Christmas Sugar Cookies
Soft, thick classic Christmas Sugar Cookies topped with creamy vanilla buttercream frosting. A nostalgic holiday favorite that all ages will love!
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These soft, thick Christmas Sugar Cookies are topped with festive buttercream frosting and are perfect for the holiday season. A hint of almond extract gives the cookies that classic sugar cookie flavor, while the thickness keeps the texture tender and slightly chewy. They’re festive, fun to decorate, and a favorite Christmas cookie staple!
How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Mix. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add an egg, plus vanilla and almond extracts, then mix until combined. Pour in the dry ingredients, which include flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, then knead a few times with your hands.
- Roll & Chill. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it measures ⅜” in thickness. You can also roll your dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment to make it easier to move around. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or up to overnight.
- Cut. Once the dough has chilled, use your favorite cookie cutters to cut shapes out. Dip the cookie cutter into some flour to keep it from sticking to the dough.
- Bake. Place the cut-out sugar cookie shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing the cookies at least 2 inches apart. Bake the first sheet of cookies right away, at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. The edges should turn lightly golden, and the centers of the cookies will puff up.
- Reroll scraps. Gather the remaining cookie dough scraps, press together firmly, and reroll. Continue cutting shapes and rerolling the dough until there is no more dough left to cut out any shapes. Place the shapes on a baking sheet and refrigerate the other sheets for at least 10 minutes before baking.
- Cool and decorate. Allow the cookies to cool completely to room temperature before decorating with buttercream and sprinkles!
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
Most sugar cookie recipes use royal icing or a simple cookie icing to decorate, but I prefer an American-style buttercream. It complements the soft sugar cookie and adds just the right amount of sweetness. This buttercream forms a crust as it sits, so it will slightly harden after several hours. You can use piping tips to decorate the cookies with the frosting, but even the back of a spoon or an offset spatula works too. Top with colored sanding sugar or festive sprinkles for a quick and easy design!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to store the sugar cookies?
Store the decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The frosting will slightly crust, but it will take several hours, so I recommend storing the cookies in single layers until you’re ready to serve/display the cookies so the frosting does not get smashed.
Can the cookies be frozen?
Yes! The cookies, both plain and decorated, freeze really well. For the naked cookies, simply store them in a zip-top bag or an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. For decorated sugar cookies, these can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container for up to a month. The cookies just need a few hours at room temperature to thaw.
How long can the dough be stored in the refrigerator?
The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours, but it can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Be sure to tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
How many cookies can I get out of this recipe?
This recipe yields about 18 cookies, but this will vary depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Also, if you roll your cookies thinner than ⅜” as the recipe calls for, you can get more cookies out of the batch. Be sure to adjust the baking time if you make the cookies thinner, as they may not require as much time as thicker cookies.
What piping tips did you use on the cookies?
For the cookie designs pictured, I used the piping tips below. Ateco is my favorite brand for tips and piping bags.
- Candy Cane: coupler (white), tips 2 and 101 (red)
- Gift: tip 4 (white), tip 101 (red)
- Snowflake: tip 4 (white)
- Tree: tip 32 (green), tip 4 (brown)
- Wreath: tip 18 (green), tip 2 (red)
What type of food coloring should I use?
For the buttercream, you’ll want to color it using gel-based food coloring. My go-to brand is Americolor. They have a wide variety of colors and sizes to choose from. The colors will intensify and become darker as they sit, so you can color your buttercream ahead of time – a couple of hours or even a day or two before decorating. See below for the Americolor colors I used for the cookies pictured.
- Green: “Laurel” with a drop of “Forest Green”
- Red: “Super Red” with a couple drops of “Burgandy”
- Brown: “Chocolate Brown”
Favorite Tools
Tips and Tricks For The Best Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Chill the dough. Allowing the dough to chill is imperative so the cookies do not spread too much as they bake and keep their shape.
- Sprinkle flour. To prevent sticking, lightly sprinkle flour on the surface that you are rolling out the dough on, as well as on top of the dough, so the rolling pin doesn’t stick. You don’t need much, but a little bit will make it much easier to work with the dough while rolling and cutting. Move the disc of dough as you roll and sprinkle more flour under and on top of it as needed, to prevent it from sticking to your surface. Also, dip the cookie cutters in a bit of flour to keep them from sticking when cutting the dough.
- Use dowels or rolling pin guides. For rolling out the sugar dough to the perfectly precise thickness, I recommend using square wooden dowels or a rolling pin with rings/rolling pin guides. For the dowels, place one on either side of the dough when rolling it out, until the rolling pin rests on top of the dowels. You can typically find these at craft stores or hardware stores. Rolling pin rings also work nicely, by sliding onto your rolling pin and allowing you to choose your desired thickness.
- Don’t overbake. The key to a soft sugar cookie is not overbaking! Start with the lower end of the time range and add just 1-2 minutes more at a time. The cookies should turn just lightly golden around the edges, and they should no longer look wet on top.
- Cool cookies. Before decorating the cookies, be sure to allow the cookies to cool completely to room temperature, otherwise the frosting will melt.
- Allow the cookies to sit. I prefer enjoying these cookies after the buttercream has slightly crusted and the cookies have had a chance to soften in an airtight container overnight. This is optional, but I find that they are even better the next day after they sit!
Baking Tip: Weigh Your Ingredients!
I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients rather than using measuring cups because it is the most accurate way to bake. Weighing your ingredients will give you more consistent results with your recipes and a better success rate, every time. Using a scale also saves you dishes which means easier cleanup! I provide gram measurements in all my recipes and this is the scale I love to use.
If you make this recipe and love it, be sure to leave a comment below. Happy baking!
Christmas Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup (226g or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 2¾ cup (360g) all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons (30g) cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g0 unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups (360g )powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup (60mL) heavy cream, at room temperature
Instructions
- Sugar Cookie Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar
- until combined and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape the bowl well, then with the mixer on low speed, add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until well combined.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl again, then add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, being careful not to overmix. Finish the dough by kneading it a few times with your hands to ensure it is fully combined.
- Place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface and press it down into a disc. Lightly sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and roll it out to about ⅜” thickness. The dough can be any shape, as long as it is ⅜” thick. As you roll, rotate the dough to prevent it from sticking, sprinkling more flour underneath and on top as needed.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or overnight.
- Once the dough is chilled, line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough, and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake the first sheet of cookies right away, as the dough should still be slightly firm. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned, and the centers have puffed up. Place additional trays of cookie dough shapes in the fridge.
- Press together the dough scraps and re-roll and cut out shapes 2 or 3 more times, until you don’t have any dough left. Refrigerate the remaining cookie sheets for at least 10 minutes before baking to prevent spreading.
- Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before decorating.
- Buttercream Frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-low speed until smooth, creamy, and light in color, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and heavy cream to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined, so the powdered sugar doesn’t spill out. Scrape the bowl well with a rubber spatula.
- Once all the ingredients are combined, mix the buttercream on low speed for another 5-10 minutes to make it smooth, creamy, and help remove any air bubbles.
- Decorating: Divide the buttercream and dye each portion with gel food coloring, as desired. Fill piping bags fitted with couplers and piping tips, with the different colors of buttercream. Pipe the frosting onto the cookies in various designs, and add sprinkles or sanding sugar as desired. Alternatively, you can use the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula to spread the buttercream onto the cookies.
Notes
- Storing: Store the finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Stack the plain, undecorated sugar cookies in an airtight container or zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Store decorated cookies in a single layer in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. To thaw, allow the cookies to come to room temperature.
