Everyone needs an Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe! These are buttery and literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious and my go-to sugar cookie dough. You can bake them soft or crisp. These Christmas Sugar cookies have been part of my holiday cookie-decorating tradition for years!
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I love festive holiday treats like melt-in-your-mouth Snowball Cookies, soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, and of course Baklava. These beautifully decorated sugar cookies are a beautiful addition to the Christmas cookie platter.
Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe
I love simple dishes that use minimal ingredients. During the holidays, I love baking, but I don’t love the cleanup afterwards. This recipe for Christmas sugar cookies gives me the best of both worlds — perfect cookies and an easy clean-up. You also don’t have to chill the dough so you can cut and bake the cookies right away, saving you time. I’m so excited to share this recipe with you!
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is cookie decorating, and my family has been doing this since the kids were tiny. The kids love the creative freedom to do what they want with their cookies, and of course, they are even more excited to eat them!
Whether you are planning a cookie-making party for your Christmas party or for the holiday cookie platter, you need a sugar cookie recipe that you can rely on. These cookies taste amazing, keep their shape, and are perfect for eating plain or decorating them with sugar cookie icing and sprinkles. Let’s get started!
Tips For The Best Christmas Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies may seem simple, but there are a lot of bad recipes out there! After much trial and error, I feel confident that I have mastered the art of the sugar cookie. Here are all the best tips and tricks I have gathered throughout the years to get the best flavor and texture:
Tip #1: Soften your butter
Butter should be softened at room temperature. If the butter is too soft or partially melted, you will end up with a sticky dough that is difficult to roll out.
Tip #2: Rolling Out Sugar Cookies Dough
Roll your dough out directly on a silicone baking mat or piece of parchment paper so you do not have to transfer your delicate shapes onto a baking sheet later. You can cut your shapes out right atop the mat and make your life a bit easier.
Tip #3: How Thick Should Sugar Cookies be Rolled Out?
Roll your dough out to about ¼-inch thick. This is the sweet spot. You’ll have cookies thick enough to keep their shape, while also thin enough to promote even baking.
Tip #4: Avoid Crumbly Dough
Crumbly dough makes for misshapen cookies that are prone to uneven baking. To prevent this, don’t overmix your dough. You want the dough to be as smooth as possible. However, if you do get a crumbly texture, add ½ tbsp of water, or milk to the batter and incorporate it until it remoistens the dough.
Tip #5: Avoid Overbaking
10 minutes might seem like a very short baking time for cookies. But, trust me, do not overbake them! At around 10 minutes, the edges of the cookies should just start to turn golden brown. This is the time to pull them! If you continue baking, you risk compromising that signature tenderness of a perfect sugar cookie.
How to Make Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Combine your flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set the dry mixture aside.
- Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, cream together your butter, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
- Add the flour to the butter mixture in thirds, mixing until incorporated between additions.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts and dust your work surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking. You can also dust the top of the dough lightly. Use a rolling pin to roll out each piece to an even ¼-inch thickness. Lift the dough gently to ensure it’s not sticking to your counter before cutting out shapes.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out your favorite shapes or freeze your dough for later use. Note that larger cookies will take slightly longer to bake. Transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet, keeping them 1 inch apart (they do expand a bit in the oven).
- Bake the cookies at 350˚F for 10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden. That’s your cue to pull them out. Let the cookies cool on the baking pan for 5 minutes so they are easier to move without cracking then transfer to wire racks and let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
Storing Sugar Cookies
The great part about this recipe is that it can be made a couple of days in advance and the cookies will still retain their freshness. Below, I will share how you should store them and also how you can freeze your dough or baked cookies for later munching!
- Storing Cookies at Room Temperature: Store baked sugar cookies on the counter in an airtight container. They will keep for up to a week. Remember, if you have decorated your Christmas Sugar Cookies, let the frosting firm up, and then store them between layers of parchment paper to prevent sticking and/or destroying your designs.
- To freeze baked sugar cookies: allow cookies to cool completely, then stack the cookies in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper. Freeze cookies for up to 2 months. When you are ready to eat them, thaw at room temperature.
- To freeze your sugar cookie dough: roll it into a ball or a log. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container or freezer bag. The dough will keep for up to 2 months before you need to use it. When you are ready to bake, allow the dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, bring it to room temperature for 1 hour before you shape your cookies and bake them.
How to Decorate Christmas Cookies
To decorate sugar cookies, I love to use our 3-ingredient cookie icing from our Gingerbread Cookie Recipe, or you can make a royal icing, and add food coloring. To pipe the frosting, transfer to a squeeze bottle or little zip bags (handy and inexpensive for cookie decorating parties).
If you prefer, you can purchase an icing decorating kit with pre-made frostings in a variety of colors, which makes it easy. Don’t forget the Christmas sprinkles and crushed candy canes.
Decorated Christmas cookies have a way of making the holidays more merry and bright, even if you aren’t the best at decorating. The perfectly imperfect ones are the most endearing anyway.
Christmas Sugar Cookies make my heart so happy because they unlock sweet memories over the years, like the cookie decorating party in the photo above when my husband and I hosted the family Christmas Eve party.
I’d love to hear about your special Christmas traditions around cookies in the comments below.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
These are our best-loved (and reviewed) Christmas cookies to fill up your holiday cookie tray. These are well-loved by all ages and you’re sure to find some new favorites in this list. Looking for more Christmas recipes and inspiration? Check out our Christmas archives here.
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Meringue Shell Cookies
- Russian Tea Cakes
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
- Madeleine Cookies
- Polish Cookies (Kolaczki)
Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, (large)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, (measured correctly)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F with a rack in the center. Whisk together flour with baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat the butter together with sugar. To the mixture add vanilla extract and egg and beat to combine.
- To the butter mixture, add flour in 3 parts until fully incorporated.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll into ¼-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out your favorite shapes.
- Bake cookies on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet at 350˚F for 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
- Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely and decorating with cookie icing.
Nutrition Per Serving
Natalya Drozhzhin
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hello, any Chance can we add cocoa powder to the cookies to make them chocolate? or what would you recommend to make the cookies appear more chocolaty
Hello Dee, I haven’t tried that yet to advise but you can do an experiment. Please share with us how it goes if you try it!
I actually ended up melting 1 cup of chocolate into the batter before I put in the flour. They ended up really well, are not to sweet and look great with white frosting! Simple trick to make them look like gingerbread cookies but easier (;
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Good morning from Maryland,
I have a question ( or two) for you before the grandkids and I make your cookies today…
Softened butter: I let mine sit out overnight. Do you think it will be too soft? Should I refrigerate it for a while?
We only use sprinkles, no icing. Would you recommend an egg wash on the tops of the cookies to help the sprinkles stick or just sprinkle away?
Thank you for being my go-to and trusted chef🌹
Hi Beth, you might refrigerate that butter for just a little bit since over softened butter can make the dough seem greasy and hard to roll out. Also, I would sprinkle the tops with sprinkles before baking and maybe press them down lightly.
So easy and sooo yum!
Thank you, Anna!
These were the best sugar cookies! Easy and just the right firmness. Our daughter said soft on the inside and not too hard on the outside. First batch is gone. Have to make another before Christmas 😃
I used canned frosting and tinted the vanilla to the color I wanted!
Love it! That is a good idea! I’m sure it looked amazing. Thanks for sharing that with us, Sharon!
Just a question before making these with my grandkids tomorrow, is the tablespoon of baking powder the correct amount? Every other sugar cookie recipe I have read has a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of baking powder. Just want to be sure! Looking forward to baking them!
That is the correct amount.
Aloha Natasha, These cookies brought back some childhood memories. The ones I remembered had an anise flavoring to them. Wondering if it was in the cookie or the icing. Any ideas?
Hi Lois, I haven’t tried that yet to advise, sorry wish I could help you more. But others might have tried that and could share with us?
How do you make the icing?
Hi Sara, We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites. You may try this frosting recipe that I have here. you can purchase an icing decorating kit with pre-made frostings in a variety of colors which makes it really easy.
Natasha, thank you for this perfect cookie recipe. They are delicious and easy to work with- I am normally challenged in this area.
You are so welcome, Jenna. It is my pleasure to be able to help provide you a perfect recipe for cookies!
Does this sugar cookie dough recipe need to be refrigerated for before using?
Hi Raelene, it is not necessary at all to refrigerate the dough with this recipe and the dough does not stick. If you have any sticking, just dust your work surface and the top of the dough or your rolling pin lightly with flour. There is plenty of butter in the recipe that helps prevent sticking.
I only have salted butter. Is that ok to use?
Hi Beverly, I have made this with unsalted only. I worry it would be too much salt. If you happen to experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
I made these last week and again today using salted butter and they turned out great! I didn’t think they tasted salty at all.
Thank you for sharing that wonderful feedback, Alli! I’m so happy to hear that!
These are the best cut out sugar cookies I have ever tried. I always make sugar cookies for Christmas to decorate with the kids. This recipe is totally foolproof. I did not chill the dough and I purposely work it and rolled it a few times to see how it does……the result was amazing, even after rolling the dough a few times my cookies kept the shape and looked perfect. Thank you Natasha!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I am making the cookies for the Christmas party tomorrow for the kids I made them before and they where so good!
That’s so great! I bet they will have so much fun with these!
I made these sugar cookies and I will have to make another batch; they were a hit! The flavor is perfect. My husband loves them and can’t believe how light they are-he can eat more at one time. lol!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Debra!
Hello! I am doing these cookies for Christmas, and I just wanted to say how great the tips you gave before the recipes are. They are amazing and really helpful! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 🙂
So great to hear that, Sofia. Thank you so much for your good comments and feedback. Happy Holidays!
When do you add the egg? When doing the wet is what I assume but it’s missed in the instructions
Hi Derek, it is in the instructions in #2 in the recipe card.
Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat the butter together with sugar. To the mixture add vanilla extract and egg and beat to combine.
Just got done making these cookies with my husband on my birthday. They are so tasty. Thank you for all your recipes. You make it look so easy and fun. Thanks again. Can’t wait to see what else we make.
Hello Sonja, you are so welcome. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feedback regarding this recipe. I’m glad that you liked it!
I was so excited to make the recipe but after I put all the ingredients together I noticed my baking powder was clumpy all over the dough. I should have sifted. Now I don’t know if I should bother cooking the cookies or not. Might want to mention that in the instructions. I should have known better, but I haven’t made cookies in years.
Hi Patty, baking powder doesn’t normally clump that way, and whisking the dry ingredients is adequate normally blend them together. Baking soda does however tend to clump and I do sift baking soda. Did you possibly use baking soda by mistake?
I love it! It is simple, tasty and 10 minutes makes it just perfect! After years of burning mine or not being happy with the taste I finally figured it out! THANK YOU!
Hello Martyna, you are most welcome! So great to hear that you were able to get the recipe that you loved!
I love your cookie it tastes realy good
Hi Natasha,
Do you think you can make a video for this recipe on your Youtube Channel? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.
I really plan on making them on Christmas and I really understand better when it is a video.
Hi MG, probably not at this time but I’ll consider that for our future videos. Thanks for suggesting that.
This looks awesome. I’m sorry if I’m missing it, but where is the recipe for the icing? I’m sure it’s right under my nose, but I don’t see it. Thank you
Hi Lisa, We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites. You may try this frosting recipe that I have here.