Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies
These classic Christmas sugar cookies are the cut-out cookies holiday decorating is built around. Soft in the center with lightly crisp edges, buttery and sweet with a hint of vanilla and almond — sturdy enough to hold their shape as trees, stars, and snowmen, and delicate enough to eat straight off the cooling rack. The dough chills, rolls, and cuts cleanly, so it’s just as good for a relaxed afternoon of decorating with royal icing and sprinkles as it is for a quick batch of festive cookies with coffee.
The secret is chilling the dough so the cookies keep their shape in the oven, rolling to an even 1/4-inch thickness, and pulling them out while the centers still look slightly soft — they firm up as they cool.
Prep time: 20 minutes (+ 1 hour chilling) Cook time: 8-10 minutes per batch Servings: 36 cookies
What You’ll Need
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- Wire cooling rack
Bake on the right equipment: see our best cookie sheets for baking cookies guide and our best cooling racks for cookies guide — a heavy, flat sheet and a good rack are what keep the bottoms from over-browning.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- Royal icing and sprinkles, for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
- Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and extracts. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla and almond extracts, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Mix in the flour. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing on low speed just until no dry flour remains. The dough will be soft.
- Chill the dough. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days). Chilled dough rolls cleanly and holds its shape in the oven.
- Preheat and roll. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough to 1/4-inch thick.
- Cut and bake. Cut shapes with floured cookie cutters and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the edges are just set and the centers still look slightly soft. They firm up as they cool.
- Cool on a rack. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes, before decorating.
Tips for the Best Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Don’t skip the chill. Warm dough spreads in the oven and blurs the cut shapes. If the dough softens while you’re cutting, pop the tray in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
- Roll evenly for even baking. A 1/4-inch thickness is the sweet spot — thinner cookies crisp up and can burn at the edges, while thicker ones stay doughy in the middle.
- Pull them while the centers look slightly soft. The cookies finish setting on the hot baking sheet, so waiting for them to look fully done in the oven is how they turn hard.
Soft in the center, lightly crisp at the edges, and made to be decorated — these classic Christmas sugar cookies are the batch to bake all December long.
