Christmas Sugar Cookies

With whimsical shapes and festive colors, these fun Christmas sugar cookies are the perfect treat for the holidays!

Course Dessert, Desserts & Sweets

Cuisine American

Keyword christmas cookies, Christmas sugar cookies

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 10

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 228kcal

Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
1/2 cup butter, 2/3 cup sugar
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until combined.
1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, corn starch, and salt.
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp corn starch, 1/4 tsp salt
Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Stir together until combined into a smooth dough.
Shape the sugar cookie dough into a ball with your hands, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out the chilled sugar cookie dough until it's about ¼” thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes in a Christmas theme.
Transfer shapes to a prepared baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies just start to turn a very light golden color but are not crispy.
Leave on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix together the confectioners sugar and milk until you have a smooth icing. It should be thick enough to pipe, but still pourable.
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2-3 tbsp milk
Make the different colors by dividing the icing between a few bowls. Mix a few drops of the food coloring until you get the desired color.
Food colorings of your choice
Using a piping bag and narrow nozzle, pipe lines around the edge of each cookie.
Using a wider nozzle, flood between the lines to fill them in. If adding a second layer of icing, allow the cookies to dry for at least 30 minutes first.
Leave the cookies to dry at room temperature for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight, before touching or stacking.

When transferring the cookie shapes to the baking sheet, use a thin spatula to avoid tearing the dough.
If you need to thin the icing, add a few more drops of milk. If you make it too thin, just add a little more powdered sugar.
You may want to practice your piping skills on parchment paper first. It'll help you know how quickly or slowly the cookie frosting flows.