Before you know it, all the holiday décor will be out. Then it will be time to bake the Christmas cookies. That’s one of our Kulick family traditions. It’s a fun and delicious way to spend time together. And if you’re looking for a homemade gift to give, this Christmas cookie recipe will surely impress!
Best Christmas Cookie Recipe
Want to make everyone full of joy this holiday season? Make this recipe for the best Christmas cookies and let the good times roll! With just a few easy ingredients, your favorite cookie cutters, and your creative spirit, you can make holiday cookies to jazz up your holiday dessert table. With an assortment of Christmas cookie cutters, you can let your Christmas cookie ideas run wild. Of all of the holiday cookie recipes we’ve had this is the best!
Ingredients in Homemade Christmas Cookies
- All-purpose flour – The base of the dough.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter and let it soften.
- Granulated sugar – So your cookies have a sweet taste.
- Vanilla extract – Rounding out that sugary taste with some warmth.
- Baking powder – Helps your cookies bake up nice.
- Salt – Provides that balancing act.
- Royal icing – You’ll make this yourself (it’s easy, we swear!) from powdered sugar, corn syrup, egg whites, cold water, and food coloring in your chosen selection of colors. The perfect topping this Christmas cookies recipe.
Easy Christmas Cookie Recipe
Baking homemade Christmas cookies together is one of the best ways to enjoy the holidays. You can practice any time of year or make these easy Christmas cookies your tradition from now on. In 35 minutes, your holiday cookies will be ready!
How do you Make Christmas Cookies from Scratch
When making traditional Christmas butter cookies, you’ll start by preheating your oven to 350F and prepping your baking sheets with parchment paper, grab a large mixing bowl and beat the sugar and butter. Once creamy, add the eggs and vanilla, beating until fully combined. Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Once together, scrape this onto a lightly floured surface. Shape your dough into a ball and cut. You’ll make discs and roll them out then use your cookie cutters to make the shapes you want. Bake them until they’re a pale golden color, then let cool and decorate with the icing. As for the icing, you’ll put everything in a mixing bowl and beat on high until it’s smooth and glossy. Then you’ll divide it into smaller bowls for each color you plan to use. Add the food coloring and then put your colors in a piping bag to apply. Christmas cookie recipes are a creative, fun, easy tradition for the whole family.
Expert Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Christmas Cookies Every Time
- Parchment paper works best. It’s easy to clean up too, but the reason to use it is that you don’t need to grease it and those holiday cookies won’t stick or get too browned on the other side.
- Make sure your butter is properly soft. Butter that is too warm or too cold won’t whip in enough air during mixing which will make your Christmas sugar cookies too dense.
- Use piping tips. It really makes your icing so much easier to apply.
Holiday tip: If you love Christmas cookies, then you’ll love this Gingerbread cookie recipe. Its fun for the whole family!
What type of cookie is a Christmas cookie?
Christmas cookies are mostly a sugar cookie base with royal icing on top. They are usually cut into shapes with cookie cutters before being baked. After cooling, they are frosted with Christmas colors.
What are different types of Christmas cookies?
There are all kinds of Christmas cookie recipes like gingerbread men, peanut butter blossoms, snowballs, and these sugar cookie-style Christmas cookies that you cut into shapes and decorate with royal icing to help decorate your holiday dessert table.
What is the number 1 Christmas cookie?
Some say it’s that peanut butter blossom cookie with the Hershey’s Kiss in the center, but this Christmas cookie recipe might just become the new number 1.
What is the most popular Christmas cookie in the US?
The most popular cookie in the USA is the peanut butter blossom. It’s a soft peanut butter cookie with a Hershey’s Kiss placed on top in the center.
How soon before Christmas can I make cookies?
If you want to plan ahead, you can make Christmas cookies well in advance. For this recipe, you can make them 6 months ahead if you freeze them after baking.
How to make Christmas cookies?
Follow this recipe and you’ll have Christmas cookies ready in less than 40 minutes. They are very simple to make from common kitchen ingredients.
How Long to Bake Christmas Cookies
At 350F, it should take about 10 minutes to bake your Christmas cookies.
How to Store Christmas Cookies
Christmas cookies don’t need to be refrigerated, but they should be kept in an airtight container or a zippered plastic bag to keep them from going stale.
How Long Do Christmas Cookies Last?
At room temperature, these will be good for up to 2 weeks stored in an air-tight container. It’s great to bake them ahead to be less rushed, but be sure to take the time to store them well.
Can You Freeze Christmas Cookies?
Yes, you can freeze Christmas cookies. They will last about 3 months in the freezer.
How to Thaw Christmas Cookies?
Take them out of the freezer and set them on the counter. They will thaw out quickly from there.
Watch How To Make Christmas Cookies (Video)
Christmas Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Royal Icing
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp water (cold)
- 2 tbsp corn syrup
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until creamy. Once creamy, add in the egg and vanilla and beat until fully combined. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Once all ingredients are incorporated, scrape the dough out of the bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, place your dough onto a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a ball, cut in half, and then form into 2 discs.
- Roll out each disc to about 1/8 inch thick, then press out desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place the shapes onto the baking sheets and bake about 10-12 minutes or until pale golden in color. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating with royal icing.
Royal Icing
- Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until smooth and glossy.
- Make sure the icing passes the “figure 8” test—you should be able to draw a figure 8 on the surface and see it for about 2-3 seconds before it sinks back into the bowl.
- Divide the icing into smaller bowls depending on how many different colors you need. Dye each individual bowl the desired color. Use a piping bag to decorate cookies, allowing royal icing to harden between decorating.
