Description
Classic Christmas sugar cookies with a sweet vanilla biscuit base, perfect for decorating or enjoying plain. These cookies are buttery, tender, and easy to make, making them a festive favorite for holiday baking.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 225 g unsalted butter, softened (or salted butter, skip salt)
- 1 cup caster sugar (or granulated white sugar)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (55-60 g)
- 3 cups plain/all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
Decorations (Optional)
- Icing for Sugar Cookies
- Melted chocolate for dipping
- Silver balls for decorating
- Icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy, about 1 minute on medium speed.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Add the egg and vanilla extract, then beat until completely combined.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet mixture. Start mixing slowly, then beat until the flour is incorporated; the dough will appear clumpy.
- Shape Dough: Dust the work surface with flour. Scrape dough out of the bowl, pat it together, cut in half, and shape each half into a disc.
- Roll Out Dough: Roll each disc out to 0.6 cm (1/4 inch) for thicker, softer cookies or 0.3 cm (1/8 inch) for thinner, crispier cookies, sprinkling flour under and over the dough to prevent sticking.
- Cut Shapes: Use cookie cutters to press out shapes. Use a knife or spatula to transfer shapes to the prepared baking sheets. Keep unused dough refrigerated.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 10 minutes, swapping baking trays halfway through by moving the tray on the top shelf to the lower shelf and vice versa to ensure even baking. Cookies are done when surfaces are pale golden and edges just begin turning light golden.
- Cool Cookies: Allow cookies to cool completely on the trays to finish cooking.
- Decorate (Optional): Decorate with icing, melted chocolate dips, silver balls, or dust with icing sugar. Serve plain if preferred.
Notes
- Yield depends on cookie cutter size and dough thickness; dough fills about 3 baking trays.
- Swapping trays halfway through baking ensures even cooking since top shelves bake faster.
- Cookies keep fresh in an airtight container for one week; beyond that they may dry out but remain edible.
- For thinner and crispier cookies, roll dough to 0.3 cm thickness; for softer cookies, roll to 0.6 cm.
- Salt can be omitted if salted butter is used.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
