My Easy Christmas Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Fun for Kids!) are delicious and a great way to get your kids involved in the kitchen. They are buttery, light, and tasty without being overly sweet. I love this recipe because it tastes great and eliminates the preservatives and additives in the premade dough you find in the supermarket. Cooking with kids is a terrific way to reinforce measuring and math skills, improve motor skills, and have fun!
These cookies are perfect for the holidays. Kids will love using their favorite cookie cutters to cut out cookies and decorate the festive shapes. These cookies are ideal for enjoying at parties and giving as a thoughtful holiday gift to neighbors, teachers, or other friends.
Cut-out sugar cookies are always a classic for holiday cookie exchanges, and this simple sugar cookie recipe is a personal favorite. I love including my kids in creating some fun Christmas traditions, and this recipe, with its simple ingredients and shorter chill time, is perfect for this time of year.
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Table of Contents
Reasons to Love These Easy Sugar Cookies
- An easy recipe that beginners and kids can follow.
- Made with simple pantry ingredients you probably have on hand.
- Decorating with icing, sprinkles, chocolate, or food coloring is fun!
- They are buttery, light, and delicious without being overly sweet.
- It freezes well to have some delicious cookies all year round.
- Perfect to serve with homemade hot chocolate.
You may also like these soft chocolate chip cookies for Santa.
Ingredients to Make Christmas Cut-Out Cookies
Cookies
- Butter: I prefer unsalted butter, but you can substitute salted butter. If you use salted butter, reduce the salt you add to the dough.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar is best.
- Flour: Bleached or unbleached, all-purpose flour.
- Egg: The fresher, the better. Adds moisture and structure to the cookie.
- Vanilla Extract: Use a high-quality pure extract; this is my favorite!
- Salt: Cut back here if you use salted butter.
Easy Icing
- Powdered sugar: We will mix powdered sugar with milk to make a thick and easy icing.
- Milk: A minimal amount is used to dilute the powdered sugar and make a slurry.
- Dye-free food coloring: I love adding some dye-free food coloring for a fun twist kids love!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Add room-temperature butter and sugar to a bowl and beat until creamy. (use a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment).
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating at medium speed.
- Add 1/2 of the flour and continue mixing, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the remaining flour and salt, and finish combining.
- Do not overmix! Stop when the flour is incorporated. The dough should come together into a soft ball that isn’t sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface and press the sugar cookie dough onto two flattened discs. Wrap well with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a ¼ inch (6mm) thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake cookies at 350F for 9-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown (see recipe notes for my tips).
- Remove cookies to a wire rack to completely cool before decorating. This part is so much fun! When cool, melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips to decorate, and use some sprinkles for fun! You may also wish to decorate them with your favorite royal icing recipe or my favorite easy icing (see recipe card).
Recipe Tips
- The butter should be at room temperature, which is slightly cool. The butter may have been too warm if your dough comes out sticky.
- Use weight measurements for the best results. Affordable kitchen scales are helpful in baking; however, I have also added cup measurements for convenience.
- When rolling the dough, roll directly on parchment paper and then remove the excess or use a thin spatula to move the cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to do this carefully to keep the perfect shapes of the cookies.
- Keep an eye on the cookies after the 10-minute mark. Some ovens bake more on one side. If so, rotate the baking sheet to make the cookies identical.
- Preheat oven before baking for best results.
- Light baking sheets bake the cookies more slowly than dark ones, and the cookies will be golden on top without burning on the bottom. When using this dark cookie sheet from Wilton, it takes 10 minutes to bake the cookies, while this one from Nordic Ware takes 15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack, one sheet at a time. Adding two or three sheets at once will not ensure even baking.
- It’s better to underbake than overbake the cookies. Even if they are pale on top, after the 10-minute mark, you can remove them from the oven if the bottom is already golden brown. They will be fully baked and remain chewy for days!
Tools Needed
- Baking sheets.
- Parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer.
- Rolling pin with thickness rings.
- Christmas cookie cutters.
Serving Suggestions and Substitutions
- Flavors: You can make flavored cookies by adding extracts and vanilla. Try ½ tsp of almond, coconut, maple, lemon, or peppermint for unique flavors. You can also add lemon zest or pumpkin pie spice. Experiment to find your favorites!
- Colors and Shapes: Divide your dough into several “batches” and add a couple of drops of gel food coloring to color the dough. Red and plain can be rolled into thin “snakes” and twisted to make candy canes. Other shapes can be cut out of colored dough for ornaments and other unique cookies.
- A fun way to use these easy sugar cookies is to create a sandwich with a scoop of ice cream sandwiched between two square or round cookies.
Storage Instructions
Room temperature: Store sugar cookies at room temperature by placing them in an airtight container or covering them with plastic wrap. When decorated, put layers of wax paper in between so they do not stick to each other. They will be suitable for up to a week.
Freezer: Sugar cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Layer cookies between layers of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, place the container in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
If decorated with royal icing, follow the exact instructions. Freezing with melted chocolate icing is not recommended.
Sugar cookie dough is also great to freeze. Follow the instructions for the cooling stage. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in airtight zipper bags and freeze sugar cookie dough for up to 2 months. Be sure to let the dough thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
While overcooked sugar cookies are still palatable, they’ll be hard and crunchy instead of soft and chewy. → Follow this tip: Pull the cookie sheet from the oven as soon as they’ve set and gained some color, but not too much.
If you made my Easy Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies or any other recipe on the website, please:
- Leave me a comment and a star rating below; I would love to hear from you!
- Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see more baby, toddler, and kid-friendly food.
Other Christmas Recipes You May Like
🥣Recipe
Easy Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies (Fun for Kids!)
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- 1 Christmas cookie cutters
Ingredients
Cookie
- 225 g butter unsalted (2 sticks)
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 425 g all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Icing Sugar
- 45 g confectioners sugar
- 2 tsp milk
Instructions
Sugar Cookie
- Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Add room-temperature butter and sugar to a bowl and beat until creamy. (use a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment).
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating atmedium speed.
- Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and continue mixing, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the remaining flour and salt, and finish combining. Do not overmix! Stop when the flour is incorporated. The dough should come together into a soft ball that isn’t sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface and press the sugar cookie dough onto two flattened discs. Wrap well with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a ¼ inch (6mm) thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake cookies at 350F for 10-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies are just golden brown.
- Remove cookies to a wire rack to completely cool before decorating. This part is so much fun! When cool, melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips to decorate, and use some sprinkles for fun! You may also wish to decorate them with your favorite royal icing recipe or my favorite easy icing.
Favorite Easy Icing
- In a small bowl, combine confectioners sugar with milk. Mix with a spoon until fully dissolved and creamy. Add to a piping bag or bottle to decorate the cookies.
- Add sprinkles to decorate!
Notes
- The butter should be at room temperature, which is slightly cool. The butter may have been too warm if your dough comes out sticky.
- Use weight measurements for the best results. Affordable kitchen scales are helpful in baking; however, I have also added cup measurements for convenience.
- When rolling the dough, roll directly on parchment paper and then remove the excess or use a thin spatula to move the cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to do this carefully to keep the perfect shapes of the cookies.
- Keep an eye on the cookies after the 10-minute mark. Some ovens bake more on one side. If so, rotate the baking sheet to make the cookies identical.
- Preheat oven before baking for best results.
- Light baking sheets bake the cookies more slowly than dark ones, and the cookies will be golden on top without burning on the bottom. When using this dark cookie sheet from Wilton, it takes 10 minutes to bake the cookies, while this one from Nordic takes 15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack, one sheet at a time. Adding two or three sheets at once will not ensure even baking.
- It’s better to underbake than overbake the cookies. Even if they are pale on top, after the 10-minute mark, you can remove them from the oven if the bottom is already golden brown. They will be fully baked and remain chewy for days!
Nutrition
