Top Ways to Decorate Sugar Cookies for the Christmas Holiday

Sugar cookies are one of the sweet staples for the Christmas holiday season. With a basic recipe, you can create magic and delight in your kitchen. Your sugar cookie gift tins will rival any storebought varieties. With topping decorations, fillers, cookie cutters, and novelty cutters can truly make your sugar cookies unique. These three ways of decorating sugar cookies for the Christmas holidays will impress anyone on your holiday gift list.

Christmas Sugar Cookie Basic Recipe

If you do not have a favorite sugar cookie recipe, you can use this one. Start by beating together 2 cups of softened butter, 1.5 cups of sugar, 2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Stir this into 5 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1.25 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of ground allspice. The last two ingredients can be omitted if desired.

Any additions to the sugar cookie recipe can be added at any time before baking. Wet ingredients, such as food coloring or flavorings should be added to the butter and egg mixture. Dry ingredients such as cocoa powder should replace part of the flour.

Dough should be chilled for at least two hours before cutting or shaping. Cook the cookies at 350 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes, depending on cookie size.

Christmas Sugar Cookie - Sprinkles and Crystal Sugar

Before baking, sprinkle the sugar cookie with any of the wide selection of colored sprinkles or crystal sugar. Classic recipes call for cutting out wreath or Christmas tree shaped cookies and sprinkling with green sugar. Stars would get white or yellow sugar.

You can take the style a step further and decorate the Christmas tree cookies with green sugar, silver dragees, nonpareils, and tiny red and white candies for the ornaments. Design a silver dragee snowflake shape on your star cookies, or use chocolate sprinkles on a chocolate flavored sugar cookie for an ultimate chocolate experience.

Christmas Sugar Cookie - Jelly or Other Fillings