These easy Christmas cookie cut outs are the last sugar cookie recipe you'll ever need. Made with just 3 ingredients with zero resting time, these buttery shortbread cookies melt in your mouth and will become a new family tradition!
These are the best Christmas cut out cookies your whole family will love!!!
I also would bet money you have the 3 ingredients (optional 4th) in your pantry right this very minute, and you can pull the dough together in 10 minutes flat.
What do you need to make the easiest Christmas cookie cut outs ever?
- Butter
- Sugar
- Flour
- Vanilla Extract (optional)
Easy Christmas Cut Out Cookies
I bake and decorate these cut out Christmas cookies with my niece and nephews every year, and this is the recipe I always use. I've made them at least 100 times over the past few years, and they have never once lost their shape or given me any issues.
These holiday sugar cookies are easy to cut out and will go straight from cutting to the baking sheet with no resting time needed. This is a huge winner for Mrs. Lazypants here. Most cutout cookie recipes require atleast an hour of resting time in the fridge. Not these!
I also love these easy cookies because it calls for cutting the dough in half and rolling out one section at a time. I like to roll out one half for icing and then I fold sugar sprinkles into the dough of the second half because that's all the decorating tjey need! Again...Hi! Lazy pants. I use metal cookie cutters because they work better.
Want to decorate Gingerbread houses too? Check out this Gingerbread house recipe (with free printable templates).
EASY CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIE ICING
I usually make a traditional buttercream frosting tfor these Christmas cookie cut outs because they're reminiscent of the melt-in-your-moth super soft and delicious Lofthouse cookies. Sometimes it is hard to decorate with that kind of rosting, though.
I was hunting for a simple Chrsitmas sugar cookie icing that didn't require egg whites, meringue powder, or any other ridiculousness. Who has time to go hunting for meringue powder?!? Luckily, this cookie icing recipe is everything it needs to be: simple to make, easy to pipe,and tasty without being too sweet.
This cut out cookie icing is made with just 5 simple ingredients (again, stuff you already have in your pantry), and it's crazy easy to work with. It flows beautifully while piping, adds a beautiful sheen to the shortbread cookies, and hardens perfectly so they can be stacked into containers and given as gifts!
Easy Christmas Cookie Cut Outs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon light corn syrup
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk
- ¼ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
or extract of choice - Gel Food coloring
Instructions
To Make the EasyChristmas Cut Out Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Gradually add in flour, about ¼ cup at a time, until dough pulls together. Divide dough in half. Leave one half of shortbread dough in the bowl and place the other half on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll out first portion of dough to ¼ inch in thickness. Dip cookie cutters in flour, and cut out shortbread cookies into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on a non-greased baking sheet.
- Stir in ¼ cup nonpareil sprinkles to the remaining dough and stir until evenly distributed. Repeat step 3 with the second portion of dough.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove to wire racks and allow to cool completely before icing.
To Make the Easy Sugar Cookie Icing:
- In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, corn syrup, 2 tablespoon milk, and vanilla until well combined and no lumps remain.
- Lift up the whisk and see if the icing ribbons down and disappears back into the bowl. Stir in milk ½ tablespoon at a time if icing appears too thick. If icing seems too thin, add in more powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
- Evenly separate icing into small bowls and add in 1-2 drops gel food coloring until desired color is reached.
Notes
Nutrition
Margo says
Can I use any other kind of milk then whole? Like soy or buttermilk.
Amber says
Yes! Any milk should do, although if using a plant based milk I’d start off using a tablespoon at a time just to be safe
Janet says
How long would these cookies keep? I am thinking of making them for a spring sweet treat for our kid's teachers. If I can make a bit in advance, it would be wonderful!
Thanks! Can't wait to make with our littles!
Amber says
These are technically shortbread cookies so they should keep on the counter in an air-tight container for a week and, if refrigerated, would last up to 10 days. However, I would not ice them and then store them. I’d save icing for the last minute.