Love love love these Sugar Cookies! Easy to make and so fun to decorate! I made these Sugar Cookies for Christmas 2019 and I call these my Merry Christmas Cookies! 

Delicious, not too sweet, with crisp sides and just the right amount of crunch, these Sugar Cookies are perfect for gifting friends and family. And the theme can be so easily changed just using different cutters and simple decorations for the new year or any other special occasions.

I decorated these with my girls and we had so much fun! Put on some nice Michael Bublé Christmas jazz in the background and really feel the seasons’ spirit. Check out our kooky characters below 😊 !

Cookies X’mas Wreath with Little SuperStars!

Santa C. & his Christmas Star

Baldy Dad & Son

How to make these best ever Sugar Cookies…

This Sugar Cookies recipe uses basic ingredients and is simple to follow. What is important is to follow the steps closely and allow sufficient time to chill the dough well.

Here are the 6 simple steps! 

Step 1: Cream the butter & sugar & combine the other wet ingredients

Step 2: Add in the dry ingredients and mix into a dough. 

Step 3: Roll out dough on parchment paper 

Step 4: Imprint cookie shapes and chill the dough well

Step 5: Remove the cutout cookies & bake

Chilled cutouts, so easy to remove

Step 6: Cool and decorate

What to watch out for …

TIP#1 – Don’t cut back on chilling time or the dough will be too soft to work with.

TIP#2 – Always roll out the dough and imprint the cookie shapes before chilling. This is because the dough becomes too firm to roll when it is chilled, therefore always roll out the cookie dough into sheets before chilling

I tried chilling the dough first before cutting out the shapes but the weather here in sunny Singapore makes the chilled dough soft too quickly to be able to cut out the shapes properly. Hence I imprinted the shapes in the rolled dough before chilling so that the dough is nice and firm when I remove the cookie cutouts.

TIP#3 – Roll out the cookie dough on parchment paper or silicone mats. This makes for easy removal after chilling, especially if the cookie sheets are placed one on top of the other in the refrigerator. (Watch the recipe video to see how I did it.)

TIP#4 – Use room temperature ingredients. The egg and butter should not be too cold. Otherwise it becomes difficult to incorporate properly and often results in a dense and hard cookie.

Finger test for butter@room temperature 

TIP#5 – We decorated the Sugar Cookies using Wilton Decorating Candy Pens and edible holiday sprinkles. I love these Wilton Candy Pens. The candy icing is not too sweet and they come in tubes which were easy to grip and made it so simple fun to decorate.  Saves time too and practical as there is no need to clean up any messy icing.

Follow the instructions to soften the candy pens in hot water to get the candy melted. Once the candy pens are softened to the right consistency, pipe away! If they should thicken after a period (that happens when you are decorating many cookies), soak once more in hot water to get the pens going again.

These edible sprinkles really put on the holiday mood!

TIP#6 – I have tried sticking the sprinkles onto the dough and baking them but they melted and it was a utter fail. The sprinkles kept their shape for the first 5-7 minutes but the Sugar Cookies needed at least 15 minutes to bake properly. Otherwise they will be undercooked.

That’s why the Wilton Candy Pens were such gems. The Sugar Cookies could bake till golden. The candy icing then stuck on the sprinkles firmly and even allowed for any cookie re-design if creativity decides to change direction!

Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for ~ 4-5 days when stored air tight at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

And that’s it really. We gifted these Merry Christmas Cookies to the kids and guests at the church Christmas party and they were a hit! Did I mention how warm and fuzzy that felt? Check out my Merry Christmas Cookies vid. Hope you’ll try this Sugar Cookies recipe, have fun with it and love it like we do!

Did you make this? I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a review. Or take a photo and share it on Instagram or FB; be sure to tag me please @thesugarcrumble.

Print Recipe

Merry Christmas Cookies

Love, love, love these Merry Christmas Cookies! Easy to make and great fun to decorate! Delicious, not too sweet with crisp sides and just the right amount of crunch. Perfect for this wonderful season of giving.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Chilling time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 25 cookies (using 3 inch cookie cutters)

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

• 170g unsalted butter @room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg @ room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp of lemon zest

Decorating tools

• Cookie cutters
• Wilton Decorating Candy Pens

Instructions

• Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using the paddle whisk on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, ~ 2 minutes.
• Add the wet ingredients and beat on high speed until combined, ~1 minute. To combine well, always scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed.
• On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Dough will be relatively soft but not sticky. If the dough is still too sticky for rolling, add one to two tbsp more flour and mix again.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4 inch thick. (Note: try to roll out into a large rectangle to get the most cookie cutouts from the dough.)
• Using cookie cutter(s), imprint your favorite cookie shape on the dough. Lightly dust one of the rolled-out imprinted doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Then place the 2nd rolled-out and imprinted dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
• Once chilled, preheat oven to 175C. Line 2 to 3 large cookie trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a butter knife, gently remove the cut cookie shapes from the chilled dough and place them onto the lined baking tray. *Use every bit of dough. Re-roll the remaining dough bits and repeat the cookie cutting and chilling process until all is used.
• Arrange cookies on baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for ~15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven temperature is not even, rotate the baking sheet halfway through the bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
• Decorate the cooled cookies with Wilton Candy Pens, anyway you like! Just go with the imagination and have fun. If it’s helpful, decorate the cookies directly on a baking sheet so you can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help speed up and set the icing. Enjoy 😊

Video

Notes

TIP#1 - Don’t cut back on chilling time or the dough will be too soft to work with.

TIP#2 - Always roll out the dough and imprint the cookie shapes before chilling. This is because the dough becomes too firm to roll when it is chilled, therefore always roll out the cookie dough into sheets before chilling

I tried chilling the dough first before cutting out the shapes but the weather here in sunny Singapore makes the chilled dough soft too quickly to be able to cut out the shapes properly. Hence I imprint the shapes in the rolled dough before chilling so that the dough is nice and firm when I remove the cookie cutouts.

TIP#3 - Roll out the cookie dough on parchment paper or silicone mats. This makes for easy removal after chilling, especially if the cookies sheets are placed one on top of the other in the refrigerator. (Watch the recipe video to see how I did it.)

TIP#4 - Use room temperature ingredients. The egg and butter should not be too cold. Otherwise it becomes difficult to incorporate properly and often results in a dense and hard cookie.

TIP#5 - We decorated the Sugar Cookies using Wilton Decorating Candy Pens and edible holiday sprinkles.  I love these Wilton Candy Pens. The candy icing is not too sweet and they come in tubes which were easy to grip and made it so simple fun to decorate.  Saves time too and practical as there is no need to clean up any messy icing.

Follow the instructions to soften the candy pens in hot water to get the candy melted. Once the candy pens are softened to the right consistency, pipe away! If they should thicken after a period (that happens when you are decorating many cookies), soak once more in hot water to get the pens going again.

TIP#6 - I have tried sticking the sprinkles onto the dough and baking them but they melted and it was a utter fail. The sprinkles kept their shape for the first 5-7 minutes but the Sugar Cookies needed at least 15 minutes to bake properly. Otherwise they will be undercooked.

That's why the Wilton Candy Pens were such gems. The Sugar Cookies could bake till golden. The candy icing then stuck on the sprinkles firmly and even allowed for any cookie re-design if creativity decides to change direction!

Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for ~ 4-5 days when stored air tight at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.