This xmas sugar cookie recipe bakes into neat, buttery cutouts that hold shape, stay tender, and ice cleanly.
These are the cookies that make the tin feel full. The dough rolls without fighting back, the edges stay tidy, and the flavor tastes like butter.
You’ll get a base dough, a clear order of steps, and small knobs you can turn for thinner snaps or thicker, softer centers. Grab your cutters and let’s bake.
Fast Plan Before You Start
- Chill time: 1–2 hours (or 30 minutes in the freezer)
- Bake time: 8–11 minutes per tray
- Yield: 24–36 cookies (size depends on cutters)
- Best thickness: 6 mm (1/4 inch) for clean cutouts
Cookie Results Dial Table
| Goal | What To Change | What You’ll Notice |
|---|---|---|
| Sharper edges | Chill cut shapes 10 minutes on the tray | Less spread, cleaner corners |
| Softer bite | Use 1 more egg yolk and bake 1 minute less | Tender center, pale top |
| Crisper snap | Roll to 4 mm and bake 1–2 minutes longer | Drier crumb, firmer edge |
| Less sweet | Drop sugar by 25 g, keep salt the same | More butter-forward taste |
| More vanilla | Add 1 extra teaspoon vanilla | Warmer aroma, richer finish |
| More spice | Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus a pinch of nutmeg | Holiday-style warmth |
| Flatter tops | Press dough smooth, skip heavy flour on top | Cleaner surface for icing |
| Thicker puffy look | Roll to 8 mm and keep baking on the low end | Plumper cookie, softer chew |
Ingredients For Xmas Sugar Cookies
Measure by weight if you can. It removes guesswork, keeps batches steady, and makes rolling feel easier.
Dough
- 226 g unsalted butter, cool room temp
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 360 g all-purpose flour, plus a little for rolling
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
Simple Icing That Sets
- 240 g powdered sugar, sifted
- 2–3 tablespoons milk or water
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (helps shine)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Tools That Make This Easier
- Rolling pin and two 6 mm guide sticks (or two chopsticks per side)
- 2 rimmed baking sheets
- Parchment paper or a silicone mat
- Fine-mesh sieve for powdered sugar
- Cooling rack
Xmas Sugar Cookie Recipe With Clean Edges
Read the steps once, then move in order. The dough behaves best when butter stays cool and the dough gets time to rest cold.
1) Mix Dry Ingredients
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Break up any little lumps so the dough stays smooth.
2) Cream Butter And Sugar
Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until it looks lighter and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Scrape the bowl once so no butter clings to the sides.
3) Add Egg, Yolk, And Extracts
Beat in the egg, then the yolk. Mix in vanilla and almond extract, then stop and scrape again.
4) Combine Into A Soft Dough
Add the dry mix in two additions, mixing on low just until no dry streaks show. If the dough looks sandy, keep mixing 10–15 seconds until it pulls together.
5) Chill The Dough
Split dough in two. Press each half into a flat disc, wrap, and chill 1–2 hours. A flatter disc cools and rolls without cracking.
6) Roll, Cut, And Re-Chill
Heat oven to 175°C / 350°F. Roll one disc between parchment sheets to 6 mm. Peel top sheet, cut shapes, then slide the whole sheet onto a tray.
Move the tray to the freezer for 10 minutes. This quick chill locks the edges so the cutters show up after baking.
7) Bake
Bake 8–11 minutes. Pull the tray when edges look set and the tops lose their wet shine. If you want a paler cookie for bright icing, pull at the early end.
8) Cool Before Icing
Rest cookies on the tray 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Ice only when fully cool, or the glaze can melt and slide.
Why Chilling Works
Chilling firms the butter so it melts slower in the oven. That slower melt means less spread and sharper shapes.
Cold dough also lets flour hydrate. Rolling feels smoother, and the baked texture turns tender instead of crumbly.
Food Safety Notes For Dough
Cookie dough contains raw flour and often raw egg, so skip tasting it. The FDA’s flour safety advice explains why baking is what makes flour-based dough safe.
Wash hands, bowls, and counters after mixing. Keep raw dough away from ready-to-eat foods so stray flour doesn’t land where it shouldn’t.
Make-Ahead Options That Save Your Schedule
Chill Overnight
Wrap discs tight and chill up to 2 days. Let the dough sit at room temp 8–12 minutes so the rolling pin doesn’t crack the edges.
Freeze Dough Discs
Freeze wrapped discs up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then roll cold.
Freeze Cut Shapes
Cut shapes, freeze on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen and add 1 minute, watching the edge color.
For baked cookies, room temp storage can run 2–3 weeks per USDA cookie storage guidance. Freeze for longer stashes.
Simple Icing That Sets And Stacks
This icing dries smooth and lets you stack cookies for tins. It’s not royal icing, but it still sets firm enough for gentle handling.
Mix The Icing
Whisk powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Start with 2 tablespoons liquid, then add drops until it ribbons off the whisk and smooths out in 10 seconds.
Color And Pipe
Divide into bowls. Stir in gel color a dab at a time. Spoon into piping bags or a zip bag with the corner snipped.
Dry Time
Let iced cookies sit out 4–6 hours until the tops feel dry. If your kitchen is humid, aim a fan across the table, not straight down at the cookies.
Flavor Variations That Still Hold Shape
- Lemon: Add zest of 1 lemon and swap vanilla for lemon extract.
- Peppermint: Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, then top icing with crushed candy.
- Cocoa: Replace 30 g flour with 30 g cocoa powder and add 1 tablespoon milk if dough feels stiff.
- Brown sugar: Swap 50 g white sugar for 50 g light brown sugar for a caramel note.
Rolling And Cutting Without A Floury Mess
Too much bench flour can dry the dough and leave a dusty taste. Rolling between parchment keeps the surface smooth.
If the dough grabs, lift the parchment, dust a teaspoon of flour under the sheet, then roll again. A thin dust is enough when the dough is cold.
Baking Color Control By Thickness
Cutout cookies don’t need deep browning. For 6 mm dough, start checking at 8 minutes, then pull when edges look set and the tops turn matte.
If you roll thinner, watch the tray. A single extra minute can swing a thin cookie from pale to too dark.
Tray Spacing And Oven Hot Spots
Give each cookie a little breathing room so heat can move around the shapes. Crowding traps steam and can soften edges.
Halfway through baking, rotate the tray front to back. If your oven has a hotter corner, that turn keeps color even.
Getting Icing Consistency Right
For clean lines, you want icing that flows, then settles fast. After a stir, lift the whisk and watch the ribbon fall back into the bowl.
If the ribbon disappears in 5 seconds, it’s too thin for outlines. Add a spoon of powdered sugar. If it sits in a mound, add a few drops of liquid and stir again.
Table For Fixing Common Cookie Problems
| What You See | Why It Happened | Fix Next Batch |
|---|---|---|
| Shapes spread and lose detail | Dough was warm, butter too soft | Chill cut shapes 10 minutes before baking |
| Cookies puff up | Too much baking powder, over-aerated butter | Level the spoon, mix butter just until fluffy |
| Edges brown fast | Tray was dark or oven runs hot | Use lighter trays, drop temp by 10°C / 25°F |
| Dough cracks while rolling | Dough too cold, low moisture | Rest 10 minutes, add 1 teaspoon milk if needed |
| Cookies feel dry | Rolled too thin or baked too long | Roll thicker, pull earlier when tops turn matte |
| Icing stays tacky | Too much liquid or thick layer | Use less liquid, apply thinner coats, dry longer |
| Icing bleeds into colors | High moisture, colors added too heavy | Use gel color sparingly and dry with gentle airflow |
Storing And Shipping Cookies
Let cookies cool, then store in an airtight container with parchment between layers. Plain cookies keep well at room temp, and freezing stretches the calendar.
If you’re gifting by mail, pack cookies snug so they can’t rattle. Use a sturdy box, padding, and a tight inner container so the icing doesn’t scrape.
One-Batch Checklist
- Weigh flour, sugar, and butter
- Cream butter and sugar 2–3 minutes
- Mix dry in, stop when streaks vanish
- Chill dough discs 1–2 hours
- Roll to 6 mm, cut, freeze 10 minutes
- Bake 8–11 minutes, cool on rack
- Ice, then dry 4–6 hours before stacking
Serving Notes For A Cookie Tin
Mix textures in one tin: thick stars, thin trees, and a few tiny rounds. Add paper cups or parchment squares so flavors don’t mingle.
When you want a reliable batch that looks neat on a plate, this xmas sugar cookie recipe gets you there with less mess and fewer cracked cutouts.
If you make two batches back-to-back, keep the second disc chilled while the first tray bakes. Cold dough is your secret weapon for tidy shapes.
One more time for your notes: this batch is built for cutouts, bright icing, and cookies that travel well.
