Decorated sugar cookies are a Christmas and New Year's staple for many families. This old-fashioned sugar cookie recipe yields tender cookies robust enough for frosting.
For many families, decorated sugar cookies are an essential part of the holidays. Frosted snowmen, wreaths, and stars are served after Christmas or New Year's dinner, or are simply eaten with eggnog on a snowy afternoon.
Decorated cookies are sold at supermarkets and bakeries, but homemade sugar cookies can be cut into any shape, frosted any color, and decorated with any extras such as sprinkles, chocolate chips, or colored sugars a person wishes. Home bakers can let creativity reign using this simple decorated sugar cookie recipe. These cookies are robust enough to stand up to frosting and other decorations, but still tender, buttery, and delicious.
Ingredients for Christmas Sugar Cookies
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Baking Tools Needed
- rolling pin
- flat surface for rolling out the cookies (preferably chilled)
- holiday cookie cutters
- cookie sheet
- non-stick silicon baking mat (optional)
How to Make Roll-Out Sugar Cookies
- Cream together the butter and the sugar. (The butter can be softened -- but not melted! -- ahead of time to make this step easier.)
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, mixing just enough to combine all the flour.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. (The dough is easier to work with if it remains cold).
- After 1 hour has passed, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour the surface that will be used to roll out the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).
- Remove about half of the dough from the bowl. Using the rolling pin, roll out the dough on the prepared surface. Add flour as necessary to prevent sticking, but take care not to add too much flour or the cookies may be dry. Turn the dough a quarter-circle every so often to ensure that it is rolled out evenly, and to check whether the dough is sticking to the work surface. Roll the dough to between 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch thickness (thinner dough will yield crisper cookies, while the thicker dough will result in softer, chewier cookies).
- Cut the dough into desired shapes using holiday cookie cutters. It is best to cut as many cookies as possible from each roll-out of the dough, because repeated re-rolling tends to make cookies that are less tender.
- Carefully transfer the cookies to the ungreased cookie sheet (or, place them on top of the optional silicon baking mat on the cookie sheet).
- Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit), until slightly browned on the edges but still pale on top. (If the cookies are uniformly golden brown, they will be more crunchy than tender).
- Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack. Do not attempt to frost or decorate the cookies until they are completely cool.
- Allow the cookie sheet to cool before using it again.
- Roll out the remaining dough (and use any scraps from the first batch of cookie dough), cut more cookies, place on the ungreased cookie sheet, and bake as described in steps 8-13. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- When the cookies are completely cool, frost and decorate as desired.
- Enjoy!
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The copyright of the article The Best Holiday Sugar Cookies To Decorate in Pies/Cookies/Squares is owned by Molly Markey. Permission to republish The Best Holiday Sugar Cookies To Decorate in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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