Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes Sugar Cookie Recipes 12 Classic Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipes to Help You Get in the Holiday Spirit This collection of classic Christmas sugar cookie recipes includes favorites old and new. By Kelly Vaughan Kelly Vaughan Kelly Vaughan is a New York City-based food writer and editor with six years of digital editorial experience in roles at MarthaStewart.com, Food52, and TODAY Show. In addition to her roles, Kelly has seven years of food writing experience with work found in Allrecipes, Bon Appètit, Food & Wine, Real Simple, and more. Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 25, 2024 Close Photo: Alpha Smoot No matter how big or small your celebration might be, it's not a festive gathering without a platter of classic Christmas sugar cookies. Whether you're having a cookie swap, setting up a decorating afternoon for your kids, or bringing your family together in the kitchen, these sugar cookie recipes are just the thing to make this season extra special. Start with a simple but magical recipe—our Ideal Sugar Cookies (recipe below). All you need are a few basic ingredients—all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs, and vanilla—to make these treats. From here, you can cut them into a variety of festive shapes (think stars, Christmas trees, bells, and ornaments) and decorate them with Royal Icing, sanding sugar, and hard candies. There's no better way to welcome the holiday season than with a batch (or two!) of sugar cookies. 11 Christmas Breads You'll Want to Bake Throughout the Holiday Season 01 of 12 Stained-Glass Sugar Cookies Romulo Yanes These pastel Christmas sugar cookies have a very festive look. Fruity hard candies are melted onto a freshly baked cookie, which is then sandwiched together with another cut-out cookie for a peek-a-boo appearance. View Recipe 02 of 12 Giant Sugar Cookies The only thing more wonderful than sugar cookies is giant sugar cookies! Each one is made from 3 tablespoons of dough, which spreads into a generously sized treat. View Recipe 03 of 12 Cinnamon Sugar Cookies This sugar cookie dough is lightly spiced with cinnamon. You can make and freeze the dough in advance. Use Christmas-themed cutters to cut out the cookies and decorate with candies and icing sugar. View Recipe 04 of 12 Ideal Sugar Cookies Alpha Smoot All our sugar cookie recipes are perfectly buttery, flaky, and sweet as can be but this one is a particular favorite. It's perhaps the most basic and versatile for all your cut-out cookie and decorating needs. View Recipe 05 of 12 Sugar Cookie Cutouts This basic sugar cookie dough can be used for any holiday theme or celebration, depending on how you decorate. It does make amazingly cute little Santas! View Recipe 06 of 12 Earl-Grey Sugar-Cookie Dough Pernille Loof Finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves add notes of bergamot and lemon to these butter sugar cookies. Cut the dough out into spirited shapes or use it to make a classic cookie house, as seen here. View Recipe 07 of 12 Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies Bryan Gardner Gluten-free flour is used to make these Christmas sugar cookies. We roll the dough and cut it out into the shape of stars, which are then decorated with metallic sprinkles and white royal icing. View Recipe 08 of 12 Christmas Sugar Cookies Minh + Wass These cut-out sugar cookies offer a lot of possibilities. You can make them in varying shapes and sizes, and decorate them to in Christmas colors with sprinkles, edible glitter, and royal icing. View Recipe 09 of 12 Christmas Character Sugar Cookies Our basic, all-butter recipe for cut-out sugar cookies includes how-to instructions to create the Christmas-themed cookies shown here, or you experiment with your own decorating ideas. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to a week. View Recipe 10 of 12 Crisp Sugar Doily Cookies If you seek a thin, delicate, and beautiful cookie, look no further. The elegant design is created by carefully cutting out tiny shapes with an aspic cutter to create a doily pattern, after the dough has been rolled out and chilled. These intricate, crisp cookies are perfect for Christmas gift-giving. View Recipe 11 of 12 Perfect Sugar Cookies Lennart Weinbull Simply perfect, that's these big and bold sugar cookies. They're classic but with a twist, there's sour cream in the dough which adds softness and candied citrus for zest. View Recipe 12 of 12 Old-Fashioned Lemon Sugar Cookies These sugar cookies have a classic lemony flavor, a chewy texture, and a double sprinkling of sanding sugar. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit