Christmas Sugar Cookies

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These frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies are my grandma’s best recipe, so buttery and sweet! A family favorite. No Christmas is complete without them.

Frosted Christmas sugar cookies on a cooling rack.


 

These Christmas Sugar Cookies are legendary in my family.

My grandma makes them every year, without fail, and the family descends upon the cookie tray like vultures (she skipped them one year and there were riots).

They have a tender-crisp texture (not to hard, not too soft), a buttery-vanilla taste, and a colorful sugar cookie icing (often adorned with sprinkles or other festive candies).

It takes time and love to make and chill the sugar cookie dough, roll out the cookies, bake them, cool them, and frost them. But if my 90-year old Grandma can pull off this easy sugar cookie recipe, so can you!

Recipe ingredients

Labeled sugar cookie ingredients.

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

  • Butter: Cold butter generally softens up in about 30 minutes when left out at room temperature. To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Heat the butter at 10% power for 1 minute. Afterward, gently press on the butter with your finger. If it’s still too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, or with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
Butter and sugar creamed together for cookie dough.
  1. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture and milk until just incorporated. Scrape dough on to a floured work surface, shape into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days in advance.
Cookie dough wrapped in plastic wrap to chill.
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Using a rolling pin, roll chilled dough between parchment paper or wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with Christmas cookie cutters.
Sugar cookie dough rolled out to make Christmas cookies.
  1. Transfer to prepared baking sheets with an offset spatula. Repeat with the remaining dough. Scrape all remnants together and re-roll. If the dough becomes too soft or sticky, refrigerate an additional 10 minutes.
Unbaked Christmas sugar cookies.
  1. Bake cookies until the edges are lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes (if thicker than ⅛ inch, they may take 10 to 15 minutes). Transfer from trays to wire racks and cool completely.
Baked Christmas sugar cookies.
  1. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed, or with an electric hand mixer and a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and milk and beat until smooth. Add more milk as necessary to achieve the desired consistency for writing on cookies. Divide frosting into small portions and color each with food coloring as desired.
White, green, and pink frosting for sugar cookies.
  1. Transfer to piping bags and decorate cooled cookies. Add sprinkles and other small candies if desired.
Frosted Christmas sugar cookies on a cooling rack.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes about 48 cookies (depending on what size cookie cutters you use).
  • Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
  • Freezer: Label, date, and freeze the wrapped disk of cookie dough. Thaw overnight in the refrigerate, then roll out, cut out, and bake the cookies according to the recipe (it helps if you write the baking time and temperature on the freezer package).
  • Decorations: In addition to the frosting, try cinnamon candies, crushed candy canes, cinnamon hearts, or colored sugar.
  • Flavors: I love the simple flavor of vanilla, but you can try almond extract for a cherry-almond flavor. For lemon, try lemon extract and lemon zest, or see my easy Lemon Cookies Recipe.
  • Royal icing: You can’t go wrong with a batch of Royal Icing atop the perfect sugar cookies recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance can you make sugar cookies?

Store cooled, decorated sugar cookies at room temperature for up to 4 days. Or, label, date, and freeze the cookies up to 2 months in advance. Thaw at room temperature.

How do you make royal icing without eggs (with meringue powder)?

In a mixer on high speed, beat together 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 9 tablespoons water for 1 to 2 minutes. Lift the whisk attachment out of the icing. The icing should drizzle evenly off the attachment within a few seconds. If not, add another tablespoon water. Mix again and repeat the process. If the icing is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.

More classic Christmas cookies

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Frosted sugar cookies decorated for Christmas on a baking rack.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

These frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies are my grandma’s best recipe, so buttery and sweet! A family favorite. No Christmas is complete without them.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 49 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 19 minutes
Servings 48 cookies
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Calories 144
5 from 11 votes

Ingredients 

For the cookies:

For the frosting:

Instructions 

To make the cookie dough:

  • In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, or with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
  • Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture and milk until just incorporated. Scrape dough on to a floured work surface, shape into a ball, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days in advance.

To bake the cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  • Roll chilled dough between parchment paper or wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with Christmas cookie cutters. Transfer to prepared baking sheets with an offset spatula. 
  • Repeat with the remaining dough. Scrape all remnants together and re-roll. If the dough becomes too soft or sticky, refrigerate an additional 10 minutes.
  • Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes (if thicker than ⅛ inch, they may take 10 to 15 minutes). Transfer to wire racks and cool completely before decorating with frosting (recipe follows).

To make the frosting:

  • In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed, or with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together.
  • Add vanilla and milk and beat until smooth. Add more milk as necessary to achieve the desired consistency for writing on cookies.
  • Divide frosting into small portions and color each with food coloring as desired. Transfer to piping bags and decorate cooled cookies. 

Notes

  1. Butter: Cold butter generally softens up in about 30 minutes when left out at room temperature. To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Heat the butter at 10% power for 1 minute. Afterward, gently press on the butter with your finger. If it’s still too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.
  2. Yield: This recipe makes about 48 cookies (depending on what size cookie cutters you use).
  3. Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookieCalories: 144kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 91mgPotassium: 14mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 211IUCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

  1. I just discovered your website and it looks terrific. I love the way you’ve pictured all the ingredients. I’m going to make the Sugar Cookies. I’ll be back for more recipe ideas.5 stars

  2. Hi there! Will the frosting harden up or do these cutouts have to be stored very gently so as not to mar the frosting?

  3. Made these last night. They were soft, buttery and delicious.
    We cut, baked and frosted in 2 hours. It was really easy.5 stars

    1. Thank you so much, Juli! This is amazing!!! I am so glad you loved them. They are 100% my favorite cookies of all time.

  4. You say 2 eggs in the ingredients list and the beat in egg yolks in the instructions. Which is the correct ingredient?
    Thanks!

    1. It’s yolks!!! I actually saw this typo last Friday when I was making the recipe and forgot to fix it. Sorry about that! Thank you!!