SANTA COMES IN 2 DAYS YOU GUYS. 2 DAYS. And that means we need a whole lotta Christmas Sugar Cookies to leave on the counter tomorrow night. I've got you covered.
This simple sugar cookie dough is laced with sprinkles because we always need more sprinkles in life and the decorated with royal icing and MORE sprinkles. Duh. Have you met me, I love decorating things. Feel free to get jazzy with your decorations. You can put the royal icing over the entire cookie and douse it with sprinkles, or make lines and then do a candy cane pattern. Or fur trim on your santa hats. Skies the limit and Santa deserves the best! You should also probably make some molasses cookies, it feels like the right thing to do.
Christmas Sugar Cookies
If you're looking for a classic Christmas sugar cookie recipe, look no further. This simple sugar cookie dough is laced with sprinkles because we always need more sprinkles in life and then decorated with royal icing and MORE sprinkles. Duh.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces, at room temperature
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup holiday sprinkles plus extra for decorating
Royal Icing:
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- ¼ cup meringue powder
- Food coloring optional
- Decorating sugar for topping, optional
- Sprinkles for topping, optional
Instructions
For the cookies
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes; beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and sprinkles and mix on medium-low speed until completely incorporated. Divide the dough in half, place each piece between 2 pieces of parchment and then roll to ⅓ inch thick. Once rolled out, place the parchment sandwiches dough on a baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes.
- Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut out shapes with the cookie cutters and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
- Gently gather any scraps into a ball and press into a disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate the disc until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour. Cut out as many cookies as possible and bake.
For the royal icing
- Beat the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and ⅓ cup water with an electric mixer in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.
- Decorate the cookies with the icing; top with decorating sugar and sprinkles as needed.
Notes
Feel free to get jazzy with your decorations. You can put the royal icing over the entire cookie and douse it with sprinkles, or make lines and then do a candy cane pattern. Or fur trim on your santa hats. Skies the limit and Santa deserves the best!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 426mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 189IU | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg
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This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I use it on repeat, just switching out the color of the sprinkles depending on the holiday/event. I think I probably don't use as many sprinkles, but otherwise, I stick to the recipe. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it is really hard (in my opinion) to mess up. It's very tolerant of different thicknesses and bake times and the dough is really easy to work with. And they're so tasty - thanks Gaby!
I have leftover cookie dough that I wasn’t able to finish. Right now I put it into the fridge, it has been there overnight . Can I at this point freeze it?
yes!
I made these last year and they came out absolutely perfect...this year though my dough is all crumbly, I used same mixer setting etc, so I don't think it was overmixed, I'm so sad! I may try to start it all over again....I know this recipe is normally bomb!
How many inches? It’s showing a ? Mark in the recipe!
1/3 inch!
I made these yesterday and they turned out great! I was just wondering how this recipe works without adding the sprinkles into the dough. Would I need to add more flour in place of the sprinkles?
nope!! you can just leave out the sprinkles if you want
Hi Gaby! I'm making these cookies (except pumpkin shaped for Halloween) and was wondering if I could make the dough, refrigerate it over night and then bake them the next day??
Thanks, love your blog!
Kelly
absolutely!!
Talk about gorgeous sugar cookies, Gaby!!! Perfect!
so totally cute!!
Those sugar cookies look absolutely perfect! Fantastic job 🙂
Is there still time for these beauties? I think so......
The perfect cookies for Christmas!
Such fun Christmas cookies!
Santa will love these cookies!
All time classic Christmas Cookie. Love your decorations, very festive.
I know, I can't believe it! These sugar cookies are SO fun! I love that you put rainbow sprinkles in the dough - makes them look like funfetti! 🙂