Christmas Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Christmas Sugar Cookie cut-outs decorated to look like Christmas trees—so easy! A small batch of cut-out sugar cookies decorated with a small batch of royal icing and sprinkles.

Last year, Camille was just beginning to grasp the concept of making cookies for Santa. She really enjoys the process of making cookies with me, but really, it’s more about the candy decorations than anything. 

Last year, I realized that I didn’t have much of a game plan for Santa’s Christmas Eve snack,  so I whipped up the easiest Christmas Sugar Cookies I knew. They’re all round with white frosting, and I zig-zagged some thin black icing across the cookies. I turned mini M&Ms sideways to resemble Christmas Lights. Behold, the easiest Christmas Lights Cookies ever.

You guys LOVE that recipe, and are still making it this year! I’m so glad!

But, can I suggest another Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe that is just as easy? These Christmas tree cookies have a zig-zag of green icing, sprinkles on top, plus a big candy star on top. 

What you’ll love about these Christmas Sugar Cookies

The base for these Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies is the same as last year—a round sugar cookie, cut with a 3″ biscuit cutter. So, even if you don’t have any Christmas shaped cookie cutters, you can still make these cookies! 

If your cutter is out, try my Tea Cakes, too!

The cookies are rich with the classic sugar cookie flavor, thanks to Rodelle’s vanilla extract. It perfumes the dough with a festive scent, and tastes delicious, too.

I made a small batch of royal icing to use on top of the cookies. I love royal icing because it’s smooth and dries perfectly flat. The matte white finish when it’s dried allows any decorations on top to really shine. Plus, the Christmas sugar cookie recipe uses only egg yolks, and the royal icing uses the leftover egg whites!

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe Ingredients

• Flour. We need 1.5 cups of regular all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough on the counter.
• Baking Powder. This cut out cookie recipe uses a small amount of baking powder.
• Butter. One stick of unsalted butter that has been softened to room temperature for easy baking.
• Granulated Sugar. An equal amount of regular granulated sugar (1/2 cup).
• Eggs. You need 2 eggs for this recipe, but they need to be divided. Two egg yolks go into the cookie dough, while the two egg whites will be used for the royal icing. If you’re not comfortable with raw eggs in your desserts, you’ll need to buy pasteurized eggs for this recipe, because the egg whites are not cooked for the frosting.
• Vanilla Extract. A good amount of vanilla extract is the best flavoring for plain cut-out sugar cookies.
• Powdered Sugar. Two cups of powdered sugar to make the royal icing.
• Lemon Juice. We always add a splash of lemon juice to royal icing as the liquid to help it come together.
• Frosting and Sprinkles. I use shimmery green icing in a tube and festive sprinkles to decorate these, but you can use anything you like.

How to make Christmas Sugar Cookies

1. There’s no need to preheat the oven right away for these cookies; we will do it later while they’re chilling.
2. Begin by whisking together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the egg yolks only (save the egg whites for the frosting) and the vanilla, and beat just to combine.
5. Finally, sprinkle the flour mixture on top and stir lightly to make a dough.
6. Move the dough mixture to a clean, floured counter and begin bringing it together with your warm hands. Use a rolling pin to roll out a 1/2-inch thick round disk. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out as many shapes as possible, gather the dough scraps and re-roll again.
7. Place the cookies on parchment-lined cookie sheets, and slide them into the freezer. Now you may preheat the oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit.
8. When the oven is preheated, add the cookie sheets straight from the freezer. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Make the frosting: beat together the 2 leftover egg whites to loosen them with a whisk. Then, use a tablespoon to roughly pull out 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg whites and move it to a separate bowl.
10. Add the powdered sugar and lemon juice to the bowl with the 2 tablespoons of beaten egg white, and whisk to combine. It will take al long time to incorporate, be patient! If you feel it is too dry after 5 minutes, add another splash of beaten egg whites.
11. Decorate the cookies: spread a thin layer of the royal icing over each cookie, and garnish with sprinkles.

I use a store-bought tube of shimmery green icing for the Christmas tree shape, but you can always divert some of the small batch royal icing and dye it green instead. Just place it in a piping bag and use the smallest round tip you can find. Then, I separate out my jar of non-non-pareil sprinkles into green and red, and I found a jar of large star sprinkles just for these cookies. 

I can really see these cookies spinning off in so many directions. The blank white canvas allows you to draw anything on top—Christmas bells, holly leaves, a present, or a Christmas stocking! Camille wants to make a snowflake version next and pour edible glitter on top, because it’s been 6 months since she’s seen the movie Frozen, and her obsession is not showing sings of slowing down.

Baking Christmas cookies with kids:

This Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe makes a little over 1 dozen cookies. It’s the perfect amount for baking with kids, because I’ve found that they lose interest decorating cookies after about 6 cookies. Or, they just start eating the frosting and sprinkles straight-up, ignoring the actual cookies. This recipe will give you enough cookies for Santa’s plate, plus a few for everyone in the family to enjoy.

Sometimes I think baking with kids can be daunting in the kitchen, but a small-batch recipe is just perfect for children.

I use a mini rolling pin that fits little chubby hands in a small work surface. The mess should be minimal and contained in a small space!

If you kids are really little, you can make the cookies a day ahead, and store them in an air-tight container. If you think your kids would get bored waiting for icing to dry, you can ice the cookies with the small-batch royal icing ahead of time, too. Let it dry overnight. Then, on Christmas Eve, lay the cookies out in front of the kids and give them the green icing and sprinkles to decorate. This way, the kids get to do just the fun part of cookie decorating.

How to store Decorated Christmas Cookies

Typically, because Christmas cookies have so much sugar that they can be stored at room temperature for several days. However, because these cookies have raw egg whites in the royal icing, I keep them in the fridge. Before serving, remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature. This frosting recipe dries hard, so you can stack these cookies are store them however you like!

I linked to all of the sprinkles and baking tools in the recipe below, should you find yourself needing a mini rolling pin or the perfect star sprinkles on top. I hope you enjoy these cookies!