Sugar cookies decorated with icing and candy
Baking is a great indoor activity. It’s fun to do alone or with friends and family. Christmas cookies should not only look good but they should also taste great. This is a simple recipe that comes together in a matter of minutes. I have been using this recipe since my children were small and each year we set aside an afternoon to bake and decorate cookies. I used to love when they actually believed that they were making cookies for Santa which is why we started calling them Santa Cookies.
This Sugar Cookie recipe is easy and absolutely delicious. It is much easier to roll the dough when it is slightly chilled so you should divide the dough into four pieces, roll them each into a ball and chill. Take them out of the refrigerator when you are ready to roll and cut out the shapes. After cutting the shapes re-roll the scraps and put back in refrigerator for a few minutes so you can use all the dough. This recipe should make about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cookie cutters. We like making a variety of sizes, some bite sized and some that are 2 or 3 inches. It’s really up to you.
Carefully use a spatula to lift the cookie off the surface and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Do not overtake the cookies, they should only take 8 to 10 minutes. Remove them from oven when the edges start to turn a very light brown. Let cool completely before frosting. I recommend making your own frosting and placing it into squeeze bottles. Squeeze bottles makes frosting the cookies much easier and the frosting will not dry out as quickly. The frosting needs to have a little corn syrup in it in order to dry with a nice sheen on top. This makes the cookies absolutely beautiful. Use food coloring to color the frosting and place each in a separate bottle.
Sugar Cookie Dough 
Cookie Frosting in Squeeze Bottles
The cookies can be stored for 5 days in an airtight container. They are so festive and fun to make and look beautiful served after dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas. The cookies also make a great homemade gift. Buy cookie boxes or tins and wrap a beautiful red ribbon around it to give as a holiday gift to friends and family. Homemade gifts are so thoughtful to give, especially edible ones. They are gifts that took your time to make, which is the greatest gift of all. Please share your cookie pictures with me on instagram by tagging @itsjennsview . I would love to see how they come out!!!
The Best Christmas Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie cutters
Ingredients
Sugar cookies recipe
- 1 cup butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Cookie icing recipe
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp light corn syrup
- 2½-3 tbsp lukewarm water
- food coloring – optional
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven 350
- Mix butter and sugar together until light and blended
- Mix in beaten egg and vanilla
- Blend baking powder and flour and add 1 cup at a time
- Make dough into a ball and cut into 4
- Make into 4 small balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
- Roll ball into a ¼ inch slab on a piece of parchment so it won't stick.
- Cut out desired shapes, reroll scraps and place back in refrigerator while you are working on the next ball of dough. Keep rotating until all dough is used.
- Bake in oven for 8 -10 minutes
- Let cool before icing
Cookie Icing
- Mix ingredients together and add food coloring if desired
- Pour into frosting bag fitted with a small tip or a squeeze bottle