This Soft Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe makes the softest sweet cookies that are perfect for decorating with the kids, leaving out for Santa on Christmas Eve, or as a go-to cookie throughout the holiday season!
They’re a festive twist on my Classic Soft Sugar Cookies and go perfectly with a mug of Crockpot Hot Chocolate!
These Soft Christmas Cookies are perfect for pairing with festive colored frosting and fun seasonal sprinkles! Baking a batch of these Cookies is the easiest way to form a holiday tradition with the kids that they’ll look forward to doing every year!
If you’re really feeling the holiday spirit try my Classic Cutout Sugar Cookies using your favorite Christmas cookie cutters!
This recipe uses basic ingredients and takes just over an hour to complete from start to finish! Keep this sugar cookie recipe in your pocket all season long since they’re such a classic holiday staple!
Why I Love This Recipe
- No Chilling Required! That’s right, you don’t have to chill the dough! These Christmas Sugar Cookies go from mixing bowl to cookie sheet in just a few minutes!
- Not Too Sweet! The cookies themselves are actually only slightly sweet. The sugar really comes in with the Frosting and you can control just how sweet you want them with the amount of frosting you choose to add.
- Really Easy! With basic ingredients, no chilling, and no cookie cutters, this Sugar Cookie Recipe is as simple as it gets!
Christmas Sugar Cookie Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
Pantry staples such as cake flour, baking soda, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt are used in the cookies. As well as unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, sour cream, vanilla extract, almond extract, and an egg.
Frosting
Whip together just four ingredients to frost these cookies: unsalted butter, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and heavy cream. Then add in festive food coloring like red or green and top the cookies with fun sprinkles!
How To Make Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Mix the dough by creaming the sugar, butter, shortening, and sour cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Then add in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract until combined. Then slowly add in the dry ingredients until everything is completely mixed together.
Step 2: Roll the dough into balls using your hands to make them smooth. Place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets with parchment paper about 2 inches apart from each other.
Use the bottom of a cup to press the dough balls down into thin circles then bake. No messy floured surface required with this recipe! Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
As tempting as it may be to sneak in a bite of raw cookie dough, try Edible Sugar Cookie Dough instead! Just as tasty but much safer than dough with raw egg!
RECIPE NOTE: Be careful not to overcook them, they’re super delicious slightly undercooked! Also, you’ll notice when you pull the cookies out of the oven that they hold their shape beautifully!
Step 3: Now it’s time to whip up the frosting for these Christmas Sugar Cookies! Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter and vanilla extract. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until mixed together completely.
Then thin it out to your frosting using milk or heavy cream until you’ve reached your personal preferred level of frosting thickness.
Step 4: Divide the frosting in half and put it in separate bowls then add a few drops of green food coloring to one bowl while adding a few drops of red food coloring to the other.
Mix the frosting and food coloring together to produce festive Christmas colors! You could also leave some or all of the frosting white!
Frost the cookies and top with sprinkles, then enjoy!
RECIPE TIP: These can also be frosted with royal icing, but I like using a classic Vanilla Buttercream.
Cake Flour Substitution
You can easily make your own cake flour using flour and cornstarch sifted together!
For this recipe use 3 cups of all-purpose flour, minus 6 tablespoons of flour then add in 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift the flour and cornstarch mixture together three times before using.
Salted Butter Vs Unsalted Butter
Only have salted butter on hand? That’s okay, you can substitute unsalted butter for salted butter just make sure to omit the additional kosher salt the recipe calls for!
How To Store Sugar Cookies
These cookies are best stored in an airtight container or wrapped individually in plastic wrap! They can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.
These Christmas Sugar Cookies are such a versatile treat, perfect for any holiday, occasion, or as an everyday indulgence.
Try using my Soft Sugar Cookies throughout the rest of the year to curb your sweet tooth as well as my other cookie recipes!
- No-Bake Cookies – An oat-based cookie with chocolate and peanut butter!
- Reindeer Cookies – Kids will love these brownie sandwich cookies made to look like reindeer!
- Peppermint Brownie Mix Cookies – Chewy chocolatey cookies dipped in melted Andes mints and topped with crushed candy canes!
- Heart-Shaped Grinch Cookies – The perfect treat to match the classic holiday movie!
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies – Big, thick chewy cookies studded with chocolate chips!
Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies
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Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- red food coloring
- green food coloring
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- To make the dough, begin by mixing together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar, butter, vegetable shortening, and sour cream and mix on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes until it is smooth, light and fluffy.
- Next, add the egg, vanilla, and almost extract and mix until everything is combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and mix on low until everything is combined – about 1 minute.
- Form the dough into balls using a medium cookie scoop then roll them with your hands to make smooth balls. Place dough balls on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between them.
- Press the dough balls down with the bottom of a cup.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 13 minutes until the tops are set and pale yellow. Make sure you don’t overcook; these cookies are amazing under cooked!
- Cool the cookies on the pan then transfer to a wire rack until they have completely cooled.
- Make the frosting by adding the butter and vanilla extract in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle until combined.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Then thin it out with milk or heavy cream to desired consistency.
- Divide the frosting between three bowls and add red food coloring to one, green to another, and leave one white. Mix and frost then top with sprinkles and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Make sure you really blend the sugar/butter mixture for 3 mins, it makes it fluffy and perfect!
- Be careful not to overcook them! You’ll notice when you pull the cookies out of the oven that they hold their shape beautifully! They will also be just barely golden brown around the edges.
- Make sure you use cake flour for these, if you don’t have it on hand, you can make your own cake flour with all-purpose flour and corn starch. For this recipe, it would be 3 cups flour minus 6 tablespoons flour, then add in 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift it together twice then one more time to help blend it all together making it like real cake flour!
- Milk may be used in place of heavy cream.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container or share them with friends because everyone needs a cookie!
- These can also be frosted with royal icing, but I like using a classic Vanilla Buttercream.
- Only have salted butter on hand? That’s okay, you can substitute unsalted butter for salted butter just make sure to omit the additional kosher salt the recipe calls for!
- These cookies are best stored in an airtight container or wrapped individually in plastic wrap! They can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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