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Christmas Sugar Cookies

When it comes to holiday baking, few treats are as beloved and iconic as Christmas sugar cookie cutouts. Whether you’re crafting delicate snowflakes, jolly Santas, or whimsical reindeer, these buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies bring festive joy to any occasion. This recipe is fool proof and turns out perfect every time. And best part? No chilling the dough!

Why Christmas Sugar Cookie Cutouts Are a Holiday Tradition

Sugar cookies are an enduring holiday favorite for several reasons:

Versatility: The dough can be shaped into endless festive designs—stars, trees, bells, or anything your imagination can dream up.
Decorating Fun: The fun doesn’t stop at baking. Decorating sugar cookies is a creative activity the whole family can enjoy. Whether you’re using colorful sprinkles, royal icing, or even edible glitter, each cookie becomes a small work of art.
Shareable Joy: Sugar cookies are perfect for gifting or bringing to a holiday gathering. Their charming shapes and sweet flavor make them a crowd favorite.

Essential Tips for Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies

1. Use Room Temperature Ingredients

For a smooth dough that’s easy to work with, always use room-temperature butter and eggs. Cold butter can cause the dough to be crumbly and hard to roll out.

2. Don’t Overmix the Dough

When combining the wet and dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Overworking the dough will result in tough cookies.

3. Flour Your Work Surface (But Don’t Overdo It)

While rolling out the dough, make sure to lightly flour your work surface, rolling pin, and cookie cutters. However, too much flour can dry out the dough and make the cookies too tough. Keep it light and dust off any excess.

4. Almond Emulsion

One really important note – if all you have is almond extract then that will work just fine. But let me tell you – LorAnn almond emulsion takes these cookies to the next level! This baker emulsion is truly the best – it has such a delicious, rich almond flavor. LorAnn bakery emulsions and extracts are one of my kitchen staples.

Ingredients

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp almond emulsion (or your extract of choice)
4 tsp baking powder
6 cups all purpose flour
Frosting Ingredients
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp almond emulsion
2 tbsp half & half

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Start by creaming together your butter and sugar in your electric mixer with the paddle attachment.
Once butter and sugar is light and fluffy, add in eggs and almond emulsion, mix until combined.
Add in your baking powder, then add flour 2 cups at a time. Mix well each time you add flour.
When you’ve added your last 2 cups of flour, the dough may be stiff. You may need to take it out of your bowl and mix by hand.
Once dough is completely combined, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out your dough. I like to work with about 1/4 of the dough at a time. If you work with too much at one time it will be difficult to roll out.
Roll dough to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness and cut with desired cookie cutters
Transfer to baking sheet, and bake for 6-7 minutes, depending on oven and preference. I never bake mine longer than 7 minutes. If the edges are starting to turn golden brown you’ve baked a little too long!
Cool completely before decorating

Frosting

Cream butter until light and fluffy.
Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar until combined
Add in 1 tbsp of milk and the almond emulsion, mix
Add in the final 2.5 cup of powdered sugar, cream until combined
mix in last tbsp of milk
Frost cookies- you can either spread this frosting on or pipe using bags and decorating tips. Enjoy!