The easiest Christmas cookies ever just require a few simple ingredients from your cupboard, and ten minutes of baking.
I'll be frank, you guys. When it comes to the holidays, I'm kind of lazy. I delegate the holidays, my Christmas tablescapes are laid-back, and I keep Christmas dinner really simple. We focus most on family Christmas traditions as opposed to any sort of showy display to impress others.
So cookie time? Well, I'm focused on making the easiest Christmas cookies on the planet – and soaking in every minute of decorating time with the kids.
Simple Christmas Cookies
This roll-out dough makes for the easiest Christmas cookies ever because you can take one simple recipe and use it in a bunch of different ways. It's a buttery dough, almost shortbread-ish in its consistency, flakey and light and long-lasting.
Make it ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate it! You can even bake your cookies to completion fairly far ahead of time. Store them in an air-tight container and you can count on them to be the perfect, melt-in-your-mouth consistency when holiday party time comes along.
I make this in bulk and use this recipe throughout all of my easiest Christmas cookies. Concoction after concoction, this buttery dough holds up incredibly. Not only does it make amazing cut-outs that don't spread, it also serves perfectly as thumbprint cookies with chocolate, raspberry drops or peanut butter plopped in the middle, as snickerdoodles if you roll it into a tasty cinnamon-sugar mix, or as simple drop cookies if you roll it in decorative sugar. You could even add peppermint extract for a special, minty treat!
Embossed Cookies
As for this round of the easiest Christmas cookies, I went ahead and used an embossed rolling pin that Embossed.co sent over. I know, I know, you may not want to buy extra accessories and whatnot when you're trying to simplify your life. BUT TRUST ME. This rolling pin makes all the difference in making the easiest Christmas cookies on the block.
Roll the dough out to 1/8″ with a normal rolling pin and then give it a quick pass with the embossing rolling pin. You'll want your dough nice and chilled so that it indents perfectly. Plop it straight in the pre-heated oven so it bakes up nice and quick into these beautiful designs.
It's super-hard to capture on camera, but you can get a feel for the pretty indentations in our pictures above. It's now my go-to soft and chewy classic Christmas cookie recipe when I need a crowd-pleaser for the holiday season and I need it STAT.
One Dough, Many Types of Christmas Cookies
Add some candy cane sprinkles on the top for a totally pretty decorated sugar cookie! With this easy recipe, it's just about as easy as nabbing some store bought thing with chocolate chips or white chocolate. Make sure that you're using a clean baking sheet with parchment paper, since this white dough picks up any random specks you may have laying around. With the white dough as a base, I love to dress it up with red and green sprinkles or frosting.
What I love most about my easiest Christmas cookies is that I can easily use this base to cook up gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, shortbread cookies, candy cane cookies, white chocolate cookies and more for a cookie platter unlike any you've ever seen. These rival ANY storebought holiday cookie for the holiday season, piling on baking sheet after baking sheet of tasty, varied treats. I like to use cookie scoops to dish them out quickly, keeping cinnamon spice, powdered sugar and peppermint extract to keep the holiday spirit moving through my festive cookies.
Christmas cookie ideas:
- Candy Cane Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Cookies
- Almond Cookies (use almond flavoring instead of vanilla)
- Sprinkle Cookies
- Iced Cookies
- Cream Cheese Cookies
- Red and Green Cookies
- Macadamia Coconut Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
A quick roll in holiday sprinkles or a quick topping with some royal icing and you've got cookies for a crowd! Add some cream cheese to the dough to add a little tanginess to your holiday parties! Try a little food coloring in these delicious cookies and pair with hot chocolate or almond bark for homemade gifts on a simple plate for a neighbor. You could even roll these in a couple ingredients for a macadamia coconut cookie that will knock their socks off!
Is it Better to Freeze Cookie Dough or Baked Cookies?
If you want to make large batches of cookies and be prepared for the WHOLE holiday season, your best bet is definitely freezing the cookie dough. Then you'll have extra cookie dough on-hand to have cookie fun at the drop of a hat! Simply let the dough come to room temperature for an hour or two. We actually put our dough in the freezer for a little bit even if we intend to use it right away, as the chilled consistency is better for crisp edges on cut-out cookies.
You CAN freeze the cookies, but they won't taste as fresh as if you bake up new cookies from previously-frozen dough. The freezing process tends to crystallize liquid so it basically pulls the liquid out of the cookies and makes them more crumbly.
How to Package Christmas Cookies?
We simply layer these in an airtight container, with parchment paper in-between each layer. You could also wrap them up in a holiday napkin and tie it off with a little bit of baking twine for a sweet, old-fashioned neighbor gift! Cellophane also makes a beautiful wrapping, tied with a traditional cloth bow. Since these are all evenly-sized, you could even stack these in a mason jar and simply put the lid straight on.
Can you Bake Cookies at 375?
I see this question asked a lot, since other baked goods are often cooked at 375. Technically you CAN, but you'll want to reduce cooking time by a couple minutes, use a baking mat or parchment paper to prevent sticking, and keep it in the middle of the oven so it doesn't get too browned on the top or bottom. A higher temperature will result in a cookie that is more snappy and brittle on the outside and chewy on the inside. It is not ideal for cut-out cookies, which need a more moist texture to properly come together without breaking edges off.
Easiest Christmas Cookies
These are the easiest Christmas cookies on the planet! The basic recipe can be adapted to be snickerdoodles, macadamia coconut cookies, thumbprint cookies and more.
Ingredients
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups salted butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 3 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
Combine dry ingredients and mix into creamed butter at medium speed until fully incorporated.
Beat in eggs and vanilla until dough is workable. It will be slightly crumbly, but will come together when pressed. Add a small amount of water, if necessary, to help it come together.
Divide in half and refrigerate dough until chilled. Working with one half at a time, roll dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and bake approximately 10 minutes until golden.
We're participating in Houseful of Cookies again this year! This is a fun little blog hop I take part in with my pal Natasha every year. She helps all of us bloggers round up the best cookies on the web for your enjoyment. Hop on through to all of our friends' blogs below!
Houseful Of Nicholes – Dumpster Cookies
Day By Day In Our World – Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chip & Craisin Oatmeal Cookies
Honest & Truly – Spiced Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Love Jaime – Snowball Cookies
How Was Your Day? – Lingonberry Thumbprints
Mama Harris' Kitchen – Cranberry Pistachio Citrus Cookies
This Worthey Life – White Chocolate Cranberry & Toffee Cookies
Someday I'll Learn – Easiest Christmas Cookies
Life Of A Ginger – Chocolate Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
100 Directions – Easy Chocolate Peppermint Fudge Brownie Mix Cookies
Brooklyn Active Mama – Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies
Sugar, Spice, and Glitter – Glazed Gingerbread Cookies
Good Girl Gone Redneck – Peanut Butter Nutella Sugar Cookies
This Mamas Life – Cherry Bits
Are our easiest Christmas cookies on your list of holiday recipe ideas for the season?