I make these Christmas sugar cookies for the vacations yearly! Lower into festive shapes, they’re excellent 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 that you may lower them into all types of vacation shapes.
When you may get pleasure from these Christmas sugar cookies plain, we predict half the enjoyable of constructing them is adorning them. High 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 components. You in all probability have the whole lot you want already!
- They style scrumptious, with a heat, buttery taste.
- They’re excellent for adorning. Seize some vacation cookie cutters to chop out shapes, then high them with icing! I’m sharing a royal icing choice and a non-royal icing choice beneath.
- They freeze properly. This recipe requires chilling the dough, so it may possibly take a number of hours to bake and beautify these cookies. I like to interrupt up the steps by baking the cookies, then freezing them in order that they’re prepared to embellish on one other day.

The best way 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 hold the cookies tender. Subsequent, I combine within the vanilla and almond extracts.
Lastly, I steadily add the dry components and blend till a tender cookie dough varieties.

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

After the dough chills, roll it out. Place one disk on a evenly 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 essential, 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.
Enable 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 once I bake cookies straight on a baking sheet, they grow to be too darkish beneath.
- Bake one sheet at time. Temperatures can fluctuate all through an oven. For probably 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 could fluctuate. It should rely upon the dimensions of your cut-outs. I discover that 9 to 11 minutes is an efficient vary for many cookies, however when you have very small cookie cutters, begin checking the cookies at 7 minutes. Should you’re making giant cookies, they might must bake for 12 or extra.

The best way to Enhance 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, one of these icing units up with a agency texture, which makes it nice for piping superb traces 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 – Once I’m not planning to embellish 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, high the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or coloured sugar to make them look extra-festive.
The best way to Retailer
Retailer iced cookies in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days. Unfrosted cookies hold properly at room temperature.
These sugar cookies additionally freeze properly. Seal them in an hermetic container or freezer bag and freeze for as much as 3 months. You possibly can freeze them earlier than or after adorning.

Extra Christmas Cookie Recipes
Should you love these Christmas sugar cookies, strive certainly one of these festive cookie recipes subsequent:

Christmas Sugar Cookies
Serves 30
These Christmas sugar cookies are excellent for the vacations! They’ve crisp edges, tender middles, and a scrumptious buttery taste. Youngsters and adults will love adorning them!
Forestall your display screen 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 gentle and fluffy. Add the egg and blend to mix, then combine within the vanilla and almond extracts.
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Progressively add the dry components, mixing on low velocity till mixed. The dough might be tender.
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Divide the dough in half. Type 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 very least 2 hours and as much as 2 days.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two giant baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Roll out the dough on a evenly 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 essential.
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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, beautify with royal icing or as desired.
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Makes about 30 cookies. Precise yield will fluctuate primarily based on the dimensions of your cookie cutters.
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