This soft Christmas sugar cookie recipe requires no chill time. Make buttery, no spread cutout cookies that are perfect for decorating with sweet buttercream frosting for Santa, or any time of year!
Equipment
1 stand mixer You must use a stand mixer for this recipe. The dough is very thick and will break an electric hand mixer. I've also mixed this recipe by hand, but it takes some effort.
Ingredients
For The Cookies
1cupbutterunsalted, cold
1cupsugar
2largeeggscold
½teaspoonvanilla extract
3cupsall-purpose flourplus more for dusting
½teaspoonsalt
For The Frosting
1cupbutterunsalted, softened
1teaspoonvanilla
½teaspoonsalt
4cupspowdered sugar
food coloring
sprinkles
Instructions
Making The Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lay parchment paper on your cookie sheets and clean off a big area of counter space to roll out the cookie dough.
Cream the butter and sugar in your stand mixer on low-medium for 2 to 3 minutes.
1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar
In a small bowl crack the eggs and beat with a fork or a whisk. Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture, then mix until well blended.
2 large eggs, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
To your wet mixture add the flour and scatter the salt around the bowl. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients well for a few minutes with a strong wooden spoon or a stand mixer on low and then medium until a dough forms.
3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt
Don’t try mixing this part of the dough with a hand mixer, the dough is very thick especially with the cold butter and may break your mixer!
Lightly flour the counter and a rolling pin, keeping a small pile of flour at the edge of your workspace. Roll out your dough to a thickness of about ⅜ of an inch adding dustings of flour as needed. Use holiday cookie cutters between 3-4 inches and cut out your favorite shapes like circles, Santa, reindeer, stars, or trees.
Place all cookies on baking sheets and bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.
Making The Frosting
Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Cream butter on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add vanilla and salt, then mix for one more minute until fully mixed.
1 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon salt
Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing on low and then medium, and scrape down the bowl between additions.
4 cups powdered sugar
Split the frosting into smaller bowls, then mix in food coloring until you get your desired color. The frosting can also be left white if you prefer. You can then spread this frosting with a knife, or place it in a piping bag to frost the cookies and top with sprinkles. Enjoy!
food coloring, sprinkles
Video
Notes
This recipe makes about 18 total 4 inch cookies cookies or 24 total 3 inch cookies.
Rolling The Cookies To The Right Thickness
Placing two chopsticks on either side of the dough while you roll can help you roll the dough to about the right thickness, ⅜ of an inch in slightly thicker than most chopsticks.
Frosting Consistency
The frosting on these cookies is on the thicker side but is pipeable using a frosting bag. If you feel like it’s too thick, you can adjust with a teaspoon or two of milk to make it spread easier. How thick the frosting is can vary a little bit depending on the butter each person uses, and how packed full the cups of powdered sugar are, so don’t be hesitant to thin it a little if you need to. If it gets too thin, whip in more powdered sugar! I usually start with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until I get my desired thickness.Placing the frosting in the refrigerator also will make the frosting thicken, but it can be rewhipped with a mixer as needed after refrigerating to be more spreadable again.