Make a batch of soft frosted Christmas cookies this holiday season. Thick, soft sugar cookies are topped with a layer of sweet homemade buttercream frosting. The perfect cookie for the holidays, and easy to customize for any time of year.
You're gonna want to save this soft frosted Christmas cookie recipe - it's perfect for any occasion.
These cookies are soft and extra thick, like irresistible little cookie pillows. A layer of sweet buttercream is the perfect complement to the lightly sweetened vanilla cookie base.
These cookie start with a soft sugar cookie base made with everyday baking ingredients like flour, butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then, they're topped with a piped rosette of sweet buttercream frosting and festive sprinkles.
Use food coloring to match any holiday or event, like Christmas, Valentine's Day, or Halloween. They're the perfect addition to your next holiday cookie tray.
Dough ingredients and substitutions
As with most baking recipes, there are not many substitutions I would suggest. Since baking is an exact science, all of the ingredients included are necessary and should not be substituted or omitted.
- Unsalted butter - Can be substituted with salted butter (you'll want to omit the salt listed in the recipe). Your butter should be room temperature - not cold, not melted.
- Granulated sugar - Adds sweetness and moisture to your dough.
- Large eggs - Eggs should be room temperature. Set them on the counter 1 hour before baking, or place your whole eggs in a small bowl covered in warm tap water for 15 minutes.
- Vanilla extract - Can be substituted with another extract, like lemon, maple, or peppermint, for a different cookie flavor. I recommend cutting other extract flavors in half - vanilla has a mild flavor in comparison to other extracts, like peppermint.
- All-purpose flour - I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. If you have a different flour on hand, I suggest searching for a recipe using your preferred type of flour. Many times it's not an easy 1:1 substitution, and a recipe written for a particular flour will turn out better.
- Baking powder - Cannot be substituted with baking soda - these are two different ingredients that will react differently with the other ingredients listed. Check the expiration date before beginning - expired baking powder will result in a flat, dense cookie.
- Salt - enhances the flavor of your cookie and balances the sweetness (does not make them "salty").
Frosting ingredients and substitutions
- Unsalted butter - Can be substituted with salted butter (you'll want to omit the salt listed in the recipe). Your butter should be room temperature - not cold, not melted.
- Confectioner's sugar - Also called powdered sugar or icing sugar. The fine texture of confectioner's sugar allows it to blend seamlessly with the butter without adding a grainy texture. I do not recommend substituting with other sugars.
- Vanilla extract - Can be substituted with another extract, like lemon, maple, or peppermint, for a different frosting flavor. I recommend cutting other extract flavors in half - vanilla has a mild flavor in comparison to other extracts, like peppermint.
- Heavy cream - Thins your frosting slightly, while adding a creamy, whipped texture. Can be substituted with whole milk for as lightly thinner frosting.
- Salt - I recommend adding a pinch of salt to your frosting to help cut the sweetness.
- Food coloring - Optional, but makes it easy to customize your cookies for any holiday. Try pink for Valentine's Day, orange and purple for Halloween, or green for Christmas.
- Sprinkles - Nonpareils (tiny round sprinkles) or rainbow jimmies are great for decorating.
Can I make these without frosting?
This cookie base is written to be paired with a sweet buttercream frosting. The cookies themselves are not very sweet and work well with a frosting or glaze.
If you plan to change the recipe and make these cookies without buttercream frosting, I highly suggest rolling your cookie dough in granulated sugar before baking. This adds a thin, crunchy sugar layer to your baked cookies.
Room temperature ingredients
Room temperature ingredients are important when baking cookies because your ingredients will incorporate together into a smooth and even dough.
This will help to make perfect cookies, every time.
Place your eggs and butter on the counter top an hour before starting to bring them to room temperature.
Properly measured flour
Properly measuring your flour is extremely important in baking. The best way to measure ingredients is by using a kitchen scale (you can find the gram measurements by clicking on the 'metric' link below the ingredient list).
If you don't have a scale, I recommend the spoon and level method. Using a spoon, gently fill your measuring cup with flour, then level off the top with a knife.
By scooping your flour with a measuring cup directly from a bin, you're compacting flour into the cup and adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe. This results in cakey, thick cookies that don't spread when baked.
Frosting your cookies
I chose to frost these cookies with a buttercream rosette. Check out this quick video on how to make a simple rosette with frosting.
It's surprisingly easy, and makes your soft frosted Christmas cookies look professionally decorated. Plus, you can frost a whole batch in minutes! It's really that easy.
Or, use a knife and spread your frosting onto each cookie. Just as easy and requires less tools!
If you'd like more detailed instructions on how to make my buttercream frosting recipe, check out the full post here: American buttercream frosting
Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Buttercream frosting
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- food coloring & sprinkles optional
Instructions
Sugar cookies
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir (or use a mixer on low speed) dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined.
- Cover bowl and chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Refrigerating allows time for flavors to meld and also creates a firmer dough that's easy to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a medium cookie scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 inch balls.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. As is, dough balls bake into thick, rounded top cookies (as shown in photos). Optionally, flatten balls slightly using your hands or the bottom of a glass dusted with flour (to prevent sticking). This helps your cookies spread more and makes a flatter top for frosting.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tops look set and edges barely begin to brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Buttercream frosting
- In a medium bowl, add room temperature butter, confectioner's sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Whip until frosting is smooth and spreadable. Add more heavy cream as needed to achieve desired consistency.
- Spread frosting with a knife onto completely cooled cookies (warm cookies will melt frosting). Or, use a piping bag with decorating tip. Cookies shown are piped with a rosette using a Wilton 2D tip.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method when measuring flour. Gently spoon flour into the measuring cup, then level off with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour and adds up to 25% extra to your recipe, resulting in dry, thick cookies that don't spread.
- Cookie dough will keep in refrigerator for 2-3 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. Add a slice of bread to the cookie container to help keep cookies moist. Replace as needed (bread will dry out).
- If not frosting sugar cookies, I suggest rolling in granulated sugar before baking. Without frosting, cookies are not very sweet on their own.
Can I roll the dough and make.cut out cookies?
This dough puffs up when baked, like a drop cookie, so it would be too sticky to roll out and wouldn't hold its shape when baked. Here's a great cutout cookie recipe I recommend: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/christmas-sugar-cookies/
Will this frosting harden? I need to be able to place the cookies in a ziploc baggie as treats for my daughter's daycare teacher and don't want the icing to get ruined....
Hi Archana! This frosting will form a crust on the outside, like frosting on a cupcake, if left out to dry for several hours. However, the frosting stays soft in the middle so with a bit of force (several cookies stacked on top of each other, or pressing down with your finger) the frosting will get misshapen.
Thank you!
Looks amazing.Can't wait to try.
Thank you!