I make these Christmas sugar cookies for the vacations yearly! Reduce into festive shapes, they’re good for adorning with icing and sprinkles.

Let’s make Christmas sugar cookies! My household loves breaking out our cookie cutters to bake these cookies for the vacations yearly.
They’re traditional cut-out sugar cookies, with crisp edges, tender middles, and a heat, buttery taste from vanilla and almond extract. Made with a easy 8-ingredient dough, they maintain their form within the oven, which implies you can reduce them into all types of vacation shapes.
When you might take pleasure in these Christmas sugar cookies plain, we predict half the enjoyable of constructing them is adorning them. Prime them with icing, plus sprinkles, coloured sugar, and/or candies for a festive vacation deal with.
Why You’ll Love These Christmas Sugar Cookies
- They’re straightforward to make with 8 substances. You in all probability have the whole lot you want already!
- They style scrumptious, with a heat, buttery taste.
- They’re good for adorning. Seize some vacation cookie cutters to chop out shapes, then prime them with icing! I’m sharing a royal icing choice and a non-royal icing choice beneath.
- They freeze nicely. This recipe requires chilling the dough, so it will possibly take a number of hours to bake and embellish these cookies. I like to interrupt up the steps by baking the cookies, then freezing them in order that they’re prepared to brighten on one other day.

Learn how to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
You will discover the whole Christmas sugar cookie recipe with measurements on the backside of this submit. For now, right here’s a fast overview of the way it goes:
Begin by making the cookie dough. I take advantage of softened butter on this recipe, so I make the dough in a stand mixer (an electrical hand mixer works too).
I cream collectively the butter and sugar, then add an egg to bind the dough collectively and preserve the cookies tender. Subsequent, I combine within the vanilla and almond extracts.
Lastly, I regularly add the dry substances and blend till a tender cookie dough types.

Subsequent, chill the dough. Divide it in half, and kind every half right into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap every tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at the least 2 hours and as much as 2 days.
- Tip: Don’t skip this step! Chilling the sugar cookie dough helps the reduce outs maintain their form.

After the dough chills, roll it out. Place one disk on a calmly floured work floor, and use a rolling pin to roll it out till it’s 1/4-inch thick.
- Tip: If the dough is just too agency to roll out immediately, let it sit at room temperature for five to 10 minutes to melt.
Use cookie cutters to chop out your required shapes. Re-roll the scraps as obligatory, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven till the sides are simply starting to show golden brown, sometimes 9 to 11 minutes. The cookies will nonetheless appear underdone within the center, however they’ll arrange as they cool.
Permit every batch to chill on the baking sheet for two minutes earlier than transferring to a wire rack to chill utterly.
Ideas for Making Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Use parchment paper. It makes cleanup straightforward and helps the cookies bake evenly. I discover that after I bake cookies instantly on a baking sheet, they turn into too darkish beneath.
- Bake one sheet at time. Temperatures can range all through an oven. For essentially the most even bake, I like to recommend baking one cookie sheet at a time on a rack within the heart of the oven. You don’t need cookies on a low oven rack to burn earlier than ones on the highest rack are prepared!
- The bake time might range. It’s going to rely upon the dimensions of your cut-outs. I discover that 9 to 11 minutes is an effective vary for many cookies, however in case you have very small cookie cutters, begin checking the cookies at 7 minutes. For those who’re making massive cookies, they could must bake for 12 or extra.

Learn how to Embellish Christmas Sugar Cookies
My favourite a part of making these cookies is adorning them! Listed below are the 2 sugar cookie icings I like to make use of:
- Royal icing (pictured) – Made with meringue powder, this sort of icing units up with a agency texture, which makes it nice for piping effective strains and flooding/filling in shapes. I’m sharing the recipe I take advantage of within the recipe notes beneath.
- An excellent easy sugar cookie icing – After I’m not planning to brighten sugar cookies with intricate designs, I make an excellent easy icing with milk (any form) and powdered sugar. I begin with 1 tablespoon milk and three/4 cup powdered sugar and add extra of every as wanted to create a thick drizzleable consistency. This icing takes longer to harden. Retailer cookies in a single layer till it units up.
Be at liberty so as to add meals coloring to both icing to make your required colours. After including icing, prime the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or coloured sugar to make them look extra-festive.
Learn how to Retailer
Retailer iced cookies in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days. Unfrosted cookies preserve nicely at room temperature.
These sugar cookies additionally freeze nicely. Seal them in an hermetic container or freezer bag and freeze for as much as 3 months. You may freeze them earlier than or after adorning.

Extra Christmas Cookie Recipes
For those who love these Christmas sugar cookies, strive one in all these festive cookie recipes subsequent:

Christmas Sugar Cookies
Serves 30
These Christmas sugar cookies are good for the vacations! They’ve crisp edges, tender middles, and a scrumptious buttery taste. Youngsters and adults will love adorning them!
Stop your display from going darkish
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In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or utilizing an electrical mixer, cream the butter and sugar till mild and fluffy. Add the egg and blend to mix, then combine within the vanilla and almond extracts.
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Regularly add the dry substances, mixing on low pace till mixed. The dough might be tender.
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Divide the dough in half. Kind every half right into a ball, then flatten right into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at the least 2 hours and as much as 2 days.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two massive baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Roll out the dough on a calmly floured floor till about ¼-inch thick. If the dough is just too agency to roll immediately, let it sit at room temperature for a couple of minutes to melt. Use cookie cutters to chop out desired shapes, then switch the cut-outs to the ready baking sheets, re-rolling the scraps as obligatory.
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Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, or till the sides of the cookies are simply starting to show golden brown. The cookies will appear underdone within the center, however they’ll arrange as they cool. The precise timing will rely upon the dimensions of your cookie cutters.
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Let cool on the baking sheets for two minutes earlier than transferring to a wire rack to chill utterly. As soon as cool, embellish with royal icing or as desired.
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Makes about 30 cookies. Actual yield will range primarily based on the dimensions of your cookie cutters.
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