Holiday Sugar Cookies

This recipe consists of a melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie base, topped with a thin, sugary glaze, and festive sprinkles. Holiday Sugar Cookies are brightly and vividly coloured with red and green frosting and will appeal to both the little kids and the big kids in your life!

I have shared a sugar cookie recipe once or twice before. It is one of those cookies that lends itself to many holidays and special occasions. When you really think about it, the sugar cookie base is not specifically Christmas at all. You have probably seen them in grocery stores, sitting close to the check out lines. They are whimsical and brightly coloured so that they catch your eye.

More importantly, they’re most often set on a lower shelf so that they catch the eye of children. Did you know that marketers will often strategically place items at the same height as the little seated area of your grocery buggy? Yes, they want your kids to not only see it, but reach for it as well! Store-bought sugar cookies are fine, but I prefer to make my own. That way, I know they’re fresh!

I made these exact same cookies for Canada Day, but used only red and white frosting. They were also a great treat for Easter, especially with drizzled candy melts! Holiday Sugar Cookies can be featured at any event. All you need to do is change up the colour of the frosting and use holiday-specific sprinkles!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES:

Here is a list of what you will need to make these cookies. For exact measurements, scroll down to the bottom of this page where you will find a printable recipe card.

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
• Salt – In baking it helps to enhance and balance sweetness. 
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown cookies and cakes.  In cookies, the sugar will help the dough to spread, and will create a crispness to the bottom of the cookie.
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies. 
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often.  When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
• Milk – When a baking recipe requires milk, I always use whole milk, unless otherwise stated. 
• Food Colouring
• Sprinkles

EXTRACT CHOICES

The first thing I think of when I hear of sugar cookies, is vanilla. Almost all of them have the exact same sugary, vanilla-y flavour. But, there’s no law that says you have to use vanilla extract in your Holiday Sugar Cookies. In fact, you could use any extract you think you might like.

For example, I would consider using peppermint exact in this cookie, because peppermint is a very popular Christmastime flavour. But, so is cinnamon! I love the flavour of cinnamon extract. Depending on the brand, sometimes the extract borders on having a spicy taste rather than just the warming flavour you get oftentimes. By the way, if I were going to use peppermint extract in these cookies, I would forego the sprinkles and swap them with crushed candy canes instead!

In the cookies you see here, I used only vanilla extract. I was more interested in sticking to the original taste of a sugar cookie. Either way, when you get down to it, the choice is yours. The most important thing is to make sure you stick to the measurements in order to get a beautiful cookie. Otherwise, the flavour and choice of topping is up to you!

FOOD COLOURING

Before I get too far into this, I am just going to get this one thing out of the way. I did use food colouring to dye the frosting. Using food colouring is not ideal for some people, but I don’t personally have an issue with it. I know there are many “natural” ways of colouring food, so if you already employ those in other recipes, feel free to do so here too.

I have used only red and green. The white cookies – the one with the sprinkles – is what the frosting will look like without any added colouring. I’m a huge advocate of gel food colouring. But, just to be contrary, in this case, I’m going to suggest you use liquid food colouring. The gel will allow you to tint the frosting without changing the viscosity, but liquid food colouring will get you a deeper, brighter colour.

You may have to use a lot of the liquid colouring to get the frosting tinted enough. Adding more than 8-10 drops of liquid colouring will change the thickness of the frosting, but you can easily fix that by whisking in an additional tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar. Use as much or as little food colouring as you wish to get the desired colour. Remember, it is easier to add colour than it is to take it away, so add a drop or two at a time!

GETTING THAT PERFECT FROSTING

I have found that when it comes to the frosting on a sugar cookie, there’s just no way to do it that will please everyone. So, I say, please yourself. If you like a thick frosting, then go for it! If a thin frosting is more your thing, then go for that instead!

The frosting is very easy to make. All you need to do is put confectioner’s sugar into a bowl. Add a scant amount of milk, and use a fork to mix it. Mix it until there are no visible lumps. Once you get the consistency the way you want it, add the food colouring and tint the frosting to your liking.

Use less milk for a thicker frosting or more milk for a thinner frosting. As you can see from the photos, I used a frosting that was thick enough to stick to the cookie with just a little bit of drizzling down the side. But, I wanted a frosting that was also thin enough to smooth itself out on the surface of the cookie, while allowing the sprinkles to settle into it, capturing them into the frosting.

HOW TO MAKE HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and light yellow in colour. (About 4-5 minutes.) Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the butter and sugar mixture. Finally, beat in the vanilla extract.

Next, sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat into the wet mixture until well combined. Portion the cookie dough into heaping tablespoons. Roll into a ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Press down on each ball until ball is flattened to just over 1/4 inch thick. (I used the bottom of a drinking glass.)

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Once completely cooled, stir the milk into the confectioner’s sugar until a thin, smooth frosting is formed. Divide the frosting into three bowls. Tint one bowl of frosting with green food colouring and another with red. Leave one of the bowls of frosting white.

Working with one cookie at a time, dip a third of the cookies facedown into white glaze. Top with festive sprinkles. Next, dip a third of the cookies facedown into the red frosting, and the remaining third into the green. You can top these with sprinkles too if you wish. Place them onto a wire cooling rack. Allow frosting to fully dry before packaging cookies.

TIPS & TRICKS: If you want to put out a tray of cookies which will impress your guests and possibly make you look like a professional baker, try this! Frost the cookies with different colours and use sprinkles only on some of the cookies. This will create contrast in texture and colour, which will make your presentation more colourful and appealing!

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Holiday Sugar Cookies, you certainly can! Once they are completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out onto a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 100 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!