Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe – Love and Lemons

I make these Christmas sugar cookies for the holidays every year! Cut into festive shapes, they’re perfect for decorating with icing and sprinkles.

Let’s make Christmas sugar cookies! My family loves breaking out our cookie cutters to bake these cookies for the holidays every year.

They’re classic cut-out sugar cookies, with crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor from vanilla and almond extract. Made with a simple 8-ingredient dough, they hold their shape in the oven, which means that you can cut them into all kinds of holiday shapes.

While you could enjoy these Christmas sugar cookies plain, we think half the fun of making them is decorating them. Top them with icing, plus sprinkles, colored sugar, and/or candies for a festive holiday treat.

How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies

You can find the complete Christmas sugar cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Start by making the cookie dough. I use softened butter in this recipe, so I make the dough in a stand mixer (an electric hand mixer works too).

I cream together the butter and sugar, then add an egg to bind the dough together and keep the cookies soft. Next, I mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.

Finally, I gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until a soft cookie dough forms.

Next, chill the dough. Divide it in half, and form each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

• Tip: Don’t skip this step! Chilling the sugar cookie dough helps the cut outs hold their shape.

After the dough chills, roll it out. Place one disk on a lightly floured work surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it out until it’s 1/4-inch thick.

• Tip: If the dough is too firm to roll out right away, let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes to soften.

Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes. Re-roll the scraps as necessary, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.

Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown, typically 9 to 11 minutes. The cookies will still seem underdone in the middle, but they will set up as they cool.

Allow each batch to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

How to Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies

My favorite part of making these cookies is decorating them! Here are the two sugar cookie icings I like to use:

• Royal icing (pictured) – Made with meringue powder, this type of icing sets up with a firm texture, which makes it great for piping fine lines and flooding/filling in shapes. I’m sharing the recipe I use in the recipe notes below.
• A super simple sugar cookie icing – When I’m not planning to decorate sugar cookies with intricate designs, I make a super simple icing with milk (any kind) and powdered sugar. I start with 1 tablespoon milk and 3/4 cup powdered sugar and add more of each as needed to create a thick drizzleable consistency. This icing takes longer to harden. Store cookies in a single layer until it sets up.

Feel free to add food coloring to either icing to make your desired colors. After adding icing, top the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or colored sugar to make them look extra-festive.

More Christmas Cookie Recipes

If you love these Christmas sugar cookies, try one of these festive cookie recipes next:

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Serves 30

These Christmas sugar cookies are perfect for the holidays! They have crisp edges, soft middles, and a delicious buttery flavor. Kids and adults will love decorating them!

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• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix to combine, then mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.

• Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until combined. The dough will be soft.

• Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a ball, then flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until about ¼-inch thick. If the dough is too firm to roll right away, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes, then transfer the cut-outs to the prepared baking sheets, re-rolling the scraps as necessary.

• Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to turn golden brown. The cookies will seem underdone in the middle, but they will set up as they cool. The exact timing will depend on the size of your cookie cutters.

• Let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, decorate with royal icing or as desired.

• Makes about 30 cookies. Exact yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters.

Royal icing (recipe adapted from Wilton): Sift 4 cups powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 3 tablespoons meringue powder and 5 tablespoons water. Mix until smooth and glossy. Transfer half of the frosting to a piping bag with a #3 tip for piping thin lines and for outlining filled-in shapes. For flooding/filling in cookie shapes, add more water, ½ teaspoon at a time, to thin the icing to a runny consistency. Add food coloring as desired.

Nutrition Facts

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 118
Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Trans Fat 0.2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 22mg7%

Sodium 56mg2%

Potassium 17mg0%

Carbohydrates 14g5%

Fiber 0.3g1%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 197IU4%

Calcium 12mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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