Last year, Camille was just beginning to grasp the concept of making cookies for Santa. She really enjoys the process of making cookies with me, but really, it’s more about the candy decorations than anything. Last year, I realized that I didn’t have much of a game plan for Santa’s Christmas Eve snack, so I whipped up the easiest Christmas Sugar Cookies I knew. They’re all round with white frosting, and I zig-zagged some thin black icing across the cookies. I turned mini M&Ms sideways to resemble Christmas Lights. Behold, the easiest Christmas Lights Cookies ever. You guys LOVE that recipe, and are still making it this year! I’m so glad! But, can I suggest another Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe that is just as easy? These Christmas tree cookies have a zig-zag of green icing, sprinkles on top, plus a big candy star on top.
What you’ll love about these Christmas Sugar Cookies
The base for these Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies is the same as last year—a round sugar cookie, cut with a 3" biscuit cutter. So, even if you don’t have any Christmas shaped cookie cutters, you can still make these cookies! If your cutter is out, try my Tea Cakes, too! The cookies are rich with the classic sugar cookie flavor, thanks to Rodelle’s vanilla extract. It perfumes the dough with a festive scent, and tastes delicious, too. I made a small batch of royal icing to use on top of the cookies. I love royal icing because it’s smooth and dries perfectly flat. The matte white finish when it’s dried allows any decorations on top to really shine. Plus, the Christmas sugar cookie recipe uses only egg yolks, and the royal icing uses the leftover egg whites!
Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe Ingredients
Flour. We need 1.5 cups of regular all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough on the counter. Baking Powder. This cut out cookie recipe uses a small amount of baking powder. Butter. One stick of unsalted butter that has been softened to room temperature for easy baking. Granulated Sugar. An equal amount of regular granulated sugar (½ cup). Eggs. You need 2 eggs for this recipe, but they need to be divided. Two egg yolks go into the cookie dough, while the two egg whites will be used for the royal icing. If you’re not comfortable with raw eggs in your desserts, you’ll need to buy pasteurized eggs for this recipe, because the egg whites are not cooked for the frosting. Vanilla Extract. A good amount of vanilla extract is the best flavoring for plain cut-out sugar cookies. Powdered Sugar. Two cups of powdered sugar to make the royal icing. Lemon Juice. We always add a splash of lemon juice to royal icing as the liquid to help it come together. Frosting and Sprinkles. I use shimmery green icing in a tube and festive sprinkles to decorate these, but you can use anything you like.
How to make Christmas Sugar Cookies
I use a store-bought tube of shimmery green icing for the Christmas tree shape, but you can always divert some of the small batch royal icing and dye it green instead. Just place it in a piping bag and use the smallest round tip you can find. Then, I separate out my jar of non-non-pareil sprinkles into green and red, and I found a jar of large star sprinkles just for these cookies. I can really see these cookies spinning off in so many directions. The blank white canvas allows you to draw anything on top—Christmas bells, holly leaves, a present, or a Christmas stocking! Camille wants to make a snowflake version next and pour edible glitter on top, because it’s been 6 months since she’s seen the movie Frozen, and her obsession is not showing sings of slowing down.
Baking Christmas cookies with kids:
This Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe makes a little over 1 dozen cookies. It’s the perfect amount for baking with kids, because I’ve found that they lose interest decorating cookies after about 6 cookies. Or, they just start eating the frosting and sprinkles straight-up, ignoring the actual cookies. This recipe will give you enough cookies for Santa’s plate, plus a few for everyone in the family to enjoy. Sometimes I think baking with kids can be daunting in the kitchen, but a small-batch recipe is just perfect for children. I use a mini rolling pin that fits little chubby hands in a small work surface. The mess should be minimal and contained in a small space! If you kids are really little, you can make the cookies a day ahead, and store them in an air-tight container. If you think your kids would get bored waiting for icing to dry, you can ice the cookies with the small-batch royal icing ahead of time, too. Let it dry overnight. Then, on Christmas Eve, lay the cookies out in front of the kids and give them the green icing and sprinkles to decorate. This way, the kids get to do just the fun part of cookie decorating.
How to store Decorated Christmas Cookies
Typically, because Christmas cookies have so much sugar that they can be stored at room temperature for several days. However, because these cookies have raw egg whites in the royal icing, I keep them in the fridge. Before serving, remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature. This frosting recipe dries hard, so you can stack these cookies are store them however you like!
I linked to all of the sprinkles and baking tools in the recipe below, should you find yourself needing a mini rolling pin or the perfect star sprinkles on top. I hope you enjoy these cookies! Cookies will keep for up to 3 days in an air-tight container at room temp.
