I wanted to share with you my favorite Christmas sugar cookie recipe of all time.
Its sinful. Its outrageous. Its just plain delicious.
Ingredients
- 1-½ cup Butter (I use unsalted)
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 whole Eggs
- 2 whole Eggs Yolks
- 4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoons Almond Extract
- 4 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350
- In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add in 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks and mix until combined.
- Add in vanilla and almond extract; mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly (about a cup at a time) add flour to butter mixture and combine. You can use a mixer or not, just depends on how strong you are.
- I usually just mix ingredients until they are combined, as I have heard that if you over-mix this dough it will get tough.
- Put dough in some Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. When you are ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out, cut out cookies, and bake for 6-8 minutes.
And not to be ignored, the best glaze icing you will ever find paired with a sugar cookie. (This recipe can be used the exact same way you would use royal icing, but does not ever harden quite as hard as royal icing and the tastes a bit different. Try Bridget’s royal icing recipe if you want to try a wonderful tradition royal icing! Or just check her out, she just got back from The Pioneer Woman’s ranch.. she gave cookie decorating tutorials to Ree and pals!)
Amanda’s Awesome Icing
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar (powder Sugar)
- 1 Tablespoon Milk
- 1 drop Lemon Juice (fresh Or Processed)-this is optional
- 1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup
*Also optional is any additional flavorings… peppermint, strawberry, vanilla, almond extract just to name a few!
Combine powder sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a bowl. The consistency should be very think and hard to stir. Now read the following directions to make your icing perfect for decorating cookies!
******This next step is important!******If you need a thicker frosting, say for outlining your cookies, use LESS milk.
Just a drop at a time. If you have already outlined your cookies and need a to fill in or ’spill’ your cookies, you can add more milk (as much as you would need) to make your frosting very runny.
If you are using food coloring, be sure to use LESS milk. Most food colorings are liquid and can make your frosting more runny. If you are using a gel food coloring, your milk quantity can remain the same.
If you want to add different flavors, you can add drops of vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, etc. to flavor your frosting.
If you want more SHINE, use more corn syrup and less milk. This frosting will stay good for days in the fridge.
I also offer a tutorial on decorating a sugar cookie here.
Just in case you are wondering what the heck are all those weird red and white cookies? Well my friends, these were for me! I love simple holiday designs, and a classic red and white theme is no exception.
I just really wanted to make a set of cookies that represented the holidays for me.
As the saying goes, I believe Jesus is the reason for the season!
No go forth and bake. Lots and lots of cookies. And maybe even a cake or two.
And for the record, I am always available for taste testing consultations. 
*****
LA Times cookie contest update!
Thanks to all your votes and support, my sugar cookie recipe was named a winner!
(This was a fun font to try and replicate in frosting… its sure not forgiving!)
Out of around 80,000 votes and 50 top placing recipes, ten were picked and tested in the LA Times test kitchen.
And mine was one of them!! (Read about it here)
If you live in the LA area or receive the LA Times, feel free to check out the Food section on Dec. 16th, where the winners will be posted! (Unfortunately, I couldnt be there because I am in Florida)
*They mentioned using more than four pounds of butter… I cant help but feel like half that was for my recipe!
Thanks so much the LA Times and YOU!!
those are very nice! great job.
http://www.onceuponabakersblog.blogspot.com
Thank you, thank you! Every year I have made a Pillsbury sugar cookie dough for our cutouts, but couldn’t find the recipe this year. We loved it so much too. On Monday when I was baking I figured I was going to have to find another tried and true… and I definitely trust your recipes!
I love the little drum. It makes my heart smile.
I’ll be attempting to bake sugar cookies this Christmas! They won’t look nearly half amazing as yours, but I’m going to try my best
Oh, I just love love that little baby Jesus cookie!!
I’m not brave enough to make cookies from scratch (at least not to send to the kiddos’ classes, ha!), but I will be making some of your royal icing tonight to decorate some refrigerated sugar cookies. I love how easy it is!
All I can say is ‘Wow’. Again.
Amazing work, Amanda. Simply amazing.
Beautiful as always
What?!
Girl, I am SOOO stinkin’ proud of you!!! Congratulations, you totally deserve it.
I am so glad you posted this recipe, I will be giving it a try this week!! Thanks!!
They look gorgeous! thank you for sharing!
Congrats on the LA Times!!
How sweet!
Do you think the frosting would work the same if I substituted
the korn syrup with honey?
Keep writting this pretty blog for us!
Thanks.
I love them!
Do you have a cream cheese icing that get hard?
what kind of food coloring did you use? thats a beautiful red, I can never get a pretty red with out using a whole bottle of Wilton no-taste red
you are an artist. you are incredible. you are my idol!
Congrats on the win – that’s awesome!
Congrats on your sugar cookie recipe winning!!! I will have to give your recipe a try.
I am always up for baking cookies! LOL Blessings to you my friend!!
Congrats for winning the bake-off!! No surprise you won though, anything you make looks amazing♥
xoxo
Ai
They are so pretty! I LOVE red
Great news about the LA times! Hope you are having a wonderful vacation!!!
Beautiful cookies. Your writing is amazing on such a small surface! Congratulations on the LA Times.
Okay, OKAY. Fine. I’ll cave and make my kids some sugar cookies this year. FINE. Thanks for taking such awesome pics to make my mouth water…
AMANDA!!! Way to go, girl!!! You SO deserve to win! That recipe sound so god….with the butter, of course, but also with the eggs AND egg yolks. i bet they are the prettiest cookies….even plain.
Love, love, love the red and white. LOVE!
PS…thank you for the sweet shout-out! You *shouldn’t* have!
Every year I make a different sugar cookie recipe looking for a great one. SO excited to try this!! Also, like so many others – love the red ornaments!!
Going to make these with the kids this weekend.
Thanks!
I’m fairly new to your blog, but am really enjoying it. Just a thought if you do any tech improvements: it would be lovely to click a link and get a printable size of the recipe. Thanks!
Amanda-CONGRATS to you and so well deserved. You are so talented! I love the minimalistic design and two color combo of these cookies. Nice job.
I can’t wait to try the recipe!
That is fantastic news! CONGRATS!!!!
Congratulations!!! That’s amazing!!! And of course, so is that frosting font!
Wow! I’m so happy!
Beautiful job, these are lovely looking cookies. Thanks for sharing your recipes for both the cookies and the icing.
Congrats on the LA Times win! Well deserved and I’m sure folks from all over are now trying your amazing recipe. The red and white cookies are beautiful and your font work is over the top.
Amanda, congrats on your LA Times top 10! I knew you could do it. That font does look a bit tricky to tackle – well done!
Beautiful post as always! XO
Your tonal Christmas Cookies are beautiful & I will be coming back this way for decorating tips and tricks
Gorgeous! I want to see more of the snowflake cookies, though.
I love these! There so beautiful!
Also, I made this recipe you posted it last year (I think) and it is by far the best cookie recipe I have ever had!!
Fantastic! Thank you for the many yummy recipes and ideas!
This is sure a wonderful gift to share with my family and friends! Simply pretty and delightful!
You’re amazing. And congratulations on your sugar cookie recipe!
Amazing job!!!! These do sound like a great sugar cookie recipe!
These look amazing! I have a question for you though: what are the texture of these cookies? Are they soft and chewy, or crispy? Thank you!
CONGRATS amanda! that is SO awesome. you should be so proud of yourself!
sweetened, butter-flavored flour–my favorite! lovely designs, as usual.
YAY!!!! Congratulations Amanda! As a voter, I received an email from the LA Times about this. I’m not surprised that you received this amazing honor!
Blessings…
you bakers are absolutely KILLING ME with your talent – i feel like such a slacker!!! another beautiful job Amanda!!!
Congratulations! You totally deserved it, girlfriend! And these look gorgeous as always!
Amanda your cookies are always SO amazing!! I love the simplicity of the red and white……..just beautiful!!! and HUGE congrats too girlie!! wooohoooo
Congrats on the winning recipe!! I absolutely LOVE your Christmas cookies… Especially the red circles with the white drawings. So beautiful
Congratulations!! I am SO excited to try this recipe! I am always on the look out for a great sugar cookie!!
Congratulations!!! Your cookie recipe is the BEST! It makes me friends all the time!
Hello! These look awesome, I’m making them this weekend. I have a question that may be silly but are the butter and eggs at room temperature in this cookie recipe? Also, have you ever used only vanilla in the cookies, I have a few friends whose kids are allergic to almonds. Thank you!
Doing the happy dance for you!! Congratulations! You totally deserved to win
Really love these – I made this icing for christmas cookies that I gave out at thanksgiving, got so many compliments and it was really easy! Cute note – your “wishing you” cookie is missing a dot above the 2nd “i”…. adorable!
Wow! Congrats!
Your cookies are SO pretty. I was thinking of you today as I made my great-grandmother’s sourcream sugar cookies. Mine are not beautiful, but they are yummy (and super soft)!!!
How do you make the icing so red? That’s a problem I have: tmine usually turns out pink
This is amazing!!!!!!
Hi Amanda!! Next time you make it, would you dump your flour on a scale and let us know how much it weighs? I tend to be a dipper and scooper and i fear I add too much!! Thanks!
Amanda- fyi, just made them with 18 oz using the 4.5 oz per cup rule. total failure, spread way too much. and i baked them from fridge….
Amanda, I made these cookies for Christmas and they were amazing. Very, very delicious! I was very hesitant to try the frosting and although it takes a little longer to dry the flavor and shine are amazing! I will be using the recipe every time I make sugar cookies, thank you so much. You are so talented, thanks for sharing with all of us and for getting back to me when I had a question! Happy New Year!
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I’ve just emailed you but I don’t know which way will get to you fastest so I decided to leave a comment here too. Gorgeous cookies! Would the icing be appropriate to put into a bag and pipe onto cookies? Also, how many cookies does the recipe make?
Thanks!
These recipes are AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing.
I linked this page in my new baking blog! I made these today and they rock!
How frustrating, I’ve attempted this recipe 3x in the last year and Amanda’s cookies come out cutter-perfect whilst mine always turn into nearly shapeless blobs (tasty, yet shapeless), in spite of paying such close attention to the recipe. I have other sugar cookie recipes that turn out relatively well, and they are pretty similar. Wish I could figure out what’s going wrong. No one else seems to comment about this.
So sorry! That has got to be so extremely frustrating for you.
Here are some things you can try:
Freeze your dough after you have cut out the cookies and placed them on the cookie sheet. Do this for 10-15 minutes.
Are you at a different altitude? Has it been humid where you are, or is your home humid? Is your oven calibrated correctly? What type pan are you using, is it dark metal or light? Is your baking soda or baking power expired?
There are many factors that contribute to a spreading cookie and unfortunately I cant pinpoint it when I am not in the kitchen with you.
But I hope this at least lets you know there is hope!
Blessings-
Amanda
Amanda,
How incredibly sweet of you to take time out of your extremely busy life to help! I have a good recipe that I don’t have trouble with keeping shape, but they still don’t come out as sharp as yours, so I wanted to try yours. I have always frozen them after cutting. Baking powder and soda are brand new. It IS very humid right now, and the pan I’m using is light. I am in Texas, so my altitude is a tad bit lower than yours. I haven’t played with those two factors before, so I am glad to have something else to test. I will let you know if I figure it out!
Again, thank you!
Kate
I had the same problem. Even frozen I could only get a couple crisp cuts before things went all gooey. Taste great, but I gave up using cutters and just going to make normal cookies out of the rest of the dough.
I just made these literally 10 minutes ago. The dough is very soft. Not doughy at all. I’m wondering…hoping that it will firm up overnight in the fridge. I live in Hawaii so maybe the humidity & heat affects it, but it’s not firm at all after being mixed. Crossing my fingers because I do need these for Friday treats.
i am trying to make your cookies they look wonderful but after i mixed the flour with the butter & egg mixture the dough was quite sticky i was wondering if that is correct or if i did something wrong?
great recipe made my mouth water. looks like i will be gaining a few pounds this winter
Hi – I made these today, do you have any suggestions as to why the outline of my icing is visible even after I “flooded” the additional icing? Thanks! megan
How many cookies does this typically make?
Well my friends and I made these cookies today and people couldn’t even eat the dough… too much ALMOND!!!! We followed the recipe exactly and they were kind of gross
oh well… great tutorial though 
Hi Olivia! I am so sorry that you and your friends had a bad experience!
I hope that at some point you are able to try again… make the dough as the directions indicate only save the almond extract for very last. Sample a little of the dough before you add the almond extract, then sample some after.
I think one of the most common emails I get is that people love this recipe so much they almost eat all the dough before they even make the cookies! Well, anyway, I just hope you are able to try it again. It is really good, I promise. If you do and dont like it, let me know and I will get you a different recipe!
these look awesome! and just what im looking for, but i have a question…you said the icing is LIKE* royal icing but doesnt get as hard. Does this icing get hard enough to stack the cookies without messing the decorations up?
Yes! I would just wait until they are fully dry, which is about 24 hours. Happy Baking!
I have been looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe, and I found this one when I was reading through the comments for your rose cake tutorial (found via a sewing blog, of all places
: http://3hourspast.com/) I saw your buttercream recipe (similar to the one my mom uses) and could tell from reading just a few blog posts that I should trust you. I can’t wait to try these this year!
what kind of vanilla do you use? I just used adams extract and the dough taste very strong I hope I did not just mess this batch up
It says twice as strong ….. so I prob should have just put 2 teaspoons not 4…. :/
I used McCormicks pure vanilla extract, but I have also used imitations and different strengths. It should havent affected your batter so much as to make is taste off? Was your final product ok?
What type of vanilla did you use???
Hi Amanda, i’m new to this website. Your cookies look really good. I was wondering how many cookies it makes? And are they soft and chewy or crispy? Thanks so much.
~ Sarah
Hi Sarah- welcome! Its really hard to determine how many cookies the recipe makes because there are so many varying sizes in cookie cutters. On average it ranges between 2 dozen and four dozen. Sorry I cant help more.
My grandson and I were testing recipes for sugar cookies for our annual Christmas trays and yours was the best one we had. I’ll never use another recipe. Made great cookies. Yummy!!
Thank you so such! Sounds like a wonderful day… testing recipes with the grandson. Many blessings to you!
I made these last night and the batter was way too sticky to cut into shapes with cutters. This is after I let it sit in the fridge almost 20 hours. The dough tasted great, but I couldn’t make it into cute shapes like I’d been envisioning. What might I have done wrong?
FYI, they still turned out adorable. This was my first time decorating cookies with “royal” icing and I’m very very happy with them. Here’s a link to my blog post: http://spilledmilkbaking.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-cookies.html
Thanks so much for your awesome tutorials and recipes! This isn’t the first of yours that I’ve tried. If you feel like it you can check out my blog and see what other recipes of yours I’ve done (always linking back to you, of course!). Sorry for such a long comment – I’m gushing.
HI Christine- Sorry about any issues! If you ever have a sticky dough again, simply add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time. You are a natural baker, your cookies are adorable!
Hi Amanda! I hope you had a great holiday! I was just wondering if your “glaze” drys hard enough to stack these cookies. I seem to get them stuck together even after letting them dry overnight with a fan blowing on them. I like to mail cookies to family and friends and package the icing seperately. I want to decorate more in detail and ship them “done”. Thanks!
you can all stop looking now (and test baking too) cause this is the won…. er I mean one, you have been searching for. If you are looking for a crunchy sugar cookie than this is not it, but if you are looking for a soft, tender, wonderful texture but study enough to decorate sugar cookie than you came to the right place and I should know because I baked about 4 different kinds and this one beat them all…Thank You Amanda and I like her flooding icing better than the other girls too, so there…hugz…m
Oh dear. I chose this recipe over almost 10 others, to make last night but the cookies just weren’t crispy.
I baked them for about 10 mins at 200 degrees C. They’re soft, chewey but not crispy and crumbly like I hoped they would be. What went wrong? Should I have added more flour? Baked them longer? I’m a little sad about this and I’d really appreciate some advice.
They are not supposed to be crispy… sorry if I did not communicate that properly! These cookies are soft.
Great recipe! I just used it today to make some cookies for Easter, and they turned out really well. Your website is lovely!