Christmas Sugar Cookies (aka Santa’s favorite cookies) are soft sugar cutout cookies, festively decorated with sweet icing. This recipes checks all the boxes, making it the best Sugar Cookie Recipe ever! We call this easy sugar cookie recipe Santa’s favorite cookie recipe because it’s simple, classic, fluffy, and delicious. We love to decorate them with the kids to leave under the tree for Santa.
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Easy Christmas Sugar Cookies for Santa
This is the best sugar cookie recipe! We call it Santa’s favorite cookie because we know he’d love them just as much as we do. They’re the perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies!
Santa’s Favorite Cookies has been debated for the past….1500 years or so. Santa has been treating kids, and in return, he receives the best cookies under the tree. Cookies come in all shapes and forms, but Santa has to have a favorite, right? I happen to think this easy sugar cookie recipe with powdered sugar icing is his favorite, and why wouldn’t it be?!
The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe is made with love, it’s fluffy and delicious, and it’s oh so simple. I know when he rolls up under our tree this Christmas, he will be pretty darn excited to get these Christmas Sugar Cookies, made by this cute little 9-month-old, Henry Liam.
Bake the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe with your little ones this Christmas. These Christmas sugar cookies are sure to be Santa’s Favorite Cookies!
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
The best sugar cookie recipe is so easy to make, that everyone can join in on this one. Kids always want to help bake cookies for Santa, and with this easy sugar cookie recipe, there’s no reason they can’t.
This was the first time Henry has tasted a cookie let alone helped MAKE a cookie. We went over to Doozie’s house to make these Christmas sugar cookies because no one makes better cookies than Grandma. To say Henry was having a great time would be a major understatement. He “helped” as much as he could, licked as much sugar as he could, and was in heaven.
When little children help make cookies for Santa…I have to think those are his favorite. And when they’re made with CRISCO® All-Vegetable Shortening meaning less spread in the oven, thick fluffy cookies, and unbelievable flavor; you just KNOW they’re his favorite.
You might remember me working with Crisco last month on my favorite Double Chocolate Sugar Cookies. They’re a great variation of a classic but you just can’t beat the original. MMM!
Christmas Sugar Cookies Ingredients
Christmas Sugar cookies require basic ingredients that you probably already have at home if you like to bake. This easy sugar cookie recipe requires the following ingredients:
- Sugar
- Egg
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening
- Pillsbury All-Purpose Flour
How do you make sugar cookies from scratch?
Baking anything from scratch always seems a bit daunting at first, but don’t worry, making this sugar cookie recipe is easy!
- Gather your ingredients (listed above)
- Beat sugar & shortening with a mixer in large bowl
- Add in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract
- Combine baking powder, salt, & flour, then gradually add into mixture
- Let the dough chill for 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Roll the dough on floured surface into 1/8 in thick
- Cut the dough with cookie cutters
- Place cookies onto baking sheets 1-inch apart
- Bake 5-9 minutes
This fun and easy sugar cookie recipe really is simple to make. And don’t forget the sugar cookie icing for decorating!
For full details and instructions to make these Christmas Sugar Cookies, please see the recipe card below.
Holiday Sugar Cookies
This Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe is always a huge hit. You should have seen how this baby was going after these cookies. I’ve created a monster. But his mother is a food blogger so it is what it is. I love my little cookie monster.
Once you taste the best sugar cookie recipe, you’ll know why they’re Santa’s Favorite Cookie. Do Santa a favor this year and make him a batch of these Christmas sugar cookies. Doesn’t he deserve it?!
The kids are gonna love this easy sugar cookie recipe just as much as Santa does! I know you guys will have so much fun making them.
If you loved these Christmas Sugar Cookies, you’ll love these other cookie recipes too:
- S’mores Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Spritz Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
- Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
- Soft Sugar Cookies
Find all of the BEST Christmas Cookies in our Holiday Cookie Guide!
Easy Christmas Cutout Cookies
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- Hand Mixer
- Rolling Pin
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup Crisco® Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening 184 grams (1 stick)
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 1 large egg 50 grams
- 2 tablespoons milk 28 grams
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 12 grams
- 3 cups Pillsbury BEST™ All-Purpose Flour 372 grams
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder 6 grams
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar 452 grams
- 3 tablespoons corn syrup 60 grams
- 3 tablespoons milk 43 grams (SEE NOTE)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the Crisco and sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla until well blended.1 cup Crisco® Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Gradually add to the Crisco mixture on low speed until blended.3 cups Pillsbury BEST™ All-Purpose Flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 375ºF. Roll 1 piece of dough at a time on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough with 2 to 3-inch floured cookie cutters. Place 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake 5 to 9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
For the Icing
- Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl.4 cups powdered sugar
- Combine the corn syrup, milk (or water), and flavoring.3 tablespoons corn syrup, 3 tablespoons milk, ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Turn the mixer on low until everything is moist – scrape the bowl often.
- Turn the mixer to medium and mix until everything is well blended and smooth.
- Divide the icing into as many bowls as you would like, and color with food coloring until you have a wide array of Holiday colors (don't forget to leave one bowl white!)Food coloring
- Decorate the cookies as desired.
Video
Becky’s Tips
- Using Crisco helps keep these cookies from spreading and losing their shape in the oven.
- Milk: You can use water in place of the milk in the icing.
- You can use vanilla extract in place of the almond extract in the icing.
- Decorating Tip: We don’t have the white and red stripes touch because they’ll eventually bleed into each other as the cookies sit. I love the separated stripes for a fun and clean look!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment!
Can you use light corn syrup?
Yes!
I don’t understand the icing ingredients. I see the tablespoons of water and corn syrup but then it mentions 1/4 cup of water and syrup. Do you add all this?
Looks yummy.
Can I replace butter with the Crisco sticks?
Thanks
That should work!
Sugar cookie recipe is the something that everybody like i made it and it is delicious
Awesome!
These photos are the SWEETEST! Love your little cookie monster! And love these cookies, too! <3
Thanks friend! He had a grand time lol