20 Dec 2024
These Christmas Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy, and filled with red and green holiday sprinkles. Topped with lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting and a festive sprinkle finish, they’re perfect for holiday celebrations, family baking, and gifting.
Ingredients
- 270 g (2¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 4 g (1 tsp) baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 170 g (1½ sticks / ¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened (68-72°F)
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
- 54 g (⅓ cup) Christmas jimmies sprinkles
- 283 g (1¼ bricks / 10 oz) full-fat cream cheese, softened (68-72°F)
- 184 g (13 Tbsp) salted butter, softened (68-72°F)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 150 g (1¼ cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) heavy cream, very cold
-
24 g (2 Tbsp) Christmas sprinkles (jimmies, nonpareils, trees, etc.)
Sugar Cookies
Cream Cheese Frosting
Topping
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Pause to scrape down the bowl once or twice.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on medium-low speed until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in two parts, mixing on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Gently fold in the Christmas jimmies sprinkles using a spatula until evenly distributed.
- Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough (48-50 g each).
Roll each scoop into a ball and place them on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Slightly flatten each dough ball with your fingers or the bottom of a glass, keeping the cookies at least ½-inch thick.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the edges are set and the tops look soft and no longer glossy. The cookies should not brown.
- Remove from the oven, then immediately shape into a perfect circle by gently rotating a cookie cutter or glass larger than the cookies around each cookie to lightly bring in the edges.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth, creamy, and lump-free, about 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt, then beat on low until just combined.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar in three parts, beating on low speed until just combined, about 10-15 seconds each. Stop to scrape the bowl as needed.
- Gradually drizzle in the cold heavy cream (about 1 tablespoon at a time) while whisking on low speed until stiff peaks form, about 1-1½ minutes. Be careful not to overwhip the heavy cream or your frosting will split or become greasy.
Assembly
Pipe the frosting in a spiral pattern over the cookies with a #2A or #1A piping tip, starting from the center and working outward. Alternatively, spread with a spatula to create decorative swirls.
- Just before serving, sprinkle Christmas sprinkles over the frosting (less is more!).
Notes
- Servings: Makes about 15 large (3-Tbsp) cookies or 20-22 regular (2-Tbsp) cookies (reduce baking time to 6-9 minutes for smaller cookies).
- Storage: Store frosted cookies at room temperature for up to 2 hours, and in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months.
- Mixer: A hand mixer can replace a stand mixer, but a whisk won’t provide the same results.
- Sprinkles: Jimmies are also better for the frosting if the cookies will be stored for a while - they can usually last a few hours or overnight in the fridge without bleeding, but they may start to bleed after a day or more. For best results, sprinkle the tops on the day you plan to serve the cookies.
- Frosting Temp: Ensure the cream cheese and butter are the same temperature to prevent the frosting from becoming lumpy and separated. The butter should be soft enough to leave an imprint on the surface with your finger, but not squishy. Measuring the internal temps of both with a candy thermometer helps a lot. Adding the heavy cream in portions while you mix will help prevent the mixture from seizing, which can happen if added at once from the shock of the cold.
- Whipping Frosting: Avoid over-whipping the heavy cream to prevent a grainy and clumpy texture or large air pockets (low and slow!). If this happens, gently fold in 1 Tbsp of cold cream with a spatula until smooth. If more is needed, add more cream 1 tsp at time. If the cream curdles, develops chunks, or turns back into a liquid, it’s over whipped and will need to be remade.
- Frosting Sweetness: This is intentionally less sweet than other cream cheese frostings. Add a total of 180-240 g (1½-2 cups) of powdered sugar for a sweeter, thicker frosting.
- Piping: If making frosting in advance, pipe onto the cookies and refrigerate it the day before; do not refrigerate unpiped frosting. We used a #1A tip for ours, but found it can be easier to control with a #2A.
- Topping: These cookies are super tasty on their own if you'd like to skip the frosting all together. Alernativly, you can roll each dough ball in sugar to fully coat before baking.
- Cookie Size: For a slightly flatter but larger cookie, flatten the dough ball tops a little extra before baking. For a thicker but smaller cookie, leave the cookies in a ball and don't flatten the tops.
- Baking Time: Be careful not to overbake—these cookies are meant to stay soft and chewy, even as they cool.
- Test Cookie: Bake one cookie first to check oven temp and dough consistency before baking the full batch.
Happy baking! ❤️
Emma & Eric
@birchberryco Homemade Crumbl sugar cookies 🎄🤍 Find this recipe on our site birchberryco.com (link in bio)! Click the Recipes link at the top then Christmas Sugar Cookies 🤍 #sugarcookies #christmas #sprinkles #christmascookies #christmasbaking#christmastiktok #baking #recipe #dessert #bakingtherapy #baketok #bakingtiktok#aesthetic #asmr ♬ original sound - _christmas.all.yearr_
