Christmas Cut Out Cookies (That Hold Their Shape)
These Christmas cutout cookies are easy sugar cookies to make and taste buttery and sweet. Best of all, they hold their shape when you bake them and they come out perfect every time.
Servings: 4 dozen (3-inch cookies)
Ingredients
For the Roll Out Cookie Dough
- 1-½ cups butter (3 sticks; 340 grams), softened
- 1-⅔ cups granulated sugar (333 grams)
- 2 eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 5 cups all-purpose flour (600 grams)
- 1-½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Sugar Cookie Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners sugar)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract or another flavored extract
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 to 3 tablespoons water or milk
Instructions
- Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time beating well between additions. Add the vanilla. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides then beat until well combined.
- Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder over the butter mixture and stir it in well or use the mixer on low speed.
- Sprinkle some flour on the counter and roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Make sure the dough stays well floured so it doesn’t stick to the counter or rolling pin.
- Use cookie cutters to cut into your desired shapes then transfer the cookies to a tray and stick them in the freezer to chill for 30 to 45 minutes. Don't skip this step.
- While the cookies are chilling, pre-heat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with cooking spray.
- Remove the COLD cookie shapes from the freezer and transfer them to a baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edges are a light golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
For the Icing
- Place the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, optional corn syrup along with 2 tablespoons of water or milk in a bowl then stir until well combined.
- Check the consistency of the icing and drizzle in more water if it is too thick. Only add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of water at a time (a little goes a long way).
- The icing should be fairly thick but you should be able to slowly drizzle it off of a spoon. When it falls back into the bowl, it should fall in a ribbon-like pattern and take a couple of seconds before blending back into the rest of the icing.
- Pipe or spread the icing onto the cookies and let it dry completely before storing them.
Video
Notes
- Most recipes will have you chill the dough before you roll it out. By the time you roll it out and cut the shapes, the dough warms up to room temperature. If you chill the dough after you cut the shapes, the cookies will hold their shape better.
- If your house is warm, you may need to chill the dough briefly before rolling it out.
- After you roll out the cookie dough and cut your shapes, place them in the freezer for 30 minutes or the fridge for 2 to 3 hours. You can stack them on top of each other if you keep wax paper between them so they don't stick together.
- Wait for your sugar cookies to cool completely before icing them.
- If you add too much water to the icing, just add a bit more powdered sugar to thicken it again.
- Corn syrup gives the icing a slick shiny coat and keeps it from getting rock hard but it will firm up enough to stack the cookies on top of each other once the icing is dry.
- If you are not using the icing right away, lay some plastic wrap directly on top of the icing so the air doesn’t dry it out. It will store like that for 24 to 48 hours.
- Add a few drops of food coloring if desired. If you use a lot of liquid food coloring you may need to stir in a bit more powdered sugar to thicken it up again. (Gel food coloring will not thin the icing out).
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 115mg | Sugar: 6g
