The BEST Christmas Sugar Cookies EVER

Baking a big batch of traditional Christmas cookies is one of our favorite family holiday traditions. It just doesn’t seem like Christmas until we’ve pulled out the cookie cutters and created Christmas delights with our kids. There’s no need to buy them from the store; save lots of money and make them yourself! It’s such a fun way to spend a cold, winter afternoon with the littles (or not-so-littles). Give these traditional Christmas sugar cookies a try!

Ingredients in Christmas Sugar Cookies

All-purpose flour – Chef’s flour and baking flour can also be usedCornstarch – helps with the neat edges Salt – just a pinch to even out the sweetnessButter – Keep the butter COLD for this recipe, the cookies will come out much better using cold butterGranulated sugarEggVanilla extract (check out our tutorial on how to make your own vanilla extract)Almond extractRoyal icingChristmas sprinkles

Supplies Needed to Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies

What Are Rolled Cookies?

Rolled cookies are cookies that are made by rolling out a stiff dough and then using cookie cutters to cut various shapes. Shaped sugar cookies (like the recipe below) and gingerbread cookies are an example of rolled Christmas cookies. Rolled cookies are the easiest to decorate because they stay nice and flat, even after baking. In my opinion, they are the most traditional Christmas cookies and most fun to decorate. Follow our guide and tips below to make these cookies perfectly every time!

Use a rolling pin with guides to help roll out your dough to a perfectly even thickness (this rolling pin is my favorite). I like the ones where you can adjust the thickness by removing and replacing the different-sized rings. That way you can make them any thickness you want. I like mine on the thicker side, so I like to use the ⅜ ring when rolling out my cookie dough.

How to Get Neat Edges on Christmas Sugar Cookies

I WISH I could take credit for this one because it is such an awesome baking hack. Full credit goes to Allie over at Baking a Moment. She suggests adding in some cornstarch to get the edges just right. She is the first person I have ever heard of who has done this and it worked beautifully! I swapped out a ½ cup of flour in my original sugar cookie recipe (our original recipe calls for 3 ½ cups of flour) for some cornstarch and it worked like a dream. I will always make cut-out cookies this way from now on! Full credit for this genius idea goes to Allie, and I also highly recommend checking out her site for more genius baking hacks (and INCREDIBLY delicious-looking desserts and treats).

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the perfect sugar cookie: thick, creamy frosting atop a soft cookie, or shiny silky royal icing smoothly covering the cookie’s surface. For those shiny, beautifully decorated cookies, we recommend decorating Christmas cookies with royal icing. This recipe is so easy to make, and is enough to decorate dozens of your favorite Christmas cookies (see more on how to do this below). If you’re not so much worried about presentation, but want to sink your teeth into a thick, creamy cookie, use our favorite cream cheese frosting. It’s so good, you could eat it by the spoonful! Top your Christmas sugar cookies with this luscious frosting to taste, add some sprinkles or candies, and call it a day!

How to Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies

You can decorate Christmas cookies like a pro– it’s easier than it looks! To decorate the Christmas Cookies like we did, use royal icing and flood icing (flood icing is just royal icing that is watered down a little bit).

Decorating Steps:

For sake of ease, we usually keep the royal icing white and use that for the outline, but you can use any color. Place the icing in a piping bag with a #3 round tip and outline the cookies. Then, thin the remaining icing out, place it in separate bowls, and add the food coloring.Once you have it thinned and colored, pour the icing into individual squeeze bottles or individual icing bags. Fill in the outlines on the cookies with the flood icing.Then, use a toothpick to fill in any little gaps (see pictures to get an idea of how this is done). You can do the swirl designs by adding dots of different colors over your base color and swirling with a toothpick. Add sprinkles for more dimension and design. Be creative and have fun!

How to Freeze Sugar Cookies

One of the biggest perks of making these Christmas cookies is the ability to make them ahead of time. Here are a few tips for freezing cookies:

Make sure to freeze them individually, like on a cookie sheet, until they’ve cooled completely.Once frozen, you can layer them in a freezer safe container using wax paper or freezer paper in between the layers.It’s best if you freeze the unfrosted cookies, then frost before serving. But if you want to decorate the cookies with frosting, freeze completely, not touching, until frozen solid. Then, you can layer as directed above.

How to Store Christmas Sugar Cookies

Once you’ve decorated your masterpieces, these yummy goodies will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap on the counter for about three days. You can also chill them in the refrigerator (I love my sugar cookies chilled before eating). If you freeze them, keep them in an airtight container or a freezer bag and they’ll stay nice and edible for up to a month in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Delicious Christmas Cookies

In our professional opinion, the more Christmas cookies during the holidays the better! We love our other Christmas treats including Christmas Charcuterie, Christmas Tree Cupcake Pull Apart, Homemade English Toffee, Chocolate Orange Cookies, Christmas Popcorn Recipe, Christmas Apples, and our Homemade Caramels Recipe. Here are some more of our favorites to make this time of year: Read more: The BEST Christmas Cookies – Quick and Easy Recipes

Elf Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Andes Mint Cookies

Monster Cookies

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