By:Nagi
262 Comments
Take a break from the Christmas madness to make Christmas Cookies! These sugar cookies are classic vanilla biscuitsthat are made for cutting out shapesbecause they hold their shape perfectly when baked.
NO CHILL time, make them soft OR crispy. Ice them my EASY way, dip in chocolate, dust with icing sugar or serve them plain!
Christmas Cookies
What I call “Christmas Cookies” are simply vanilla biscuits cut out in Christmas shapes and iced with colourful festive frosting. They taste like shortbread cookies, but not quite as buttery or crumbly. They are as classic as vanilla biscuits can be.
This particular biscuit recipe is made for cutting out shapes –in this case, Christmas shapes.Most cookies spread snd puff up so they bear little resemblance to the shape you expected!
But these hold their shape perfectly – as you can see by the sharp ridges and corners in the photo below.
What you need forChristmas Cookies
The nice thing about these Christmas Cookies is that they’re made with pantry staples – so there’s no need to add to your ever growing Christmas grocery shopping list!!!
How to make Christmas Cookies
Unlike most cookie doughs suitable for cutting out shape, there’sno chill time required for this recipe. Ain’t nobody got time for chilling during Christmas madness – right??!
Bonus: the dough is easy to handle and can be scrunched up and rolled up again over and over until you’ve used up every scrap.
Because these are sweet vanilla biscuits, they are flavoured enough and sweet enough to serve plain. But if you are inclined to ice them, pop over to my Icing for Christmas Cookies(PS I also share my quick ‘n easy way to ice them!)
So. Many. Cookies.
A sight that will catapult anyone into serious Christmas spirit!!
Make these for Santa, your family, or (if you’re really feeling the holiday spirit) maybe even to gift to someone.
And don’t worry. This is a big batch recipe. Nibble away, no one will miss one or two or five!! 😉 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Christmas Cookies (Vanilla Biscuits / Sugar Cookies)
Author: Nagi
Prep: 25 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Sweet Baking
Western
4.99 from 74 votes
Servings40 cookies
Tap or hover to scale
Recipe video above. These cookies are made for cutting out into shapes because they hold their shape when baking! They are plain, sweet vanilla biscuits that are perfect for icing and decorating as you please – and wonderful served plain too. NO CHILL!
Ingredients
- 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter , softened (or use salted, skip salt)
- 1 cup caster/superfine sugar (granulated/ordinary white sugar ok too)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (55-60g / 1.9-2oz)
- 3 cups flour , plain / all purpose
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
Icing for Sugar Cookies
- Icing for Sugar Cookies
Instructions
Preheat Oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy (1 minute on speed 5)
Add egg and vanilla, beat until completely combined.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
Start mixing slowly, then beat until the flour is incorporated – it will be clumpy.
Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough out of bowl. Pat together then cut in half, then shape into 2 discs.
Roll out to 0.3cm / 1/8" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or 0.6cm / 1/4" (for thicker, softer cookies), sprinkling with flour under and over the dough so it doesn't stick.
Use cookie cutters to press out shapes and use a knife or spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets. (Keep dough that doesn’t fit in the oven in the fridge).
Bake for 10 minutes, swapping trays halfway (Note 2), until the surface is pale golden and the edges are just beginning to turn light golden.
Allow cookies to cool completely on trays (they will finish cooking on the trays).
Decorating options:
Icing – see Icing for Christmas Cookies recipe.
Melt chocolate then dip the surface into chocolate.
Dot with icing sugar and decorated with silver balls
Dust with icing sugar
Serve plain! They are sweet vanilla biscuits so they are wonderful eaten just as they are!
Recipe Notes:
1. Number of cookies will depend on cut out size and how thick you roll your dough. It fills 3 baking trays.
2.Swapping trays halfway – this means that you put both trays in the oven with one in the middle of the oven and the other underneath. Halfway through the bake time, switch them around so the one underneath moves to the top shelf, and the tray on top moves to the shelf underneath. This ensures they both bake evenly because the top shelf bakes faster than the shelf underneath.
3. Source – adapted from this Sugar Cookies recipe by Sugar, Spun, Run.
4. Storage –Keeps in an airtight container for a week. After this, they are still edible and totally delicious but they do start to dry out a touch (I think….I may be a bit too picky when I’m estimating shelf life of food for recipes I share!!). I would never describe them as stale, but they are better in Week 1.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 96cal (5%)Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)Protein: 1g (2%)Fat: 5g (8%)Saturated Fat: 3g (19%)Cholesterol: 16mg (5%)Sodium: 46mg (2%)Potassium: 20mg (1%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 147IU (3%)Calcium: 7mg (1%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: christmas biscuits, christmas cookies, vanilla biscuits
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.
Originally published 2019. Reviewed and refreshed as needed every year or so. No change to recipe, it’s a classic!
Life of Dozer
When Dozer got his very own personalised Christmas cookie!!
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262 Comments
Brelin says
Just want to say that these are the BEST cookies! My family has to eat gluten free, so we swap regular flour for GF flour, and they are perfect! Thank you for the recipe!Reply
- Lily says
Amazing. I did these for my eisteddfod competition, and it turned out so good. I also used the matching icing with it!See AlsoSimple Vanilla Sugar CookiesReply
- Melissa Angeles says
Ok to make these with a stand mixer yeah?
Reply
- Sophie Brewster says
Delicious!! I made these for neighbours and friends. Beautiful flavour and so easy to make.Reply
- ioka says
These are the most amazing cookies, they are so easy to make, you don’t even need to chill them ! thanks so much Nagi, i will be sure to use this and some other recipes from you in the future 🙂Reply
- 𝘽𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙨 says
I absolutely loved the the holiday cookies I bake them every December with the help of my sister.Thanks Nagi 😃Reply
- Susana says
I just finished baking my first batch a couple of minutes ago and had to rush here to thank you for this recipe!! I’m in love, it has great taste and it’s super easy to make!!Reply
- Lola says
Made these today and turned out great! Easy dough to work with.
Wondering CAN THEY BE FROZEN – either raw dough or cooked??? ThanksReply
- Mardi Maurovic says
Another absolute winner! Had fun baking these with my toddler today. My new go to Christmas treat. Thanks Nagi!Reply
- Bella says
Amazing cookies. Didn’t know they were going tospread a bit but its okay. Defenitly an easy and good recepie to make.Reply
- Deborah Varty says
Made the Christmas cookies today, another winner. Thanks Nagi 🎄Reply
- Heather Kester says
These worked perfectly with my new Embossed rolling pin, so quick and easy and tasted fabulous too! Didn’t have any vanilla essence and it was a test run so I subbed with lemon essence and they were delish! Will be making again very soonReply
- Natalie says
Just whipped up a batch of these Christmas Cookies, and they’re an absolute delight! No chilling time is a game-changer during the holiday rush, and the dough was a dream to work with. The cookies held their shape perfectly. We used marshmallow fondant as our decorations. They taste like a festive version of shortbread—so delicious! Thanks for this stress-free and delicious recipe, Nagi! 🎄🍪Reply
- Marty says
Are these cookies suitable to freeze and then thaw and ice later?
Reply
- Lucy says
I have frozen them before and they were perfect
Reply
- lauren says
I am making Christmas cookies for the business I work for customers.. do you think these would freeze/ unthaw ok if I flash froze so they don’t stick together?Reply
- Julie says
In a word yum. Quick and easy. Making these but in a heart shape for Mother’s Day fundraiser. Thank you.Reply
- WendyS says
Been looking for a good cutout recipe. This is it. Doubled it with no problems at all. Never had dough so easy to handle and roll with no chilling! The castor sugar is key, and ensure it’s whipped in the butter until light pale yellow and you’ll have gorgeous texture bikkies!Reply
- Glenna says
This is the BEST cookie recipe with Royal Icing! Cookies hold their shape while baking and the Royal Icing makes them delicious and decorative! Great for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc. Thanks for sharing Nagi!!Reply
- Michelle says
Love them!Can I keep the dough in the fridge for a day if I make extra dough?
Thanks Nagi!!
Reply
- Heather Knapp says
Making 100s of these cookies as gifts this year ❤️❤️🤤Reply
- Crissy says
These cookies are honestly delicious, I almost smashed the whole batch myself 🤣. I love to cook and bake, and cookies never work out for me, but this recipe is fool proof! I would 100000% make these again and again, and alter decorations and shapes for various occasions. Love, love, love them!Reply
