It’s the most wonderful time of the year and I am here for the cookies! These Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies are one of my favorite cookies to make every year, and if you’re a regular reader you’ve probably seen these in various forms over the years. I love making custom cookies for my kids parties, and while I’ve backed away from them this past year, I always make them at Christmas.
And it’s been a couple of years since I was part of a holiday cookie round-up, but be sure to check out the almost two dozen cookie recipes at the end of this post! I’m excited to be part of Houseful of Cookies for the first time (and I hope this isn’t my last time.)
This recipe is one I found in a magazine many years ago. I love using cookie cutters I’ve collected over the years (I have a few my grandma gave me several years ago) and friends have gifted cookie cutters to me. For some reason, that makes the cookies a little more special for me.
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract
Make them:
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.
- With a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
- Continue to mix on low, and gradually add the flour mixture. Once the dough is stiff, shape it into a disk and wrap in wax paper. I like to shape the dough into two discs. Refrigerate until firm – around 2 hours.
- Once firm, on a floured surface, roll some of the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut your shapes out and place onto lined baking sheets. (These reusable baking sheet liners are great!) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
- When the cookies are cool, they can be iced.
Now you can choose to add sprinkles to the cookies before they bake, or you can ice them. My kids and I like either way, but they really prefer the icing. One year, rather than make the icing myself, I came across the Betty Crocker Cookie Icing and it is a game changer. (If you can’t find the Betty Crocker brand, the Walmart brand works the same. I don’t like any other decorating icing, though.) In fact, if you have an Aldi in your area, you can find the icing there.
The icing really just rolls onto the cookies. I “line” the cookie, and then fill in the center, using the tip to roll the icing into place.
What is Houseful Of Cookies?
Houseful of Cookies is an annual, virtual cookie hop, hosted by Natasha Nicholes of Houseful of Nicholes. She really likes playing on the “Houseful” theme when there is more than one of something, and since there’s more than one cookie…here we are. Each year, she gathers a bunch of us from the internet to bake up our epic cookie creations and share them with all of you! It’s a fun time, and we all have dealt with butter, flour, and various flavorings to bring you our goodies each year. This year, we present to you, our cookie hop.
Houseful Of Cookies Participants
Brownie Cookies – Houseful of Nicholes
Chocolate Rolo Surprise Cookies – Good Girl Gone Redneck
The Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies – Love, Jaime
Cake Mix Santa Cookies – Dairy Carrie
Candy Cane Cookies – Brooklyn Active Mama
Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Shortbread Cookies – Honest & Truly
Gingersnap Cookies – Divas With A Purpose
Decorated Ugly Sweater Cookies – 100 Directions
Minnie Christmas Headband Cookies – Cutefetti
Birds Nest Cookies – My Crafty Life
Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies – Kenya Rae
Gluten-Free Russian Tea Cakes – Day by Day in Our World
Not His Mamma’s Tassies – Heather Spins a Yarn
Molded Peanut Butter Cookies – This Mamas Life
Not Your Mama’s Milk & Cookies – Life of a Ginger
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Mama Harris’ Kitchen
Coffee Sandwich Cookies with Browned Buttercream Filling – How Was Your Day?
Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies – Omadarling
Coffee Cookies – Someday I’ll Learn
Toffee Bits Cookies – This Worthey Life
Fruitcake Cookies – Sugar, Spice, & Glitter
Keto Almond Joy Cookies – The Crunchy Mommy
One of these days, I will be able to wait long enough to ice cookies without the icing melting, I’m going to be cooking with gas soon! Thanks for participating in Houseful of Cookies this year. The cookies are always amazing, and they give me so much inspiration for holiday cookie swaps!
There’s a reason we have a lot of un-iced cookies at Christmas. 😉 Sometimes we’re a little too impatient. (And by “we”, I mean “me.” I’m impatient.)
They really do look like the perfect sugar cookies – and love the hack for the Betty Crocker frosting! I’m a frosting snob, too.