DAY 4: M&M Sugar Cookie Bars
These cookie bars are quick to make, and delicious and fun to eat. They will satisfy kids and grown-ups alike.
RECIPE:
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Tag Archives: sugar cookies
Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Sugar Cookies
DAY 5: Sugar Cookies (Two Doughs/Many Variations)
Sugar Cookies are the iconic Christmas treat. Good thing they are also extremely versatile. Once you have your sugar cookie base, you can easily change up the design for very different looks and tastes. I have two basic sugar cookie doughs that I like to use. The first is a soft, thick dough that stays pillowy soft and tender after baking. This is the dough I use for most of my sugar cookies:
But if I need really sharp edges, and absolutely no spread when the dough is baked, I go with the dough below. The cookies are still soft if you don’t overbake them, but they are more dense than the other recipe.
Whichever dough you choose, you can make traditional frosted sugar cookies, with various types of icing, or try something just a little different. These two options are actually easier than frosting with a regular icing.
Snow Capped Christmas Trees:
Stained Glass Sugar Cookies:
ORIGINAL BLOG POSTS:
Soft and Thick Sugar Cookies (2009)
Sharp Edged Sugar Cookies (2014)
Snow Capped Christmas Trees (2016)
Stained Glass Sugar Cookies (2016)
RECIPE:
Sugar Cookies
Soft and Thick Sugar Cookies
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Mix in 4 cups of flour, the baking soda, and salt. Mix in enough additional flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
Chill for 20 minutes to 1 hour for easier handling. Roll out dough to desired thickness (about 1/4” thick) and cut with cookie cutter.
Bake at 375°F for 10 -11 minutes; if they brown, it’s been too long. They should look white when done.
Frost and decorate as desired.
Yield will depend on the size of your cookie cutter and the thickness of your dough. I got 6 dozen cookies made from 3” cookie cutters.
Sharp Edged Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour
Royal Icing
Optional: Shimmery Sanding Sugar or Coarse Sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in extracts and egg.
In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and slowly mix into the wet ingredients. The dough will be stiff.
Do not chill dough. Roll dough out onto a floured surface to almost 1/4 inch. You want these cookies to be thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes and place on baking sheets.
Bake for 7-9 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Yield will depend on the size of your cookie cutter and the thickness of your dough. I got 25 cookies made from 4” snowflake cookie cutters.
(Sharp edged sugar cookie dough from In Katrina’s Kitchen)
Snow Capped Christmas Trees
Sugar Cookie Dough (see above)
Green food coloring
About 12 oz white chocolate, or white melting candy discs
Prepare sugar cookie dough. Mix in a few drops of green food coloring. Chill for 20 minutes to 1 hour, if necessary, for easier handling. Roll out dough and cut out with Christmas tree cookie cutter.
Bake according to sugar cookie dough recipe.
Place white chocolate in a bowl at least as wide as the cookie sides you will be dipping. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each heating, until melted and smooth. Dip each edge of the cooled cookies in the melted chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden.
Stained Glass Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookie Dough (see above)
1 package Jolly Rancher candies, cut in half for small openings
Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Roll out dough to about 1/8” and cut out with large cookie cutters. Place shapes on lined baking sheets. Cut out a smaller shape inside of each cookie (after placing on baking sheet). I used the centers from a linzer cookie cutter set to make the center openings
Place half of a Jolly Rancher candy in the center of each cookie. Use a whole Jolly Rancher if the opening is large enough to lay the entire candy down inside the opening.
Bake according to sugar cookie dough recipe. Cool completely on the baking sheet. When candy centers are completely cool and hardened, remove cookies to a sheet of parchment paper.
Store covered between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. The candy centers will stick together if they touch.
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Frostings
Glacé Icing
1 lb powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
¼ cup+ 2 Tbs whole milk
¼ cup + 2 Tbs light corn syrup
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
Gel food coloring
Additional powdered sugar to reach piping consistency
With a whisk, combine sugar and milk until smooth. Stir in corn syrup and almond or vanilla extract. Add food coloring for desired colors.
You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It’s smooth and thin. It easily runs off of a whisk in a thin drizzle.
To prepare the icing for piping, add additional powdered sugar until icing is stiff, but spoonable.
(Glacé Icing from Our Best Bites)
Royal Icing
2 Tbs meringue powder
scant ¼ cup water
½ lb powdered sugar (about 2 cups)
½ tsp light corn syrup
Combine the meringue powder and water in a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat until foamy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)
Mix in the corn syrup. Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 3-5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat.
To store for later use: cover with plastic wrap touching the icing and refrigerate.
For Snowflakes: Use a thick open circle decorator tip to pipe thick lines onto each snowflake. Sprinkle cookie with sanding sugar or sprinkles immediately after piping lines (on each cookie). Icing will harden quickly.
Cooked Vanilla Icing
1 cup whole milk
5 Tbs flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar (do not use powdered sugar)
Optional: food coloring
In a small saucepan, mix the flour and milk until combined. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until mixture thickens (and is just about to boil). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let mixture cool to room temperature.
In a large mixing bowl (a stand mixer works best for this) cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled milk mixture and beat for 5-7 minutes, until frosting is light, fluffy, and completely uniform throughout. Beat in food coloring, if desired.
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Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies
DAY 2: Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies
Lofthouse Cookies: those pillowy-soft cookies in the grocery store with a frosting that hardens just enough to be able to stack them. The homemade version are even better. And much easier to make than rolled and frosted sugar cookies.
To frost them, simply hold them in your hand and dip them upside down into a bowl of icing. Shake on some candied sprinkles, let them set for an hour and you are ready to go. You can use different flavored extracts (vanilla, almond, orange, peppermint, etc.) for different flavored frostings.
ORIGINAL BLOG POST (2014): Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies
RECIPE:
Lofthouse Style Frosted Christmas Cookies
Cookies:
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix into butter and sugar in mixing bowl. If the dough is too sticky to roll into balls, refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes.
With hands, roll dough into 1” balls for small cookies, slightly larger for larger cookies. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten dough balls slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake for 7-9 minutes. Do not overbake.
Glaze Frosting:
6 Tbs butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 lb (about 4 cups) powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla (or ½ tsp almond, ½ tsp orange, or ¼ tsp peppermint) extract
3-4 drops gel food coloring
Candy Sprinkles
Place butter and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for about 60-90 seconds, until butter melts. Use a whisk to mix in powdered sugar. If you are making more than one color or flavor of frosting, divide frosting into separate bowls. Stir in extract (if you want to use white icing, use a clear vanilla or other flavored extract). Mix in food coloring.
Dip tops of cooled cookies in warm glaze and place on a sheet of waxed paper. Sprinkle immediately with candy sprinkles (the glaze starts to set fast: dip one cookie, then add sprinkles, then dip another cookie, etc). If glaze gets too thick, heat in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Allow glaze to set on cookies for about 1 hour before storing cookies.
To freeze: Freeze cookies in single layer and then place in container and store in freezer. Thaw cookies in a single layer.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Stained Glass Cookies
DAY 8: Stained Glass Christmas Cookies
Here is a fun Christmas treat to make with kids that is easier than your traditional frosted sugar cookies. All you need is a good sugar cookie recipe, a package of Jolly Rancher hard candies and two different sized cookie cutters.
To begin, you will need to line your baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper so that the candy centers don’t stick.
Prepare your dough and cut out large Christmas shapes (my cookie cutters were about 3” tall). I usually like to make nice thick sugar cookies, but these need to be about 1/8” thick, or the center “window” will be too thin compared to the cookie.
Place cookies on baking sheet before cutting out the smaller design in the center of each cookie. I used the inserts for linzer cookies to cut the center shapes. Cutting out the smaller shape after the cookie is on the baking sheet helps the cookie dough retain its shape. It is harder to move cookie dough with the center cut out.
Place half of a Jolly Rancher candy in the center of each cut out. (Cut candy in half with a sharp knife) If your openings are large enough to fit the whole Jolly Rancher, then use them whole. You can also crush the candies first, but I found that there are fewer bubbles in your windows if you leave the candies whole. And it is so much easier than crushing hard candy!
While the cookies bake, the candies will melt and fill in the centers.
After baking, let the cookies completely cool and the candy window centers harden before removing from baking sheet.
Store covered between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. The candy centers will stick together if they touch.
You could also make these using a Gingerbread Cookie Dough.
RECIPE:
Stained Glass Christmas Cookies
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 package Jolly Rancher candies, cut in half for small openings
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, sour cream and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Mix in baking soda, salt and enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough (Start with 7 cups and add more if needed).
Chill for 20 minutes to 1 hour, if necessary, for easier handling.
Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Roll out dough to about 1/8” and cut out with large cookie cutters. Place shapes on lined baking sheets. Cut out a smaller shape inside of each cookie (after placing on baking sheet).
Place half of a Jolly Rancher candy in the center of each cookie. Use a whole Jolly Rancher if the opening is large enough to lay the candy down inside the opening.
Bake at 375°F for 8 -10 minutes, or until candies have melted; cookies should not be browned on the edges. They should look white when done. Cool completely on the baking sheet. When candy centers are completely cool and hardened, remove cookies to a sheet of parchment paper.
Store covered between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. The candy centers will stick together if they touch.
Makes about 6 dozen (using a 3” cookie cutter)
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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Lofthouse Style Sugar Cookies
DAY 3: Lofthouse Style Frosted Christmas Cookies
Lofthouse Cookies: those pillowy-soft cookies in the grocery store with a frosting that hardens just enough to be able to stack them. The homemade version are even better. And much easier to make than rolled and frosted sugar cookies.
To frost them, simply hold them in your hand and dip them upside down into a bowl of icing. Shake on some candied sprinkles, let them set for an hour and you are ready to go. You can use different flavored extracts (vanilla, almond, orange, peppermint, etc) for different flavored frostings.
RECIPE:
Lofthouse Style Frosted Christmas Cookies
Cookies:
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix into butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Refrigerate dough for one hour.
With hands, roll dough into 1” balls (for small cookies, slightly larger for larger cookies). Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten dough balls with the palm of your hand.
Bake for 7-9 minutes for small cookies.
Glaze Frosting:
6 Tbs butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla (or ½ tsp almond, ½ tsp orange or ¼ tsp peppermint) extract
1 lb (about 4 cups) powdered sugar
3-4 drops gel food coloring
Candy Sprinkles
Place butter and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for about 60-90 seconds, until butter melts. Stir in extract (if you want to use white icing, use a clear vanilla or other flavored extract). Use a whisk to mix in powdered sugar. Mix in food coloring.
Dip tops of cooled cookies in warm glaze and place on a sheet of waxed paper. Sprinkle immediately with candy sprinkles (the glaze starts to set fast: dip one cookie, then add sprinkles, then dip another cookie, etc). If glaze gets too thick, heat in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Allow glaze to set on cookies for about 1 hour before storing cookies.
To freeze: Freeze cookies in single layer and then place in container and store in freezer. Thaw cookies in a single layer.
Makes 3-4 dozen cookies
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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Pinwheel Cookies
DAY 1: Welcome to the 6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! First up is a fun Christmas Pinwheel Cookie.
This is a fun way to use a simple sugar cookie dough to make multi-colored swirled cookies. Roll dough rectangles together to form a log and then slice and bake. This dough is great for making ahead and freezing, then baking later.
The recipe comes from Just a Taste, who made them in red, white and blue for the 4th of July.
For more Christmas cookie ideas, visit our past cookie events:
First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
RECIPE:
Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (or use additional vanilla extract)
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
Christmas sprinkles
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
Remove the dough and separate it into three equal pieces (use a kitchen scale to weigh dough, if possible). Leave one section white. Beat (or knead with hands) red food coloring into one section and green food coloring into the third section. Wrap each section in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide each color in half (you will be forming 2 dough logs). Place one of the sections of dough on a piece of waxed paper. Pat into a rough rectangle. Place a piece of plastic wrap over dough and use your fingers or a rolling pin to form a rectangle about 9” x 6” and about 1/8” thick. Repeat with remaining dough sections.
Stack the dough into two rectangles (remove plastic wrap and waxed paper): red, then white, then green. Use a rolling pin to lightly press the dough rectangles together. Starting at the longer edge of the rectangle, roll the dough into a tight log. Place the Christmas sprinkles on a large platter or rimmed baking sheet and roll the dough logs in the sprinkles, lightly pressing them into the sides of the dough.
Wrap the 2 dough logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before baking.
To bake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Remove dough from refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to slice logs into 1/4” rounds. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies
NOTE: Dough logs can also be frozen. Thaw in fridge overnight before cutting and baking.
(Adapted from Just a Taste)
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