Christmas Sugar Cookies
From the archives: These festive Sugar cookies are so yum and fun to make that they deserve a year long attention than just during the Holiday season --DK Christmas without Sugar Cookies is considered incomplete. The fun is not only in making these and covering them with icing or decorating them with sprinklers, it is more the way one can interact with the kids who are all to eager to get Santa on their side with these cookies. The recipe cannot be more simple and is another loved cookie along with Christmas Shortbread. I love Dorie Greenspan's recipe for these favorites and I have just played around with the recipe as she suggests in her book "Baking: From my home to yours". The taste is simply marvelous. You can make it soft and chewy if you like by baking for less time - or you can have a crispy one with extra baking. Either way, this recipe is a total keeper.
  • Cook time:
  • Prep time:
  • Yields: Makes 40-50 cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • zest of one lemon and 1/2 an orange
  • 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon+ginger powder+cardamom
  • 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar for dusting ( mix cinnamon powder with granulated sugar)
Method
1. Mix the zest along with sugar and rub in until aromatic.
2. Add this to the butter and using a hand mixer blend until creamy and smooth. Beat it down further with eggs and spices along with vanilla until well blended.
3. Slowly add the flour to this butter-sugar mixture, making sure to beat it softly. It is better to use a rubber spatula at this point to mix it well.
4. The soft will be v soft and smooth. Divide the dough into two and wrap them in a plastic wrap. Refrigerate them for at least 2 hours.
5. While Dorie's says to use wax paper to roll out the dough, I use the following method which works v well for me. I sprinkle powdered sugar on the board and roll the dough on it. It helps a lot and does not stick that much. Roll to the desired thinness.
6. Cut out shapes of your choice with the help of cookie cutters.
7. Place them in Baking Sheets lined with parchment paper. This batch easily makes approx 40-50 cookies.
8. Bake them in a preheated 350F oven for about 9-15 min depending on the level of softness/crispiness required. The cookies will not color much. Once out from the oven, rest them for 2 min and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
9. You can simply leave them as it is, or use icing/colored sugar to further decorate them.

Recipe Reference

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22 Comments

By Rose on Dec 9, 2014

My grand daughter is allergic to egg whites. Would using egg yokes only work as well? Thank you.

By shinelle on Dec 21, 2012

this recipe is great.i love it. :-D im so happy i just love the taste of sugar cookies on christmas.it makes me feel so delighted. :wink:

By shinelle on Dec 21, 2012

this recipe is great.i love it. :-D im so happy

By Wattle on Dec 2, 2012

:?: could you please tell me how long we can keep the sugar biscuits without freezing? I am looking for Christmas baking with grand kids for Christmas and have little room to freeze. Think this is a great site I just chanced on and have bookmarked! Wattle

By toyamah on Sep 17, 2012

Can I bake this on oven toaster?

By Sara on Dec 22, 2011

What happens if you don't refrigerate the cookies?

By Janice on Nov 3, 2010

I agree that Christmas without sugar cookies is incomplete. They are delicious and so much fun to decorate. My kids love to make them with me and do the sprinkles. I work with Better Recipes and am always trying new ideas. Christmas cookies is one of my favorite things to experiment with. Check out these candy cane cookies and peppermint chocolate hugs. Christmas Cookie Recipes

By Tweets that mention How to make Sugar Cookies Recipe | Christmas Cookie Recipes | Chef In You -- Topsy.com on Oct 25, 2010

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by D_K, D_K, Jihad Jane-Brûlée, D_K, D_K and others. D_K said: Yummy decadent yet easy Holiday Sugar Cookies. Good enough to enjoy throughout the year than just during the... http://fb.me/u7trbN9j [...]

By vandana rajesh on Oct 24, 2010

Delicious looking cookies...its a nice way for me to impress kids...have to make it for my daughter soon.

By Gayathri Kumar on Oct 24, 2010

Sugar cookies are lovely.

By Santhiya on Oct 23, 2010

oh no! you too DK! Not the stores have already show casing the xmas stuff, and halloween isnt even over yet.

By Nishi on Oct 23, 2010

Great cookies. Would love to try them for my little girl :)

By Seema on Jan 25, 2010

Hi - how much is one stick of butter?

Hi Seema, one stick is 1/2 cup of butter --DK

By Kitchen Flavours on Dec 23, 2008

Wow awesome cookies.

By Alka on Dec 22, 2008

These look cute and tempting enough for Santa to visit and have them ;-)

By Andhra Flavors on Dec 22, 2008

Wow lovely, perfect cookies.
nenaite namma leka potunna intlo chesinavi ante.

By Curry Leaf on Dec 21, 2008

Perfect entry.I too love these.But I do not care/like about frosting/decoration -sugar cookies are to be enjoyed warm and fresh-love these.too beautiful

By Madhuram on Dec 21, 2008

Cute cookies DK. I once tried (this was way back before my blog and other baking experiments) a recipe for sugar cookies from some site but I don't what I messed up, it was absolute disaster. So I have not ventured in that area again.

By Meeta K on Dec 21, 2008

lovely recipe. sugar cookies is certainly everyone's favorites. thanks for the entry DK!

By Gita's Kitchen on Dec 21, 2008

The pcitures look great, lovely cookies :)

By Gita's Kitchen on Dec 21, 2008

The pcitures look great, lovely cookies :)

By Aparna on Dec 21, 2008

I can see this is a recipe to keep. I'm just discovering the world of sugar cookies thanks to Xmas. :)

Best wishes for the festive season and a Happy New Year.