Traditional sugar cookies frosted with buttercream and dressed up for the holiday make these Frosted Sugar Cookies the perfect Christmas treat!
I love making cookies at Christmas time! I make so many that there’s always enough to share with friends and family. My favorites include peanut butter blossoms, chocolate crinkles, thumbprints, and sugar cookies. No matter what kind of cookie I’m baking, I always enjoy using food as a way to show my holiday spirit!
If you’ve been reading JavaCupcake for a while, you’ll know I’ve posted the recipe for these sugar cookies many times and for many different occasions or holidays. This recipe is the perfect sugar cookie recipe and it comes out beautifully every time I make it. It also comes from the cookbook my mother and I used to bake from when I was kid.
So this recipe has sentimental value. A lot of it. These sugar cookies are one of the first things I can remember baking with my Mom as a kid. She made making these every Christmas a tradition… one that I’ve carried on to my family.
And some day, I’ll pass on the cookbook to my daughter so that she can teach her daughter to bake sugar cookies.
Since I wanted to make these frosted sugar cookies special for Christmas, I used a basic round cookie cutter to shape the dough. When we’re making these cookies for Santa, was use different shapes of cookie cutters… like trees, snowflakes, stars, etc… but I wanted these to be the same in size and shape to show you how easy they’d be to make for your holiday party.
Aren’t they just beautiful in red and green? Simple, yet perfect for a Christmas party or cookie exchange. Honestly, I think they look a lot like I bought them in a bakery shaped this way.
Enjoy!
Frosted Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1lb powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- up to 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Red & Green gel food coloring
- Red, green & white sugar pearls
Instructions
Cookies
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and shortening together until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the sugar and beat on high until incorporated.
- One at a time, add the eggs and beat well after each addition. Mix on high for 1 minute until pale yellow and fluffy.
- Mix in the vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add this mixture to the butter and sugar and mix until just combined.
- Cover with plastic and refrigerate 2 hours or over night.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 F degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- On a floured counter, knead the dough 2-3 times until smooth. Roll out cookie dough to about 1/8" thick. Cut out 3" circles with a cutter and place on the cookie sheet 1" apart. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes or until the edges are SLIGHTLY brown. DO NOT OVER BAKE!!
- Allow to cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on high until smooth.
- Mix in the vanilla and salt. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add up to 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream until you reach your desired consistency. If you like it thicker, add less cream. If you want it thinner, add more cream.
- Whip on high for 2 minutes.
- Separate frosting into two bowls. Color one with red and another with green gel coloring.
Assembly & Storage
- Frost half the cookies with red and the other half with green.
- Sprinkle sugar pears on top of the frosting.
- Store in an air tight container for up to a week.
Want more cookies?
Here is the complete list of the 12 Days of Cookies!
- Day 1 – Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Day 2 – Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Day 3 – Holiday Spritz
- Day 4 – Russian Tea Cakes
- Day 5 – Holi-Doodles
- Day 6 – Haystacks
- Day 7 – Lebkuchen
- Day 8 – Molasses Cookies
- Day 9 – Raspberry Thumbprints
- Day 10 – Peppermint Meringues
- Day 11 – Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- Day 12 – Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
Filipa
Friday 2nd of October 2015
Hi! I'm really sorry for my ignorance but because I'm not an english native person I don't know what is shortening. Can you please explain me better?
Betsy Eves
Friday 2nd of October 2015
Shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Shortening is used in pastries that should not be elastic, such as cake. It the USA the brand we use mainly is called Crisco.
Cindy
Saturday 30th of November 2013
Hi Betsy ,
Do you find that you can stack these cookies with this frosting? I have a hard time finding a frosting that doesn't have then stick together. Thank you.
Betsy Eves
Saturday 30th of November 2013
Oh yes, absolutely. If you leave the cookie out, uncovered, for several hours after you frost them... the frosting sets right up. It won't be hard like royal icing, but you'll definitely be able to stack them. The key to making that possible is making sure you add enough of the cream to make a smooth, thin frosting that spreads easily. You don't want a thick buttercream. The thin will easily harden and will allow the cookies to stack! You can see in the picture how these cookies are laying on eachother... as soon as you pick one up, the one under is in perfect shape! :) Happy Baking!
Make Your Own Cookie Cutters
Wednesday 27th of November 2013
These look like the perfect Christmas cookie! I love sugar cookies at this time of year . I love these cookies ;)
Betsy Eves
Wednesday 27th of November 2013
Awww, thanks!!! They are pretty prefect. I've been making them for 30 years!!! <3
Auntie Chris
Wednesday 27th of November 2013
I just finished making sugar cookies and I used sour cream. Check out my fb where the recipe is.
Betsy Eves
Wednesday 27th of November 2013
Thanks, Aunt Chris. I used the recipe my Mom and her Mom used from the Betty Crocker Cookybook! It's a winner and I'm gonna stick with it!! xoxo Love ya!
kimberly.ann
Tuesday 26th of November 2013
Fun! I can't wait to follow along. Advent calendars and 12 Days of Christmas are my favorite! I'll be posting a 12 days of Christmas on my Facebook page to revive old posts but love the idea of all cookies!!
Betsy Eves
Tuesday 26th of November 2013
Ooohh... that's a great idea to revive old posts! <3