → icing runs slowly and settles into a smooth pool.

Step 5: Decorate Your Piggies

Outline each cookie with thick icing.
Flood with thinned icing.

Then add shading around the edges for a “fresh off the roast” look. It’s cute, it’s Balkan, it’s a conversation starter.

Add snouts, ears, blush, and details.
Let dry 6–8 hours for the perfect glossy finish.

🎄 Serve, Gift & Impress

These cookies are:

• hilarious
  

• delicious
  

• perfectly festive
  

• surprisingly beautiful
  

• and VERY Balkan holiday-coded
  

Serve them with rakija, bring them to your family dinner, or gift them in a tin with a cheeky note:
“May your holidays be sweet and your pig always roasted.”

If you make them, tag us — we live for your creations!

🐷 Want More Balkan Holiday Recipes?

We’re dropping:

• Balkan Gingerbread Band cookies
  

• Yugoslavian New Year’s treats
  

• Sarma Recipes
  

• Balkan cocktail recipes

• Diaspora-friendly ingredient lists
  

Stay tuned !

⭐ Perfect Pairings: Bake & Celebrate With Balkanish

What’s better than pig-shaped sugar cookies?
Pig-shaped sugar cookies served with a little extra Balkan flair.

These cookies make the perfect gift, party treat, or cozy December baking day — so we pulled together a few Balkanish favourites to level up your holiday experience:

🧑🍳 1. Balkanish Aprons – For the Star Baker

Whether you’re rolling dough, icing piggies, or dodging promaja in the kitchen, our aprons are ready for the chaos.
They’re cute, comfy, and guaranteed to earn a “Ma bravo!” from your mama.

👉 Shop Balkanish Aprons

Shop Our Best Seller: Balkan Spice Queen Apron

☕ 2. Holiday Mugs – Perfect for Coffee, Tea, or Rakija

Every cookie deserves a drink pairing.
Our Balkan-inspired mugs are the perfect match for your finished cookies — from “Balkan Baddie” to “Jebiga,” to Santa illustrations representing every country.

👉 Shop Balkan Mugs

⚠️ Amazon Affiliate Disclaimer

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This means that at no extra cost to you, Balkanish may earn a small commission when you purchase through our Amazon links.
Thank you for supporting a small Balkan-owned business — every click helps us keep creating fun, nostalgic diaspora content for you.