Description
Festive Christmas sugar cookies bring holiday cheer with their delightful sweetness and playful shapes. Delicate, buttery, and perfectly spiced, these treats connect family traditions while creating joyful memories you’ll cherish.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (226 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
Binding and Flavoring Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Decorating Ingredients:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons meringue powder
- 34 tablespoons water
- Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Craft a luxurious sugar cookie dough by creaming butter and sugar until they transform into a light, airy mixture, achieving a silky smooth texture.
- Incorporate egg and aromatic extracts (vanilla and optional almond) into the butter mixture, blending until completely integrated.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate vessel, then gradually fold these dry ingredients into the wet mixture, creating a tender, cohesive dough.
- Partition the dough into two elegant discs, envelop each in plastic wrap, and allow them to rest and firm up in the refrigerator for a minimum of 60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper for optimal cookie performance.
- Retrieve chilled dough and roll it out on a generously floured surface, aiming for a delicate 1/4-inch thickness that ensures uniform baking.
- Select festive cookie cutters and carefully transform the dough into whimsical holiday shapes, transferring each delicate cut-out to the prepared baking sheets.
- Slide the cookie-laden sheets into the preheated oven, baking for 8-10 minutes until the edges develop a gentle golden hue.
- Allow cookies to rest on the baking sheet for a brief 5-minute interval, then migrate them to a wire cooling rack, preparing them for future decoration.
Notes
- Chill dough thoroughly to prevent spreading and maintain crisp cookie shapes during baking.
- Use room temperature butter for smoother mixing and better cookie texture, creaming it until pale and fluffy creates lighter cookies.
- Avoid overworking the dough which can make cookies tough; handle gently and minimally for tender, delicate results.
- Experiment with flavor variations by substituting almond extract with orange zest or adding ground cinnamon for festive warmth.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 24
- Calories: 149
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 35 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg