Make this delicious Christmas sugar cookies recipe decorated with powdered sugar icing for the holidays. These holiday sugar cookies are soft and sandy and perfect for a cookie decorating party with kids during vacations.
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When the festive season comes around, everyone loves to make lots of delicious Christmas sugar cookie recipes perfect for celebrating the holiday season.
And these cut-out sugar cookies decorated with royal icing are a favorite way to start the cookies season with their fun shape of Santa Claus, reindeer, snowman, snowflake, Christmas trees, or candy cane.
They are made with a very easy homemade classic sugar cookies recipe that has a soft, sandy texture and holds its shape perfectly when cut with cookie cutters.
Craving for more Christmas cookie recipes : Chocolate spritz cookies, iced gingerbread cookies, spiced snowflake cookies, gingerbread men, mini gingerbread houses, Candy cane cookies, white chocolate candy cane cookies, chocolate thumbprint cookies.
Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients you need for this recipe
- Butter: Use only unsalted butter and take the butter out 30 minutes beforehand, it should have a softened texture.
- Powdered sugar: You can use granulated sugar but it is best to use powdered sugar for a soft, sandy texture.
- Eggs: One medium egg at room temperature.
- Flour: Use wheat flour which you can replace with a gluten-free flour mix.
- Vanilla extract and salt: Essential for flavoring the cookies.
- Icing sugar: Also known as powdered sugar or confectioners' sugar, this is the primary dry ingredient used to make royal icing.
- Water: Water is the liquid component needed to mix with icing sugar to create the desired consistency of the royal icing. The amount of water you add can be adjusted to achieve the desired thickness.
- Sugar: Sprinkle directly on top of the royal icing while it is still fresh, you can use white granulated sugar or colored sugar.
- Sprinkles: Sugar pearls, nonpareils, and other sugar decorations.
How to make Christmas sugar cookies with royal icing
Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full directions with exact ingredients can be found in the main recipe card below!
- Step 1: Place softened butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes until you have a creamy butter texture.
- Step 2: Add egg and vanilla extract and beat again for 1 minute to incorporate.
- Step 3: Add flour and salt and mix again with an electric mixer at medium speed or with your hands until you get a homogeneous dough ball.
- Step 4: Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Step 5: Roll out the cookie dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface to a layer about 3-4 mm thick and cut out the dough with a cookie cutter and gently move the cookies pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Step 6: Preheat oven to 338°F/170°C and bake cookies for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.
- Step 7: Let the cookies cool slightly on the cookie sheet before moving them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
How to decorate sugar cookies
- Place powdered sugar and water in a large mixing bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, mix on high speed for about 3-4 minutes until thick and smooth.
- Separate the icing into medium bowls and add your coloring in small amounts and mix until you have a smooth colored icing.
- Place all icing in piping bags and decorate your baked cookies.
- Sprinkle with sugar or pearls immediately before the royal icing hardens.
- Let your decorated Christmas cookies dry completely on the work surface for about 1 hour.
Storage and Freeze
Homemade Christmas cookies can only be stored at room temperature, in the fridge, the royal icing may melt because of the humidity.
Place your cookies in a storage box with an airtight container to protect them from moisture and keep them for 1 week.
Can we freeze Christmas cookies?
You can freeze the Christmas sugar cookies alone without the royal icing for up to 3 months in a storage box or bag. Allow coming back to room temperature slowly.
Tips for this recipe
- Use an electronic scale to properly measure the amount of flour and get the right texture of dough.
- Use room temperature ingredients, especially for the butter which must be well softened.
- Let the dough chill, it will be easier to handle and will have more flavor.
- Place the rolled-out dough in the freezer for a few minutes to cut out perfect cookie shapes.
- Do not overbake, cookies will firm up as they cool and keep a soft, sandy texture.
Recipe Variations
I hope you love these cookie monster cookies. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!
Print
Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies
Description
How to make Christmas sugar cookies decorated with royal icing (for about 40 cookies)
Ingredients
Sugar cookies :
- 200 g (1 ¾ stick) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 160 g (1 ⅓ cups) Powdered sugar
- 400 g (1 ⅓ cups) Flour - all-purpose
- 2 Eggs - room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Royal icing
- 400 g ( 3 ⅓ cups) Powdered sugar
- 40 g (3-4 tbsp) Water
- Food coloring
Instructions
Cookies
- Place the softened butter with the powdered sugar in a bowl.
- Mix with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes at medium speed until you get a creamy butter texture.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix again with the hand mixer to incorporate them.
- Add the dry ingredients, flour, and salt and mix with the mixer or your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Baking
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3-4 mm.
- Cut out the dough with cookie cutters and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool down a bit before moving them to a cooling rack.
Cookies icing
- If the icing seems too runny, add a little powdered sugar and mix again, and if it seems too thick add a little water.
- Place the powdered sugar with the water in a large bowl and mix with an electric whisk for 5 minutes until the icing is well blended and smooth.
Decoration
- Color the icing to your liking and place it in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip 2 or cut a very small opening.
- Decorate the tops of the cookies with royal icing.
- Immediately sprinkle sugar or decorations on the cookies and let them dry completely at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Notes
Storage: Up to 1 week at room temperature in a storage box with a tight-fitting lid. The cookies alone can be kept up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: American
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