If you’re looking for an easy sugar cookie recipe to make Christmas cookies from scratch with, you’ve found it! This is a super easy recipe for vanilla cookies which make a perfect base for decorating. These are great to bake with kids and using a variety of cookie cutters, you can create some amazing designs.
What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Christmas Cookies From Scratch?
To make these delicious cookies, you will need plain flour, caster sugar, unsalted butter, 1 egg, vanilla extract and some lemon zest. To make the icing you’ll need icing sugar, egg white (or pasteurised egg white powder) and lemon zest. To decorate the cookies you’ll need some sprinkles of your choice.
How to Store Christmas Cookies
These cookies will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
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Christmas Cookies From Scratch
Equipment
- Greaseproof Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Palette Knife
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Christmas Sugar Cookies
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams unsalted butter softened
- 1 medium egg
- 300 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest optional
Royal Icing
- 1 egg white (or use egg white powdered replacement)
- 200 grams icing sugar
- 0.5 lemon juice only
- Selection of sprinkles
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a handheld mixer, beat the granulated sugar and butter together until creamy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon zest and mix until fully combined.
- Add the flour and mix until completely incorporated. Don't overmix or your cookies will become tough.
- Cover with cling film and store in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Remove from the fridge and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to around 0.5cm or 1/4" thick. If the dough is sticky, place the dough between two plastic wraps and roll it out gently from the centre to the edge.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out Christmas shapes and use a palette knife to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden, then remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Make your icing. In a medium bowl place the egg white, 3 tablespoons of icing sugar and the lemon juice. Mix everything using a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer on low speed until smooth.
- Add the rest of the icing sugar little by little until you get the right consistency. If it looks too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water and if it’s too runny add 1 tablespoon of icing sugar.
- Spoon the icing into a piping bag or use a small spatula to decorate the cookies. Add gold sprinkles for a festive touch.
- Once iced, allow cookies to dry uncovered for at least 4 hours to give the icing chance to set. Once the icing is dry the cookies can be stored in an airtight container.
You might like to read this How to Decorate Cookies With Royal Icing tutorial too, which will give you lots of hints and tips about decorating your cookies with icing.
Cookies For Neighbour Gifts
Bake a batch of these cookies and decorate as a tasty gift for your neighbours or to take to a potluck. These are also great for a bake sale!
