The Best Christmas Sugar Cookies
This is my absolute favourite Christmas Sugar Cookies recipe from scratch. These flavourful cookies have soft centers and crisp edges. With a sprinkle finish, decorating is hassle-free.
The holiday season isn’t complete without baking some Christmas cookies. A classic seasonal treat that most think of first, is sugar cookies.
Yet it’s taken me a while to find the perfect recipe, all are not the same.
Trust me when I say that this the the best sugar cookie recipe ever.
This recipe gives perfectly soft sugar cookies. One with a soft center, yet with a slightly crisp edge.
It’s a cookie that will maintain their cookie cutter shape while baking, and have a nice flat surface for easy decorating.
This festive christmas sugar cookies recipe is easy and simple.
This is a no chill sugar cookie recipe, which means that you don’t need to refrigerate the dough before making.
It’s one less step that still produces great results. Many people love my recipe because it’s sugar cookie recipe no chill!
These best sugar cookies are ideal for your own cookie tray or perfect for a baking exchange.
Everyone loves a sugar cookie! Last year I made three batches of this recipe, they were such a hit.
These holiday sugar cookies were everyones absolute favorite. So it’s definitely a relief on the stress of the season that these are also such an easy Christmas sugar cookie recipe.
Simple with an amazing taste, like our Whipped Shortbread Cookie Recipe.
How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this best Christmas sugar cookie recipe. The full detailed instructions are below in the printable recipe card.
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- softened butter
- white sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- sprinkles of your choice
To Make: Start by preheating the oven to 375ºF and have ready a greased cookie sheet. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Then set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. You can do this using a hand mixer (electric mixer, or a stand mixer) on medium speed.
Then add the egg and vanilla, and beat again on low speed.
Add flour mixture to the wet mixture, and beat until dough forms. The dough will be crumbly at first, but will eventually come together.
As you can see, this is a sugar cookie recipe without milk.
Using a 1-inch cookie dough scoop, scoop sugar cookie dough and roll into round balls. Place each onto a prepared cookie sheet.
Using the smooth bottom of a glass, press each ball of dough down until they are about 1/2inch thick.
The trick to sugar cookies is making sure they are not too thick, to get an evenly cooked cookie.
Place sprinkles in a small bowl. Take a flattened cookie, and push it into the sprinkles.
Place sprinkled cookie back onto the baking sheet, sprinkle side up. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes. Sugar cookies get hard when baked too long, so when the edges start to turn golden, take them out.
Remove from oven and allow the baked cookies to cool for 3 minutes before transferring the warm cookies to a wire rack.
Sugar Cookie Decorating Tips:
Flattening the dough balls into simple circular sugar cookies is by far the easiest.
Yet you could roll out the dough and cut into cookie shapes, just use cookie cutters of your choice. I like to go with Christmas trees or candy cane shapes.
Instead of using sprinkles to make these decorated cookies with festive sprinkles, you could also dip the dough into crushed candy canes.
While you can decorate these cookies with your favourite royal icing, you’ll see I’ve opted for just sprinkles.
Not only for ease, but to show that a festive look can be obtained with little effort or skill needed.
If you do frost these cookies, make sure to use a piping bag and pipe around the edges of the cookies first.
This requires two batches of sugar cookie icing made at just the right consistency to do both.
Sugar Cookie Frequently Asked Questions
- Do you put sprinkles on sugar cookies before baking?
Yes, sprinkles should be put into the cookie dough prior to baking, to ensure they stick to the sugar cookies. When making sugar cookies with sugar sprinkles, you can either incorporate them into the dough, or press them on before baking.
- How Do You Store Sugar Cookies?
When these classic sugar cookies are room temperature, place in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap. They will be good for up to a week.
- Can you Freeze Sugar Cookies?
Yes, sugar cookies without icing freeze well. Place in an airtight sealed container or large ziplock bag, it’s best to have parchment paper or wax paper separating each cookie.
Sugar Cookie Royal Icing Recipe: My favorite sugar cookie icing is a royal icing for sugar cookies without meringue powder. It’s just powdered sugar, egg whites, and lemon juice. Consistency depends on if I’m piping or filling, so just mix until it’s the results you need. It will be a sugar cookie frosting recipe that hardens.
Alternate Icing: You won’t be able to stack the cookies if you choose a buttercream icing. Yet you can still use it and colour (and apply) the icing to make it seasonally festive.
More Christmas Treats to Make:
- Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Christmas Trash Snack Mix
- Christmas Snowball Cookies
- Turtle Cookies
- Easy Crockpot Candy
- Peanut Butter Confetti Squares
- Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Soft Ginger Cookies
- Eggnog Cookies
- Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
- Christmas Oreo Balls
Christmas Sugar Cookies
This is my absolute favourite, THE BEST CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES recipe from scratch. These flavourful cookies have soft center and crisp edges. With a sprinkle finish, decorating is hassle-free.
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla and beat again.
- Add flour mixture and beat until dough forms. Dough will be crumbly at first but will eventually come together.
- Using a 1-inch cookie dough scoop, scoop dough and roll into round balls. Place on a greased baking sheet.
- Using the smooth bottom of a glass, press each ball of dough down until they are about 1/2inch thick.
- Place sprinkles in a small bowl. Take flattened cookie dough and push each into the sprinkles. Place dough back on the baking sheet, sprinkle side up.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- serving size is per cookie
- use a cookie cutter for shapes, if desired
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 101mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 0gSugar: 10gProtein: 1g
Created by Tammi Roy
Tammi Roy is the founder of My Organized Chaos, a Canadian food and lifestyle blog. She lives in Alberta, Canada and is the mom of three beautiful teenage girls. Tammi’s passions are her family, creating and sharing delicious recipes, travelling and photography. Learn more about Tammi.