Holiday Sugar Cookies are the perfect treat for your holiday get-together and these square sugar cookie designs don't require buying any fancy cookie cutters.
Christmas Cookie Decorating Ideas
I'm a huge fan of gourmet sugar cookies. But I'm not a huge fan of accumulating a bunch of cookie cutters that I have to store somewhere when not in use. So, I decided to whip up some holiday sugar cookies and surf Pinterest for a few Christmas cookie decorating ideas. Wowza, it's amazing what is out there. Some pretty creative bakers in the Pinterest world.
For this recipe, I used a 3" square cookie cutter. In the picture are just three examples of square sugar cookie designs that we used for these cookies. These were all decorated with royal icing but many times you can buy Wilton decorating kits that will have a few of the needed accessories, like eyes or belt buckles. You get the idea. Or just go with sanding sugar to sprinkle on top. Doesn't get any easier than that.
Ingredients in Holiday Sugar Cookies
All of these simple ingredients can be found in your pantry and everything is readily available at your local grocery store.
- Sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
Royal Icing for Decorating Sugar Cookies
We used the same royal icing recipe as we used for the Halloween cookies. No change just different colors. For the Santa belt buckle, we used the Wilton kit. We then frosted the belt buckle and dipped it in sprinkles. The original color was yellow and that just didn't seem to be the color we were going for. And besides who doesn't love a little sparkle on their belt buckle. If you didn't want to go through the effort of decorating you could just sprinkle some sanding sugar on before baking and call it done.
How to Make Sugar Cookies
The recipe makes two dozen cookies. You could cut it in half if you only wanted one dozen. It's a simple recipe. A few ingredients and nothing fancy.
- Beat butter and sugar in stand mixer.
- Add vanilla and eggs.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Not much to it.
When you first make the dough, it will be sticky and not very manageable. You are going to need to chill it for a few hours before rolling it out. The flavor of these is just delicious and worth the wait. They are soft and delicate. I stored them in an airtight container for a week after and continued to enjoy fresh cookies that entire time.
It's important to not overcook sugar cookies. When the edges start (and by start, I mean barely light golden brown) to get brown you are done.
With all that said, you have the perfect base for frosting, sprinkles, or other decorations.
Tips for making the perfect sugar cookie:
- When cutting out your cookies you want to keep the cuts as close as possible to avoid wasting any dough. You will reroll the scraps but then you must flour the surface again. Which is now adding too much flour to your cookies.
- For thinner, crispier cookies roll the dough to an ⅛ of an inch. And the edges will become golden brown.
- For thicker softer cookies (which are my favorite way to have this recipe) roll the dough to a ¼ of an inch. Watch for the cookies to just begin turning lightly golden brown at the edges and remove from the oven. Cool on the pan. They will break if you try to move them too early.
I hope you enjoy these holiday sugar cookies made in square sugar cookie designs as much as we do. If sugar cookies aren't your favorite I'd suggest these Bailey's Chocolate Truffles for a super easy alternative. Please share if you end up making them. We always love to hear how it turns out. Happy holidays!
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Holiday Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 13.25 ounces sugar
- 12 ounces butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 23.5 ounces AP flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl stir together AP flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the dry mix into the mixer bowl and hand stir until incorporated.
- Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and put ½ of the dough onto the wrap.
- Cover with plastic wrap and mold into a disk. Do the same with the other half of the dough.
- Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
- Once dough has finished chilling, heat oven to 350°F.
- Generously dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough out to ¼ inch.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and a spatula to transfer them to the baking sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes or until edges begin to turn lightly golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
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kimberly lewis says
we just made sugar cookies last night! sugar cookies just scream Christmas!
Heather says
These cookies are beautiful and I'd love to make them this weekend! We're baking Christmas Eve evening for Santa.
Jeanine says
Oh my goodness! These are way too cute! What a fantastic and fun idea! We are making cookies this weekend we should try these!
Nailil says
These cookies look amazing. My little ones would love having these.
Jessica Joachim says
I love simple recipes. I don't like to have extra of random ingredients laying around that rarely get used so these are perfect! I love that they can be decorated for any Holiday as well!
Rachel says
A big downside of sugar cookies for me is all of the cookie cutters. I like the idea of decorating the squares. It works for any season.
serena says
I know I'm kinda excited for next Halloween 🙂 Have a few months to think about some creative decorations
Cindy Ingalls says
These cookies are so cute. I love the idea of doing a square sugar cookie and the creating little works of art on them. It's almost like looking at a painting, only you get to eat these tasty treats instead of just gazing at them.
serena says
The eating was the best part 🙂
Britney Kaufman says
Those are adorable!!! I wish I had the talent to decorate that.
serena says
Thanks so much!
Karen Morse says
It would be awesome not to have to deal with a lot of cookie cutters, they take up too much space when you have too many. I think this is a brilliant idea and I really love how you decorated the cookies! Pinterest is a life saver.
serena says
Thanks so much! You are right about all those cutters taking up way too much space!
Nancy Johnson Horn says
These are so adorable! I love them! I'll have to make some with the kiddos!
serena says
Super fun cookies. We had a blast making them
Erica says
Those are the absolute cutest cookies. I love how with each cookie, you just see part of the picture. Like just the belt or just the snowman face. They would make such a great cookie display.
serena says
Thanks so much 🙂 We had such a fun time with these cookies.
Krystal Butherus says
Sugar cookies are the holidays! These look so easy to make, which will make baking them together much more enjoyable.
serena says
They are so easy to make. Give them a try
Laura @ MommyDearest says
These cookies are beautiful. I love the idea of keeping them the same shape and yet decorating them differently. It's such a great idea. My cookie cutters are never where I want them to be when I'm looking for them. I will definitely be doing this next year.
serena says
Thanks so much!
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh says
Christmas can't come without having made a batch of sugar cookies. We love decorating them with fun colors and sprinkles.
serena says
It's such a tradition for us also. Wouldn't be Christmas without them.
Rebecca Bryant says
Sugar cookies the perfect Christmas treat. They are one of our favorites and a tradition to make and decorate. Such a delish way to celebrate the holidays.
serena says
One of my favorite holiday traditions.
Ellen says
What beautiful cookies! Your tips are helpful. I agree, I like thicker, softer cookies too. I wish I was half as talented!
serena says
Thanks so much Ellen 🙂 Give them a try. They are just as tasty without the frosting
Cliona Keane says
These are adorable! Sugar cookies are such a perfect part of Christmas and I love the way you've decorated them, so fun!
serena says
Thanks so much!
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I love these, they are so cute and so festive! The perfect holiday sugar cookies - seems almost a shame to bite into them but of course I would, delicious!
serena says
At first I thought that also. But after one bite...Those cookies didn't stand a chance 🙂
Natalie says
I love sugar cookies and these look exceptionally delicious! I love the royal icing decoration ♥
serena says
Thanks so much!
Tiffany says
What a great idea! I have a giant container of cookie cutters and I can almost never find the one I am looking for lol. Keeping it simple with the same shape but different decorations is so smart!
serena says
I'm right there with you with having too many and can't ever find the one I want.