Y’all I seriously looove Christmas, all of it. Decorating the Christmas tree, the Christmas music, the warmth of the Christmas lights, and all the Christmas baking! Okay, okay, maybe I’m a little biased towards Christmas baking, but here’s the thing, you only get to bake these treats one time a year! (Well technically you could bake Christmas cookies in July, buuut, it just doesn’t have the same feel.) So, really for the full affect, you only get to bake the Christmas treats one time a year! And it is that time of year friends! Time to bake Christmas Sugar Cookies!
I’ll be completely honest with you, I’ve been on a mission the past few years to figure out a sugar cookie frosting recipe that is truly worthy of these cookies. Truthfully it’s been a struggle, I’ve either had frosting that tasted great, but when I decorated the cookies, they looked creepy (uhhh it’s not Halloween!) or the frosting looked good, but tasted bleh. But guuuys, we finally got it this year! This icing recipe is sooo easy and incredibly delicious with these perfect sugar cookies. Aaand it’s made with only two ingredients!! White Chocolate and milk! Y’all know how I feel about simple recipes! Looove them!
I’m telling ya friends, these cookies, with this icing… they’re incredible! And they’re so simple to make. All you do is mix the ingredients together, chill the dough, roll it out, cut your cookie shapes, and bake!
Tips for Sugar Cookies
The two most important things for these cookies! First: refrigerate the dough! The reason we refrigerate the dough, is because it solidifies the fat. Then when it’s time to bake the cookies, the fat takes longer to melt and then the cookies don’t spread as much — they hold they’re shape!
The second most important thing, is letting the dough soften just a bit when you take it out of the fridge, not a super long time because that would contradict all the work the fridge just did for ya. Just long enough so the dough sticks together when you roll it out, instead of falling apart!
Keep those tips in mind when you bake these cookies and you’ll be golden!
Alrighty friends let’s talk about how we make these!
How to make Christmas Sugar Cookies
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For the Sugar Cookies
- In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, and softened butter. Cream together with an electric hand mixer, until smooth!
- Add in the egg, and vanilla extract. Cream together.
- Add in the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Starting on low, gently increase the speed until all the ingredients are mixed and the dough is smooth.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter top, transfer the cookie dough to the plastic wrap. Shape the cookie dough into a disk, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for three hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Let the dough sit just long enough for it to soften a bit, so it can be rolled out. Lightly flour the countertop. Place the dough on the floured surface, then lightly flour the top of the dough.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so it’s a 1/4″ thick.
- Using the cookie cutters, cut the cookies into shapes. Set the cookie shapes aside.
- Take the cookie dough scraps, shape them back into a ball. Re-flour the counter and the top of the cookie dough and roll it out again. Then cut into more shapes. Repeat the process, until all the dough has been cut into shapes.
- Place the cookies on a cookie sheet, with a 1/2″ between each cookie.
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove the oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.
For the White Chocolate Frosting
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine white chocolate chips and milk.
- Microwave for one minute. Stir together until completely melted and smooth.
- Transfer the melted white chocolate to a gallon ziplock bag. Press the air out of the bag and seal shut. Snip off a small corner of the bag.
- Pipe the white chocolate icing onto the sugar cookies. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate has hardened.
- Enjoy all the delicious cookie goodness!
Christmas Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheet
- Rolling Pin
- Electric Hand Mixer
- Plastic Wrap
- Gallon Ziplock Bag
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Cup Butter softened
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsps Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/2 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
White Chocolate Icing
- 2 Tbsps Milk
- 2 Cups White Chocolate Chips
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, and softened butter. Cream together with an electric hand mixer, until smooth.
- Add in the egg, and vanilla extract. Cream together.
- Add in the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Starting on low, gently increase the speed of the hand mixer, until all the ingredients are mixed and the dough is smooth.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap flat on the counter, transfer the cookie dough to the plastic wrap. Shape the cookie dough into a disk, then wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the cookie dough.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Let the dough sit just long enough for it to soften a bit, so it can be rolled out. Place the dough on the floured surface, then lightly flour the top of the dough.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so it's a 1/4" thick.
- Using the cookie cutters, cut the cookie dough into shapes.
- Take the cookie dough scraps, shape them back into a ball. Re-flour the counter and the top of the cookie dough and roll it out again. Then cut into more shapes. Repeat the process, until all the dough has been cut into shapes.
- Place a few cookies on a cookie sheet, with a 1/2" between each cookie.
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing.
For the White Chocolate Icing
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine white chocolate chips and milk.
- Microwave for one minute. Stir together until completely melted and smooth.
- Transfer the melted white chocolate to a gallon ziplock bag. Press the air out of the bag and seal shut. Snip off a small corner of the bag.
- Pipe the white chocolate icing onto the sugar cookies. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate has hardened.
- Enjoy all the delicious cookie goodness!