These are fan-favorite cut-out Christmas sugar cookies! My recipe for sugar cookies promises flavorful cookies with soft and thick centers, slightly crisp edges, and flat tops for decorating. The dough comes together with 7–8 simple ingredients, and the cookies hold their cookie cutter shape in the oven. Decorate them with my easy glaze cookie icing, a wonderful alternative to royal icing. Get out your rolling pin and favorite cookie cutters and have fun!
The holiday season and a batch of decorated Christmas sugar cookies go hand-in-hand. Today’s recipe is a classic staple, and has been a popular favorite since I first published it in 2014. It’s basically my favorite sugar cookie recipe, but all dressed up for the holidays. And I love that you don’t need to mess with royal icing! The cookie icing below is unfussy and low maintenance, which is definitely appreciated if you’re baking a lot of cookies in December. 😉
One reader commented: “These are the BEST cookies! The dough is so easy to put together and to work with. They taste amazing; buttery and not too sweet. They cooked up perfect, just like you said, crispy on the edges with a nice soft middle!! And the icing… oh the icing! It’s the perfect consistency for using a squeeze bottle and yet it sets up firm and glossy so you can stack the cookies or pack and ship them. ★★★★★”
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Soft, thick centers with slightly crisp edges
- Irresistible buttery vanilla flavor
- Made from simple ingredients
- Leave plain or flavor with extras like maple, cinnamon, peppermint, and more
- Hold shape while baking
- Icing is manageable for young bakers and beginners
- Freeze beautifully
- Easy-to-follow recipe used by beginner and expert bakers alike
By the way, if you love sugar cookies, but aren’t up for decorating with icing, you’ll enjoy my stained glass window cookies, Christmas sparkle cookies, pecan sugar cookies, or drop Christmas sugar cookies instead.
How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
You need 7–8 ingredients for the dough. With so few ingredients, it’s important to follow the recipe closely, because each one has an important job. Creamed butter and sugar form the base of the dough. Egg and flour provide structure, and vanilla adds flavor. I almost always add a touch of almond extract for additional flavor, and highly recommend that you try it too! You could also use peppermint extract or another flavor extract instead. Baking powder adds lift, and salt balances the sweet.
So many little ingredients doing big jobs to create a perfect cookie:
Success Tip: Make sure you start with proper room temperature butter. Room temperature butter is cool to the touch and about 65°F (18°C), which may be cooler than your kitchen. To test the butter to make sure it’s ready to cream, poke it with your finger. Your finger should make an indent without sinking down into the butter. The butter should not be shiny or greasy.
This is a recipe that requires some planning ahead.
After you make the cookie dough, it must chill for 1–2 hours, and up to 2 days. Chilling is a mandatory step. Without chilling, these cookie cutter sugar cookies won’t hold shape. You don’t want your snowman-shaped cookie turning into the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (though that could work for Halloween cookies).
Also, the icing recipe below needs at least 24 hours to dry/set (but you can certainly eat them prior to the icing drying!). This is much longer than royal icing, which usually dries in 2 hours. So even though we’re not messing with finicky royal icing, we do have to wait longer to stack/transport the cookies.
After you make the cookie dough, divide it in half:
And then roll out each portion of dough before chilling:
Let’s talk about rolling out this dough, because it’s an unusual order of steps.
3 Tricks to Rolling Out Christmas Cookie Dough
- Trick #1: Pay attention to the order of the steps. Notice how I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it in the refrigerator? That’s the most important trick! Let me explain why I do this. Just like when you’re making chocolate chip cookies, to prevent the cookies from over-spreading, the dough must chill. If you’ve ever tried rolling out chilled sugar cookie dough, you may remember how difficult it is to roll out cold, stiff dough. So, roll out the dough while it’s still soft (right after mixing it together), and then chill the rolled-out dough.
- Trick #2: Divide the dough in half before rolling it out. Why? Smaller sections of dough are easier to roll out.
- Trick #3: Roll out the cookie dough directly on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. Pick the whole thing up, set it on a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for two baking sheets in your refrigerator, simply stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of each other, with parchment paper or silicone baking mat in between. You can see me doing this in the video tutorial below.
After the rolled-out dough chills for at least 1–2 hours, use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, and re-roll your scraps. Remember, you have two slabs of dough.
Arrange cookies on a lined baking sheet. I usually get about 2 dozen 3-inch cookies from this recipe. Here’s some of the cookies before baking:
And after baking:
Use My Easy Cookie Icing
My easy cookie icing recipe below is a great alternative to traditional royal icing. It’s like a very thick opaque glaze and comes together quickly with a fork and a mixing bowl. This is one of my favorite ways to decorate sugar cookies because it’s low maintenance, but still delivers pretty (and tasty) results. I have a separate cookie icing page dedicated to it, and it can be used on pretty much any cookie cutter cookies like gingerbread cookies, chocolate sugar cookies, Valentine’s Day cookies, or Easter cookies.
Here’s why you’ll love this cookie icing:
- 5 basic ingredients
- Can tint the icing different colors
- Can use squeeze bottle or piping tips to decorate
- Manageable for everyone
- Doesn’t dry into hard cement texture
- After it dries, you can stack, freeze, and transport cookies
You need confectioners’ sugar, water, vanilla extract (replace with water to keep the icing stark white), a touch of corn syrup, and a little salt. The corn syrup gives the icing sticking power and creates a beautiful sheen when the icing dries. The icing sets after 24 hours, so you can easily stack these Christmas sugar cookies for storage, transport, or even shipping.
Yes, you can create gourmet-looking Christmas cookies like the ones above without royal icing!
Christmas Sugar Cookie Tools
Before I leave you with the recipe, let me suggest some useful sugar cookie tools. These are the exact products I use in my own kitchen:
- Electric Mixer: stand mixer or handheld.
- Baking Sheets: I use and love these baking sheets.
- Parchment or Baking Mats: silicone baking mats or parchment sheets (for rolling out & transferring the rolled-out dough, and for baking the cookies).
- Rolling Pin: This is my favorite rolling pin. If you have difficulty evenly rolling out dough, try this adjustable rolling pin. It’s really helpful!
- Cookie Cutters: If you’d like suggestions for cookie cutters, I love Ann Clark brand. (Not sponsored, just a genuine fan!) The pictured shapes came from this holiday cookie cutter set.
- Food Coloring: Liquid food coloring can alter the consistency of the icing, so I recommend gel food coloring. I like Americolor brand.
- Squeeze Bottle: To make decorating a breeze, use a squeeze bottle. They’re less intimidating than piping tips and very easy to use. If you want to use a piping tip, I love Wilton #4 for decorating sugar cookies. (You’ll also need a disposable or reusable piping bag if using a piping tip.)
These baking tools would be great to add to your holiday wish list. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out my Holiday Baking Gift Guide. Lots of fun ideas in there, either for yourself or other baker friends! You can also review my recommended Best Cookie Baking Tools and Cookie Decorating Supplies for even more suggestions.
Cookie Decorating Party
Are you hosting a cookie decorating day or party? Here’s my How to Host a Cookie Decorating Day guide with my best success tips, recommended supplies, and timeline for prep. This page is especially useful if you’re hosting a cookie decorating day for kids!
Craving More Christmas Cookies?
- Peanut Butter Blossoms (same base dough as these peanut butter cookies!)
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Lace Cookies
- Homemade Gingerbread House
- Spritz Cookies
- Butter Cookies and Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Pinwheel Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
And here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
PrintChristmas Sugar Cookies Recipe with Easy Icing
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 3-inch cookies and 1.5 cups icing
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cut-out Christmas sugar cookies with crisp edges and soft centers. This icing recipe is so simple, making decorating hassle-free!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*
Easy Icing
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (omit and replace with water for stark white icing)
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup*
- 4.5–5 Tablespoons (67–75ml) room temperature water
- pinch salt*
- optional: gel food coloring & sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Make sure you have allotted enough time (and enough counter space!) to make these cookies. The cookie dough needs to chill, the cookies need to cool completely, and the icing needs 24 hours to completely set. If enjoying right away and hardened icing isn’t a concern, you’ll only need about 3–4 hours to make these.
- Make the cookie dough:Â Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using), and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the second rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1–2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2–3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with second piece of dough. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Arrange cookies on baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 11–12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. No need to cover the cookies as they cool.
- Make the icing: Using a fork, stir the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and 4.5 Tablespoons (67ml) of water together in a medium bowl. It will be very thick and almost impossible to stir. Switch to a whisk and whisk in 1/2 Tablespoon (8ml) more of water. If you lift the whisk and let the icing drizzle back into the bowl, the ribbon of icing will hold shape for a few seconds before melting back into the icing. That is when you know it’s the right consistency and is ready to use. If it’s too thick (sometimes it is), whisk in another 1/2 Tablespoon (8ml) of water or a little more until you reach the proper consistency.
- If you’re tinting the icing another color, stir in the food coloring. You can pour some icing into different bowls if using multiple colors. When tinting icing, use only 1–2 drops at first, stir it in, then add more as needed to reach your desired color. Remember, color darkens as icing dries.
- Decorate the cookies: You can dip the cookies into the icing or use squeeze bottles or piping bags (reusable or disposable)Â fitted with piping tips (I usually use Wilton Piping Tip #4). Decorate your cookies as desired. If using the squeeze bottles or piping tips, I usually outline cookies with icing first, then fill in the middle. If adding sprinkles on top of the icing, add them right after applying icing on your cookie.
- Let icing dry/set: Feel free to enjoy cookies before icing completely dries. Icing dries in 24 hours. No need to cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. If it’s helpful, decorate the cookies directly on a baking sheet so you can place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help slightly speed up the icing setting. Once the icing has dried, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending.
- Cover and store decorated cookies for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 4, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disc as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the discs in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 5, then chill rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes–1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Make-Ahead Instructions & Storing Icing:Â If not decorating right away, cover the icing tightly and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. You can store in piping bags (with clips or rubber bands to seal ends), in squeeze bottles, or covered in bowl or container. Bring to room temperature before using. If icing has thickened up, add a few drops of water and mix in to thin out. Depending how you stored the icing (squeeze bottle/piping bag/container or bowl) shake squeeze bottle to mix/massage piping bag to mix/whisk in bowl or container to mix.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets | Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin | Holiday Cookie Cutter Set | Cooling Rack | Squeeze Bottle | Piping Bag (Disposable or Reusable) | Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Couplers | Wilton Tip #4
- Room Temperature Butter: Room temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
- Flavors:Â I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract. Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. If using lemon extract, you can also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
- Corn Syrup: Corn syrup gives the icing sticking power and creates a beautiful sheen on the dried icing. I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can if absolutely needed.
- Salt: I know salt isn’t a typical ingredient in cookie icing, but it helps offset its sweetness. You need just a small pinch.
- Yield of Icing: This amount of icing is enough for icing 2 dozen cookies. You’ll have plenty if you want to divide it and tint the batch multiple colors, too. Icing can easily be halved by halving all of the ingredients. (Still add a tiny pinch of salt.)
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
This recipe turned out amazing! I will definitely be hanging onto this one for future sugar cookies. Thank you for the tips too.
Silly question, but you say it takes 24hours for the icing to dry…where can I keep the cookies during that time? Can I leave them un covered on the kitchen counter for the 24 hrs?
Also, is there anything you recommend to replace the egg in the cookie? I was going to try and make this for my parents who don’t eat eggs. Thank you!!
Hi Rain! Yes, that’s correct– leave out on the counter as the icing dries. See step 8. For the egg– I have very little experience with egg free baking recipes and the best egg replacements to use. They’re a crucial ingredient in some cookie recipes, including this one. However, I do have a section on my website with naturally egg free baking recipes— ones where eggs aren’t really needed.
Hi! I’ve tried sugar cookie recipes in the past and I’ve always wondered, when you chill the dough, is it better to put it in the fridge or in the freezer? Sorry for the silly question… And thank you!
Hi Claudia, we recommend the refrigerator. Do not use the freezer to speed it up as it won’t chill evenly.
Hello, can I tie dye these cookies? I’m dying to try it.
Hi Donna, Yes you can add color to both the cookie dough and/or the icing. Have fun!
Hi sally! Great cookies! Great icing! But… I am still really learning how to frost. I have been using a piping bag for decorating more intricate cookies ( we picked an antique truck with a Christmas tree in its bed) and struggling with the details of the cookies. Any chance you have a video tutorial on tips and tricks of using royal icing for pretty designs? Also do you recommend the royal
Icing or the glazed icing for the designs? Thanks so much! Love your site!
Hi Christine! I’m so glad to help. You may find the video in my regular Sugar Cookies recipe post helpful. For a more intricate look, use royal icing. See my Sugar Cookies post for lots of detail/listed differences between the two icings.
Hi Sally, I have always used this cookie recipe and it has always been a success! This Christmas I have to do 400 cookies for the 1st week in December. The cookies are for a company who wish to give as tokens throughout the month of December to their customers. Since it is 400 cookies required for the first week in December, if I start baking and decorating from next week (November 23rd), can the cookies stay at room temperature all through until Christmas? Or would it spoil? Your advice would be greatly appreciated as I do not wish to sell cookies that will spoil especially an order that a company is giving to their customers as tokens throughout the month of December.
Hi Ree, We recommend only leaving the cookies at room temperature for about 5 days and up to 10 days in the refrigerator. You can certainly freeze the cookies for longer storage. See the freezing instructions in the recipe notes for details.
Can this icing be put in heat sealed piping bags for kids cookie decorating kits without separating?
Yes, absolutely. You can make it ahead, divide between piping bags and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before piping.
Hi I wondered if you could answer a question for me – can this icing be prepared ahead of time and kept for later use? For instance if made 2/3 days before using then kept in a small squeezy bottle in the fridge would that keep? Thanks
Hi Carla, If not decorating right away, cover the icing tightly and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
I have a question. I like the idea of using corn syrup in the frosting to give them a shine which I never did that. My question is by adding corn syrup to the sugar glaze will it make it sweet?
Hi Linda, This icing is very sweet on it’s own 🙂 The corn syrup is what gives the icing fabulous shine but you may leave it out if you aren’t concerned about shiny, glossy icing. We are only adding one teaspoon so it’s not enough to change the taste.
Is this the recipe I would use for painting details on a cookie with food safe brushes. I like an icing as close taste wise to buttercream as possible but need thin consistency for the painting. Thank you!
Hi Diane, It depends on the finished look you are going for. When painting on cookies I usually use white royal icing, let that fully dry, and then make a “paint” with gel food colors mixed with a drop of clear alcohol (or clear vanilla) to paint the white surface. You could certainly try to paint with this easy icing if you wish but we haven’t tried it.
Now I realize what’s been missing all my life: rolling out the dough and THEN chilling it. Amazing! Even young kids can make perfectly shaped sugar cookies with this dough, and it makes them so happy that they can do it so well themselves. Thank you!
Love this recipe! I substituted the sugar with Trulia, making them diabetic friendly. My mom is just hooked on these.
Hi Sally! I was wondering if I could substitute the corn syrup with something else maybe honey?
Hi Grace, The corn syrup is what gives the icing fabulous shine. You may leave it out if you aren’t concerned about shiny, glossy icing. I don’t recommend using anything in it’s place.
Best sugar cookies ever! I used buttercream frosting, but next time will try your icing recipe. I found that the thinner I rolled them, the better I liked them. Thanks so much!
The recipe is perfect and the tip to roll out cookie dough and then chill is absolutely genius. Thank you very much, you made my holiday less stressful.
Love your recipes Sally.
If I want to add cardamom…what measure so you suggest?
I recommend about 1/2 teaspoon.
I’d like to step away from my store-bought frosting comfort zone and try this icing. Will it work to ice them, then have my kids decorate them with sprinkles and whatnot, or do they start to set too fast? Thanks!
Hi Jacki! They take awhile to set (about 24 hours fully), so you can frost them and have the kids decorate with sprinkles.
Hello Sally!
Do you need to roll the dough out before chilling or can you wrap in saran wrap to chill and roll out afterward when you are ready to cut them out?
Hi, Karyl! I recommend rolling the dough out before chilling. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each out to about 1/4″ thickness. Stack the pieces (with with parchment paper) onto a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours. When ready to bake, take out the dough and you can make the shapes, re-rolling the dough to about 1/4″ as needed. Hope this helps!
Hi I made these cookies and was wondering if I could frost them with your cream cheese frosting from this recipe: Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Thank you!
Hi! If I wanted to Melt chocolate for icing the cookies, would you suggest just melting chocolate By itself or melting chocolate with heavy cream like a ganache? Would either be preferable for making the chocolate more likely to dry on the cookies? Thanks!
Hi Sam! Use 4 ounce baking chocolate bars that you find in the baking aisle. I recommend Bakers or Ghirardelli brands. Just chop them up fine and melt them in the microwave or double boiler. No need to mix with heavy cream or anything.
Hey! When you refrigerate the dough, do you cover it or only roll it onto the baking sheet.
You can lightly cover it, yes.
Corn syrup is not readily available in the UK, is there anything similar here I could use?
Honey would be great!
I just made these cookies- haven’t frosted or tasted them yet however I must say this was the easiest and quickest rolling and cutting out ever! I followed the recipe to roll the dough out first then refrigerate it- inwill always do this in the future, thanks.
I made these cookies with my two young kids this evening. I made a half batch because I only needed to make one dozen cookies. These are very good for what they are, a cutout sugar cookie. The butter flavor is good and my cookies did not spread or misshapen in the oven, which is good because the cookies we made from a tracing of my baby son’s hands. The cookies are exactly as described: crunchy boarder and soft-is middle. The kids are going to frost them tomorrow for a cookie competition! My husband made Sallys chocolate sugar cookie recipe for the same cookie competition and it is an insanely good cookie! Thanks! See ya!
Hi sally! First time making these! Do these cookies need icing? Or can I go without?
Hi Taylor! The cookies are delicious without icing but of course won’t be decorated- either way they are wonderful 🙂
Can you add fresh lime or lemon juice to this icing?
Hi Irene! You can definitely substitute some of the water with fresh lemon or lime juice.
Hello! I’m making the sugar cookies for a birthday party and having the guests decorate them themselves. Would it be best to use the royal icing or the glaze icing?
Hi Emily, either is fine! The glaze icing (included with this recipe) doesn’t yield precise icing details like traditional royal icing does. Both are pretty easy to make and work with. Depends on how intricate the decorating will be! I talk about the differences in length in my original sugar cookies post.
How long does it take for this icing to set? I’m doing a cookie decorating project for VDay and I need icing that will be ready in an hour.
Up to 24 hours. It won’t be set in 1 hour, though my royal icing sets in the refrigerator in about 1 hour.
Hi SALLY I love this recipe and made it throughout the holidays however I want to attempt writing on the cookies or doing patterns. What icing recipe can be used so the writing and patterns comes out nice and not runny etc. kindly advise as I want to attempt for Valentines. Thanks much
Hi Ree! For BEST results with piping words/writing, I recommend my royal icing.
Do these cookies spread when baking?
No! As long as the dough is properly chilled they don’t spread and hold their shape perfectly!
I made the cookies but we aren’t icing them for two days. Where should I store them? Is it ok that I have them in the fridge?
The sugar cookies are great covered tightly either in the fridge or at room temperature. 🙂