Classically soft, delightfully festive, and impossibly easy, Christmas Cookie Sparkles are the holiday sugar cookie everyone adores. They start with a plush, cream-cheese-enhanced sugar cookie dough, and are rolled in sparkling sugar or your favorite sprinkles for the prettiest crunch on the outside and an ultra-soft center inside.
I originally published this recipe in 2017. These cookies have been a longtime reader favorite (and you may recognize them from Sally’s Cookie Addiction all dressed up in holiday colors!), and this updated post now includes more tips and sprinkle options.
A Cookie That Always Sparkles
Yes, they’re called Cookie Sparkles, and for good reason: you will roll each cookie in sanding sugar for a shimmery, glittery finish. But don’t feel limited! While the original recipe uses classic sanding sugar sprinkles, these cookies are wonderfully flexible and take well to jimmies, nonpareils, holiday-themed mixes, pastel blends, rainbow sprinkles, even natural-color sanding sugars.
If it sticks to cookie dough, you can use it. 🙂
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Christmas Cookie Sparkles
- Extremely soft thanks to a touch of cream cheese (like my frosted cream cheese cookies)
- Minimal chill time (just 1 hour!)
- Drop-style dough—no rolling pin, no cutters
- Customizable with any sprinkles you love
- Classic sugar cookie flavor with extra richness
Grab These Ingredients
This recipe uses the basics you likely already have in your kitchen. In fact, it’s the same dough as my Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies—just without the frosting.
- Flour: All-purpose flour gives these cookies their structure.
- Baking Powder: Helps them rise gently.
- Salt: A must for balancing sweetness.
- Butter: Make sure it’s properly softened for the creaming stage. See How to Cream Butter & Sugar if you need a refresher on this step.
- Cream Cheese: The secret ingredient that makes these cookies exceptionally soft and creamy.
- Granulated Sugar: Simple, classic sweetness.
- Egg: For binding and structure.
- Vanilla + Almond Extract: The almond extract adds such a lovely bakery-style flavor.
- Sanding Sugar or Any Sprinkles: The sparkly coating. Use classic sanding sugar or get creative!
How to Make Christmas Cookie Sparkles
Today’s cookies are drop-style, not roll-out style like classic Christmas cookies—meaning they’re simple, fast, and perfect for kids to help with.
Whisk the dry ingredients. Cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Combine wet + dry ingredients. The dough will be thick, as pictured above.
Chill the dough for about 1 hour, and then roll into balls (about 1 Tablespoon each). Roll in sprinkles or sanding sugar:
Gently flatten the tops. This helps them spread evenly.
Bake until the edges are set. Quick, unfussy, and reliably delicious!
Don’t Skip The Cream Cheese
A couple ounces of cream cheese transform these from “good sugar cookies” to truly exceptional sugar cookies. Cream cheese adds:
- Softness without making the cookies cakey
- A creamy, slightly tangy richness
- A plush, smooth center that contrasts beautifully with the crisp sprinkle coating
- Once you try sugar cookies with cream cheese in the dough, it’s hard to go back!
To Sparkle or Not to Sparkle
Love a crunchy exterior? Stick with sanding sugar or sprinkles because it’s festive, fun, and adds a satisfying texture. Prefer your sugar cookies soft all the way through? Skip the sprinkles and bake them plain. They’re wonderful frosted with my cream cheese frosting (use the version from my Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies) or enjoy them unfrosted as simple, extra-soft sugar cookies.
Either way, you’re using the same reliable dough.
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Christmas Cookie Sparkles
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Super soft and creamy cream cheese sugar cookies rolled in sprinkles!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ounces (57g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract*
- 3/4 cup (150g) sprinkles (sanding sugar, nonpareils, and/or jimmies)
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed until relatively smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat until combined and creamy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. The dough will be thick. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3-4 days. If chilling for longer than 2-3 hours, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard and the cookies may not spread.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Pour sanding sugar in a bowl or, if using multiple colors, a few separate bowls.
- Roll balls of cookie dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough per cookie, then roll each ball in the sprinkles to coat. Place each dough ball 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Using the back of a measuring cup or drinking glass, gently press down on each dough ball to slightly flatten.
- Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes or until very lightly browned on the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. Unbaked cookie dough balls (without sanding sugar coating) will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, pre-heat the oven, then roll in sanding sugar. Bake as directed. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Stand Mixer or Handheld) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Almond Extract: Almond extract adds a wonderful flavor to the cookies. You can leave it out. No need to replace with anything.
- Sprinkles: You can use sanding sugar, non-pareils, or jimmy-style sprinkles. This sprinkles collection has a little of everything. I find sanding sugar sprinkles at my regular grocery store. You can usually find them in the baking aisle. I like Wilton brand. If you’re shopping for sanding sugar online, I like (affiliate links) the sugars from this holiday set, these multicolor, these green, and these red. I’ve also used this gold pearlized sugar.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Incredibly colorful and tasty. Plus they hold up well.
Sally, we loved these.they were delicious
Made these so many times and love them! Just wondering if I can freeze the cookies once baked with the sugar coating?
Thanks!
Sure can! See recipe notes.
Growing up, we usually made like 6 dozen spritz cookies but I don’t have a cookie gun and decided on these instead. They taste incredibly similar to what I remember of spritz! Now in your picture, your cookies inside looks a little darker more yellow than mine and more tender. I used store brand butter, what butter do you use? I also used imitation vanilla, I used extract in a simple butter cookie before and you could taste the alcohol. I would like to try these again using Kerrygold butter, quality vanilla, and making sure I don’t over measure the flour.
Hi Rebecca! I actually use store-brand butter most of the time in my baking, not European butter. I hope you enjoyed these!
Sally,
Can reduced fat cream cheese be used in the dough? Or does it need to be full fat cream cheese?
Hi Deb, full fat is best but reduced fat would work in a pinch.
I made these for neighbors for Christmas & one of them commented again last week how good they were. Thanks for the simple, yummy recipe.
These are a permanent addition to my holiday baking lineup! My family loved them and they are so pretty. The sanding sugar gives them a sweet crunch and I love the almond flavor.
Can you roll these in rainbow sprinkles too? Thanks!
Yes, definitely!
Sally,
I made these cookies today and they are going to the church after glow next week after our Christmas play. Thank- you for sharing the recipe.
I love this sugar cookie recipe… I’m wanting to make a peppermint sugar cookie… wondering if I can roll these in finely crushed peppermint candy canes instead of the sugar? I’m thinking I’d leave out the almond extract (even tho I generally love the flavor it gives). Maybe I’ll try it both ways and see!
Hi Sarah! Candy canes, unless they are inside cookie dough, have the tendency to melt all over the cookie sheets when they are a coating. I suggest trying my peppermint white chocolate cookies. 🙂
Or you can make my peppermint bark cookies. If desired, replace the chocolate cookie dough with my regular sugar cookie dough.
I just made these for fall. I used orange sugar and poked half of a pretzel stick into the ball before flattening to make little pumpkins. What fun!
Hi Sally! I absolutely loved these cookies. It’s been so cold here in Minnesota that my cookie dough takes so long to get to room temperature. I was wonder how to tell if these have been undercooked? I over cooked the first batch but they were not golden brown or anything to indicate they had been baked too long. I like a soft cookie but don’t want them to be underdone for folks. Any tips? Thank you so much. I only made cookies from your blog this year and each where a hit.
Hi Al! For this size cookie (1 Tbsp of dough in this particular recipe), I always bake for 12-13 minutes. The bottoms are light brown. If yours taste a little too hard, I would reduce down to 11 minutes and see how you like that. Stay warm!!
My new favorite Christmas cookie to eat with my coffee! They were easy to make & delicous. I’ll make them again for sure. Thanks for your great recipes.
After getting happy reviews from my husband’s coworkers, I made these festive cookies as gifts for my coworkers; but left some without sanding sugar. Neither batch had almond extract and they loved them! Thank you!
These cookies are so much easier to make than your standard sugar cookie and so tender and yummy. I rolled my cookies in colored sugar as well as sprinkles (non pareil) and they turned out fantastic! Thanks for a keeper!
Hi, Sally. Thanks for such a great recipe! I just took mine out of the oven and it seems that there’s a crust formed on the bottom from the sanding sugars. I do not have silicone mats and used a baking sheet. Do you think this is the culprit? Any advice for the future? They taste great but just look burnt on the bottom.
Hi Sabrina! Can you try baking them on parchment paper next time? That should help prevent the burnt crust on the bottoms.
I just finished baking these festive cookies. I think the size is just right and the cookie is not overly sweet. They are perfect! Thank you for such a great recipe. I love your directions, they are so easy to follow.
I made these yesterday and, as always with any of your recipes, they were delicious. I got 30 cookies out of the recipe. I ate six and the rest are going to a friend. I definitely will be making these again not only at Christmas but throughout the year with different colored sanding sugar. Thank you for another great recipe.
I just finished making these and they turned out perfect! I just had to make a few high altitude adjustments, but they turned out delicious! I love the texture and flavor. I will making them again to take to my parents house for Christmas. Thanks!
Hi Sally, I love your cookie recipes (and so does my husband who has begged me to make some of your chewy choc chip ones along with my Christmas cookies) and am excited to try these ones. I know you have a separate recipe for Candy Cane Kiss cookies, but the texture of these cookies sounds amazing. So I wondered if this recipe would also work with the kisses and would I need to make any adjustments to cooking if I wanted to do that?
Hi Jane! As I made these cookies, I even thought about sticking a kiss in them like my candy cane kiss cookies. You can absolutely use this cookie recipe for that!
Just finished making my first batch of these beautiful and delish cookies! While this is the first type of sugar cookie (of this kind) I have made, it won’t be the last.
I was surprised by how quickly the sprinkles/sparkles went, but they turned out beautifully and smelled great.
Can’t wait to try another recipe; thanks for sharing!
Hey Sally! These cookies look the most-Christmas-y yet (after perhaps the Snowmen cookies…). Just wondering, I notice there’s a little bit of cream cheese in them. What’s the purpose of that? Curious because I’ve never made a cookie before where there’s cream cheese IN the actual cookie!
It creates a super smooth and creamy texture!
Hi Sally,
I plan to make these for Sunday church fellowship time. They look so festive!! I do have a general cookie cooling question: I normally cool my cookies on the counter lined with freezer paper- would using cooling racks be a better idea for best results?
Honestly, you can do it both ways. But I prefer to use cooling racks so the bottoms of the cookies get a little air and crisp up. They also cool much quicker when exposed to air on all sides.