These Christmas cookies are a holiday favorite with their festive sprinkle topping and easy-to-make frosting that hardens for stacking! I'm also listing dozens more of my most requested and well-loved Christmas cookie recipes! You'll want to keep baking right on into the new year!
Easy Christmas Cookie Recipe
One of the most delicious Christmas traditions around has got to be all of the festive cookies! These bright and cheery frosted Christmas cookies simply beg to be eaten and are a long-standing family favorite!
At my home, and I know many others are this way too, the holiday baking begins well before the big day arrives. Cookies are rolled, baked, decorated, and saved in a number of ways to share with family and friends.
Jump to:
- Easy Christmas Cookie Recipe
- 🥘 Christmas Cookie Ingredients
- 🔪 How To Make Christmas Cookies
- Bake Christmas Cookies
- 💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- 🥡 Storing
- ❓ Recipe FAQs
- 31 Fantastic Christmas Cookies for Holiday Baking
- Sugar Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
- Drop Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Meringue Cookies
- More Christmas Cookies
- Plus Some Christmas Candy Favorites!
- 📖 Recipe Card
- 💬 Comments & Reviews
In contrast to all of the more detailed cookies that I enjoy baking, my Christmas cookies recipe here is a quick and easy version. Plus, they do get those ooh's and ahh's of visual appreciation which is always so satisfying!
🥘 Christmas Cookie Ingredients
My simple sugar cookies are made drop cookie style, rather than rolled, then topped with frosting and a medley of decorative sprinkles to make my desired blend. I had specifics that included gold for this year, but you can use any color combination that you like best!
Christmas Cookies
- Butter - 1 cup of salted butter softened at room temperature.
- Confectioners Sugar - 1 cup. Confectioners sugar is also referred to as powdered sugar.
- Sugar - ¼ cup of granulated white sugar.
- Egg - 1 large egg. If time allows, set it out ahead of time to come to room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract -1 ½ teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. If using imitation vanilla, you may want to add an additional teaspoon.
- Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon of baking soda (not baking powder). This is the leavening agent that will cause your cookies to rise.
- Cream of Tartar - 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar to activate the leavening properties of the baking soda.
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour.
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- Shortening - ½ cup of shortening. We used Crisco, you can use butter flavored if desired.
- Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, or your preferred flavor (peppermint is delicious, too)!
- Confectioners Sugar - 4 cups, or ½ of a 2-pound bag, of powdered sugar.
- Heavy Cream - Up to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream (you will use 2-4 tablespoons starting with 2 tablespoons and increasing as needed).
- Sprinkles (optional) - You can use your favorite Christmas sprinkles in any shape, color, or size!
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Christmas Cookies
This is a fairly easy Christmas sugar cookie recipe (you can also use buttercream frosting in place of the hardening sugar cookie icing to save even more time). You will need measuring spoons and cups, a mixing bowl, silicone spatulas, plastic wrap, parchment paper, and a baking sheet!
1 batch makes a whopping 36 cookies. They are great for sharing!
Make Christmas Sugar Cookie Dough
- Cream together ingredients. In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup of softened butter, 1 cup of confectioners' sugar, and ¼ cup of granulated sugar. Cream together the ingredients just until combined.
- Combine. Add 1 large egg, 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, and combine the ingredients until smooth.
- Add flour. Add 1 ¾ cups of the flour to the wet ingredients. Mix until it is just incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Chill. Cover your bowl with plastic cling film and chill the Christmas sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
Bake Christmas Cookies
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Form dough balls. Portion the cookie dough and roll them into 1-inch dough balls. Place the dough onto your prepared baking sheets with 2 inches of spacing between each cookie. *For best results, return your readied cookie dough and the baking sheet to your refrigerator to chill between baking batches of cookies.
- Bake. Place the tray of cookies in the center of the middle rack of your oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 8-10 minutes, or until puffy and lightly golden on the cookie edges.
- Cool. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely (before frosting). *For best results, allow your baking sheets to cool completely before readying the next batch of cookie dough.
Sugar Cookie Frosting & Holiday Sprinkles
- Prepare the sprinkles. Combine your holiday sprinkles in a small bowl to make your desired color mix. I'm using Wilton brand holiday jimmies, holiday nonpareils, and a gold mix pictured here.
- Make frosting. Use ½ cup of shortening, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 4 cups of powdered sugar, and 2-4 tablespoons of heavy cream, to make the frosting as directed here. I used butter-flavored Crisco with lemon extract.
- Frost the cookies. You can spread the frosting onto the cooled cookies, or pipe the frosting. Apply sprinkles by dropping them onto each cookie and pressing the sprinkles into the frosting. *Leave cookies on a wire cooling rack above a rimmed baking sheet to catch the extra sprinkles. You can also dip the frosted cookies directly into your sprinkle mix, and press down gently to set the sprinkles. The image below shows the piped frosting with applied sprinkles on the left, and the spatula-frosted cookie that was dipped into the sprinkles mix on the right.
Enjoy these cookies as a sweet after-dinner treat, give them as gifts, or bring them to your next holiday get-together! They are extra tasty with a glass of gingerbread eggnog (or a gingerbread eggnog cocktail for adults),
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Using room-temperature eggs helps your cookies to bake evenly. A good rule of thumb is to use room-temperature eggs any time a recipe calls for butter softened at room temperature.
- 1 cup of butter is the equivalent of 2 sticks.
- You may make the dough in advance and freeze it. Double-wrap the sugar cookie dough with plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bag for up to 6 months.
- For super white frosting use standard vegetable shortening (unflavored).
🥡 Storing
Keep your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. If stacking, wait until the frosting dries and put wax or parchment paper in between the cookies.
To freeze your Christmas sugar cookies, wait until the frosting hardens completely and layer wax or parchment papers between the cookies in a freezer-safe container. Thaw in the fridge overnight and set out to come to room temperature before baking. Enjoy within 3 months.
For more on storing sugar cookies, take a look at my post 'How Long Do Sugar Cookies Last?'
❓ Recipe FAQs
Hard sugar cookies are usually a result of cooking them too long. Be sure to remove them from the oven as soon as the edges become golden in color.
It depends on when you need them. You can make the cookies as long as you intend on them being eaten within 7 days, but they are freshest the first 3 days.
The general consensus is that sugar cookies should be soft and tender. That is why they are removed from the oven as soon as the edges of the cookie darken. If you prefer a crisp cookie, you can bake them for a few minutes extra, but you run the risk of the cookies becoming hard.
31 Fantastic Christmas Cookies for Holiday Baking
Here is a wide variety of wonderful cookies to bake for Christmas, from traditional to fun and colorful. There are even some international Christmas Cookie recipes to try!
Sugar Cookies
- Vintage Betty Crocker Rolled Sugar Cookies - Classic sugar cookies that can be cut into the most beautiful shapes! *Shown above.
- Sugar Cookies - My go-to sugar cookie recipe that anyone can make!
- No Chill Rolled Sugar Cookies - If you are short on time, these no-chill rolled sugar cookies are just what you need.
- Eggnog Sugar Cookies with Nutmeg Frosting - Delightfully soft spiced sugar cookies you are sure to love (even if you don't like eggnog).
Shortbread Cookies
- Empire Biscuits - Sweet jam filling sandwiched between two tasty shortbread cookies! *Shown above.
- Fruitcake Shortbread Cookies - A sweet and chewy fruitcake blend inside buttery shortbread cookies!
- Fruitcake Shortbread Squares - Holiday fruitcake mixed peel baked into bite-sized shortbread squares.
- Melting Moments - A tasty twist on shortbread cookies that practically melt in your mouth!
Drop Cookies
- Christmas M&M Cookies - Classic cookies with red and green M&Ms (my M&M cookie bars are tasty, too)! *Shown above.
- Peanut Butter Pecan Cookies - A cookie for peanut butter lovers with added crunch from pecans.
- Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (WWII Cookies) - Super chewy oatmeal cookies that are sweetened with molasses and loaded with juicy raisins!
- Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies - You can't go wrong with some wonderfully soft Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies.
- Snickerdoodles - A Christmas classic, these cookies are loaded with cinnamon sugar!
- Gumdrop Cookies - Soft and chewy cookies speckled with gumdrop candy!
- Peanut Butter Blossoms - A favorite family cookie for any day of the year, and they simply can't be skipped when making cookie gift baskets!
- Sprinkle Crinkle Cookies - A cross between sugar and shortbread cookies with fun Christmas colors.
- Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms - These tasty chocolate cookies are a spin on the classic peanut butter blossom cookie, and are topped with festive red and white Hershey's Kisses!
No-Bake Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint No-Bake Cookies - The combination of chocolate and peppermint is always a Christmas favorite!
- Butterscotch No-Bake Cookies - If you are a fan of butterscotch, these easy no-bake cookies are perfect for you!
- Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies (without peanut butter) - Old-school oatmeal no-bake cookies loaded with chocolate flavor.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies - This classic flavor combination is always a hit!
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal No Bake Cookies - Creamy peanut butter goodness inside of a traditional no-bake oatmeal cookie!
- No Bake Haystack Cookies - Old-fashioned haystack cookies made with chow mein and a sweet butterscotch coating!
Meringue Cookies
- Christmas Cake Batter Meringues - Festive meringue cookies that are light as air!
- Christmas Eggnog Meringue Cookies - The same airy cookie with the rich flavor of eggnog!
More Christmas Cookies
- Italian Ricotta Cookies - Delightfully moist, cake-like cookies the whole family will love!
- Russian Tea Cakes - Rich and buttery Russian tea cakes studded with bits of walnut.
- Kolaczki - Polish cookies with a sweet and sticky fruit filling!
- Kringla - Traditional Scandinavian cookies that are extra soft and sweet.
- Nussecken - This German recipe is made by topping butter shortbread with sweet apricot jam, hazelnuts, and an irresistible chocolate glaze.
Plus Some Christmas Candy Favorites!
- Christmas Crack - Made with crispy saltine crackers and toffee candy, this treat is hard to resist.
- Christmas Nougat - A no-bake nougat that is dotted with chewy red and green gumdrops!
- Crockpot Christmas Crack - An easy combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and roasted peanuts that melts in your slow cooker!
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📖 Recipe Card
Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
Christmas Cookies {Sugar Cookie Recipe}
- 1 cup butter (softened - at room temperature)
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- 1 sugar cookie frosting (see recipe)
- sprinkles (optional - holiday colors)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
Christmas Cookies {Sugar Cookie Instructions}
- In a large mixing bowl add the softened butter, confectioners' sugar, and granulated sugar.
- Cream together the butter, confectioners' sugar, and sugar until just combined.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, cream of tartar, and 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Combine the ingredients until smooth.
- Add the flour to the wet ingredients.
- Mix the flour until it is just incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Cover your bowl with plastic cling film and chill the Christmas sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion the cookie dough and roll into 1-inch dough balls. Place the dough onto your prepared baking sheets with 2 inches of spacing between each cookie. *For best results, return your readied cookie dough and the baking sheet to your refrigerator to chill between baking batches of cookies.
- bake at 350°F (175°C) for 8-10 minutes, or until puffy and lightly golden on the cookie edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely (before frosting). *For best results, allow your baking sheets to cool completely before readying the next batch of cookie dough.
Sugar Cookie Frosting & Holiday Sprinkles
- Combine your holiday sprinkles in a small bowl to make your desired color mix. I'm using Wilton brand holiday jimmies, holiday nonpareils, and a gold mix pictured here.
- Mix the frosting according to the instructions on the recipe here. I used butter flavored Crisco with lemon extract, for super white frosting use standard vegetable shortening (unflavored). *You can also use a buttercream frosting for the cookies.
- You can spread the frosting onto the cookies, or pipe the frosting. Apply sprinkles by dropping them onto each cookie and pressing the sprinkles into the frosting. *Leave cookies on a wire cooling rack above a rimmed baking sheet to catch the extra sprinkles.You can also dip the frosted cookies directly into your sprinkle mix, and press down gently to set the sprinkles. The image below shows the piped frosting with applied sprinkles on the left, and the spatula-frosted cookie that was dipped into the sprinkles mix on the right.
Notes
- Using room-temperature eggs helps your cookies to bake evenly. A good rule of thumb is to use room-temperature eggs any time a recipe calls for butter softened at room temperature.
- 1 cup of butter is the equivalent of 2 sticks.
- You may make the dough in advance and freeze it. Double-wrap the sugar cookie dough with plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bag for up to 6 months.
- For super white frosting use standard vegetable shortening (unflavored).
Kristie Harpster says
I just made these cookies and they were some of the best cookies I've had it and I'm not a really big sugar cookie fan but I love the big sugar cookies and I think they're the best I've ever had
Andrea says
I was surfing through all of your cookie recipes and ran into this gem. The first thing I thought was how much my girls will love having fun with the sprinkles. We'll be using these for many holidays!