Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies made with classic ingredients & frosted with a simple Royal icing. Perfect holiday Sugar Cookie recipe for festive Christmas cut out cookies!
Christmas Sugar Cookies are one of our favorite holiday traditions! There’s something very comforting about the tradition of making Christmas sugar cookies this time of year! The whole family enjoys the cookies, of course, but also the process of decorating them. We love this recipe as it yields perfectly sweet, soft cookies. I think it’s the addition of sour cream that makes the texture so wonderful! Get creative and enjoy.
What Are Christmas Sugar Cookies?
While tied to the holiday of Christmas, these sugar cookies could honestly be made any time of the year and for any holiday or reason. They’re a simple roll out sugar cookie recipe that holds shape once cut with cookie cutters. Topped with icing or frosting as desired and given some festive sprinkles, this recipe is easy to make and so much more fun to eat!
Soft Christmas Sugar Cookie Ingredients
-Sugar: We need 1 cup of granulated white sugar to get a good sweetened cookie.
-Butter: With 1/2 cup of softened butter (one stick) we can get a buttery rich flavor.
-Egg: We need 1 egg to act as the binder for this dough so that the cookies don’t crumble and fall apart.
-Vanilla: We need 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to get a good flavor base. Tip: use high quality vanilla for a better flavor result.
-Sour Cream: We need 1/3 cup of sour cream to help thicken the dough and make a soft melt in your mouth cookie once baked.
-Salt: With 1/2 teaspoon of salt we can enhance all of the flavors in the cookies so that they taste even better.
-Baking Soda: We only need 1/2 teaspoon of this leavening agent to make these cookies puff up slightly while baking.
-Flour: 2 cups of all-purpose flour will act as the gluten base for this cookie dough.
Easy Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Icing Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 TBSP light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
How to Make Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixer.
Add in the egg and the vanilla extract.
In another bowl, combine the sour cream, salt, and baking soda.
Add the flour and the sour cream mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
Chill the dough in the fridge for several hours. The colder the better.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut into shapes using shaped cookie cutters.
Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Whisk frosting ingredients together. Pipe or spread onto cookies. Add sprinkles, if desired. Enjoy!
SOFT CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. soda
- 2 cups flour
Cookie Icing
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 TBSP light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cream together sugar and butter.
- Add egg and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- In separate bowl, combine sour cream, salt and soda.
- Add flour and sour cream to butter mixture, beat until smooth.
- Chill dough for several hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll dough out, using additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cut with shaped cookie cutters.
- Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.
- Whisk icing ingredients together. Add food coloring if desired. Pipe or spread on cookies. Top with sprinkles. Enjoy!
Nutrition
📫 Save this recipe! Send it to your email! 📩
I consent to receiving emails from this site.
Can I Freeze Sugar Cookies?
Yes! These cookies do great in the freezer. Simply store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature before eating. If the cookies have been frosted, it’s a good idea to layer the cookies with wax paper or flash freeze them first so that they don’t stick together.
How Long Do Sugar Cookies Last?
These cookies if stored in an airtight container at room temperature can last up to a week or two. This should give you plenty of time to enjoy a sweet treat when the mood strikes!
Do I Have to Chill the Dough?
Yes. It’s very important to chill this dough so that the cut shapes hold up in the hot oven. The colder the dough, the better. At a minimum, you should let the dough chill for at least an hour and try to avoid overworking it too much when rolling it out so that it doesn’t warm up too much.
If you love these Soft Christmas Sugar Cookies try a few of our other favorite Christmas desserts:
- Mint Chocolate Pudding Cookies
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Peanut Butter Fudge Cups
- Easy Gumdrop Fudge
- Red Velvet Christmas Cookies
- Christmas Cranberry Cake
- Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups
- Christmas Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Cookie Bars
- Santa Approved Christmas Treats
- Layered Christmas Jello Cups
- Christmas Candy Puffcorn
- Christmas Peppermint Patties
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cupcakes
- Holiday Cookie Salad
These delicious and soft Christmas sugar cookies are one of those cut out cookie recipes you’ll want to make over and over again. They hold their shape so well, pair great with icing, and even better- they’re easy to make! Start a new tradition at home with these cut out sugar cookies recipe.
Anne Hause says
Is this dough supposed to be quite sticky yet when you first mix it?
Jacy says
Is this dough supposed to b sticky
Jessica says
Yes, but not to the point where you can’t work with it.
Dana says
Me too! I put the dough in the freezer for about 4 hours, but in the door of my freezer,…… When I took it out and tried to roll it the dough was incredibly sticky! It was almost impossible to roll. I ended up trying to make a few balls to bake… Not a good idea. I’m not sure what I did wrong? I was really excited for this. I’m assuming it was human error. Also PS, since a lot of people that get these recipes are not “bakers” maybe don’t say “cream together”. I have no idea what that means Lmao. I need straight up simple directions bc I only make cookies 1x a year
Nicole says
The dough should not be sticky by the time you go to place it in the freezer. I mean, it should be sticky to the point that it holds together but doesn’t stick to your hands, if that makes sense. If you freeze it while it is still sticky it will remain that way. You can fix it by simply adding in more flour, a little at a time until its no longer impossible to work with.
Babs says
This looks like a great soft sugar recipe. One question; I’m allergic to eggs, do you think this recipe would work with an egg substitute?
Jessica says
I’ve not tried this recipe with an egg substitute, but it seems like it’d be fine!
Larry Sclafani says
These are the best Christmas sugar cookies!! My girls will love these sugar cookies. A great way to keep the weekend cravings ready.
Thanks for such an amazing recipe plus the fewer the ingredients married is the making.
Larry Sclafani
http://nextbestreview.com/