Out of everything I bake in December this is the one I actually look forward to, because the edges crisp up and the middles stay soft and the stars come out of the oven still looking like stars instead of blobs. It’s a rolled sugar cookie. One bowl. An hour in the fridge. No corn syrup anywhere near it.
Why did I ever buy the ready-rolled tubes? Laziness. Two packs a week at £2.65 each. Straight through one very long December, until I finally read the tube (well, half of it, then I put it down). So now I bake these more often than my cinnamon roll wreath.
What I Buy
The dough
- Kerrygold. Salted. Always.
- Spoon the flour into the cup, don’t scoop (I scooped once and picked up about 40 extra grams).
- Half the vanilla swapped for almond extract. My favourite part of the whole recipe.
- One whole egg, not yolks only, because the white is what keeps the points sharp.
The glaze
- Icing sugar and milk. Two things.
- “You have to use meringue powder,” someone told me once, and I’ve iced maybe 400 of these without ever opening a tub.
- Sprinkles go on wet, within about 90 seconds, or they sit on top and slide off later.
Step By Step
Cream the butter and sugar
Been running the oven all afternoon? Then your butter is softer than this recipe assumes, and mine hits 24°C / 75°F by four o’clock in December, which is when the dough goes slack on me.
- Butter at room temperature, in with the sugar.
- Three minutes. Medium. Stand mixer.
- Pale and fluffed, not grainy.
Egg and vanilla in
Scrape the bowl once, halfway.
- Beat 30 seconds, no more.
- One egg. Then the extracts, and it may look split at this point, which bothers me every year even though I know it’s fine.
Fold in the flour
- Flour. Salt. Baking powder. Whisked together first.
- Add it in two goes on low. The paddle drags.
- Stop while a few dry streaks are still showing. “Leave it looking wrong,” my mum used to say.
I finish it by hand with a spatula, because overmixed dough spreads.
Chill the disc
- Flatten into two discs, about 2 cm thick.
- Wrap both discs. Plastic, not foil. Foil tears on me.
- One hour in the fridge.
Chill it overnight, everyone says.
I don’t. Dough that’s sat since midnight cracks along the edges the second you roll it, so I’d rather go at 60 minutes and get clean points.
Roll it to 6mm
- Between two sheets of parchment.
- 6 mm thick, about a quarter inch.
- Cut your shapes close together. Why? Fewer scraps to reroll.
- And rerolled scraps go on their own tray.
Second rerolls bake faster. I burned a whole tray of them standing right there with the timer set, talking to my son about football and never once looking through the door.
So now I stay by the door.
Bake at 350°F / 175°C
- Middle rack. No fan.
- 8 to 10 minutes.
- Pull them when the edges are just tanned (centres still look underdone, that’s right).
My oven runs hot so I set it to 168°C / 335°F and mine are done at 9. Never 8. “They look raw,” my husband says, every time.
Cool on the tray five minutes before they move anywhere.
Glaze once cold
- Icing sugar. Milk a spoon at a time. Go slower than you think, because I have flooded this glaze more times than I’ll admit to in writing.
- Thick enough to hold a ribbon for three seconds. Less than that? Add more sugar.
- Spoon it on, nudge it to the edge. Two spoonfuls. Actually, one and a half.
- Sprinkles immediately.
Set time is about 4 hours at room temperature.
Common Mistakes
Spreading is the big one.
Now warm butter. Warm kitchen. Warm tray (the tray is the bit people forget). Baking back to back? Run the sheet pan under cold water and dry it before the next lot. Too much flour is second, and “Cups are a lie,” I said to a reader once.
A scale fixes it.
Overbaking is third and nobody admits to it. Pull them pale.
My half sheet pan is warped so the glaze always runs off the back left corner, but I’ve had it eleven years and my gingerbread men come off it with one fat foot every single time. Still not replacing it.
Gluten Free Version
360g (3 cups), same weight. Swap in a 1:1 gluten free blend that already has xanthan gum in it. King Arthur Measure for Measure lives in my cupboard, the same tub I raid for my gluten free brownies.
Two changes. Rest it 90 minutes instead of 60. And roll a bit thicker, closer to 7 mm, because the dough feels sandier under your hands. That’s normal. It sorts itself out in the fridge, so don’t go adding liquid.
Bake time’s about the same. Maybe a minute longer, though the edges brown sooner so watch the points. My sister-in-law is coeliac and she’s the whole reason I ever tested this Christmas cookie recipe with a blend, and she still says the almond version is better.
Christmas Cookie Recipe for Cut Out Stars and Trees
Course: Cookies28
servings25
minutes9
minutes165
kcalThis is the Christmas cookie recipe I make every December, a rolled sugar cookie with a crisp tanned rim and a soft middle, finished with a plain white glaze that sets matte. The dough chills for an hour, bakes in 9 minutes, and holds sharp points on stars and trees. Serve them at room temperature with the glaze fully set, about 4 hours. It suits anyone who wants to decorate with kids without fighting a sticky dough.
Ingredients
Dough
3 cups (360g) all purpose flour, spooned and levelled
¾ tsp fine salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract, optional
Glaze
2 cups (240g) icing sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tbsp whole milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkles, as wanted
Directions
- Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes, until pale and fluffed. Scrape the bowl.
- Add the egg and both extracts. Beat 30 seconds on low.
- Add the dry mix in two additions on low speed. Stop while a few dry streaks remain, then finish folding by hand.
- Divide the dough in two. Flatten each half into a 2 cm thick disc, wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two half sheet pans (33 x 45 cm) with parchment.
- Roll one disc between two sheets of parchment to 6 mm thick. Keep the second disc in the fridge.
- Cut shapes and lift them onto the lined pans, spacing about 3 cm apart. Reroll scraps once and bake those on a separate tray.
- Bake on the middle rack for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are just tanned and the centres still look pale. Smaller 5 cm shapes need about 7 minutes. Shapes of 10 cm need 11 to 12 minutes, rotating at 6.
- Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.
- Whisk the icing sugar with 2 tbsp milk and the vanilla. Add the last tablespoon a little at a time until the glaze holds a ribbon for 3 seconds.
- Spoon glaze onto each cooled cookie and nudge it toward the edge, leaving a bare 4 mm border. Add sprinkles within 90 seconds.
- Leave the glaze to set at room temperature for 4 hours, or overnight before stacking. Store in an airtight tin up to 5 days.
Things People Ask
Why did my cookies spread and lose their shape
Butter too soft, usually. Or the second disc sat out on the counter while you rolled the first one, which is exactly what I do every year despite knowing better. Keep the spare disc cold.
Can I halve this Christmas cookie recipe
Yes, and it halves cleanly apart from the egg. Beat one. Weigh it. Use 25g. “That’s fiddly,” a reader told me. It is.
How far ahead can I make the dough
Three days wrapped in the fridge. Three months in the freezer. Thaw overnight. Then leave it on the counter about 20 minutes before you roll, because straight from the fridge it just fights the pin.
What thickness should I roll them
6 mm. Thinner and they go snappy (fine if that’s your thing). But the middle stops being soft.
Do they need to be served cold
Only once they’re at room temperature and the glaze has set. A warm cookie under wet glaze turns into a puddle on the rack.
Ask me how I know.
Dish Size Options
A standard half sheet pan, 33 x 45 cm, takes 11 or 12 star cookies with a 7.5 cm cutter. The full batch fills three trays.
Smaller cutter, shorter bake. A 5 cm cutter is done at 7 minutes, while big 10 cm shapes want 11 to 12 minutes and I rotate the tray at 6.
Rounds are easiest. Trees are the worst, because the trunk over-browns every time, so I trim a millimetre off it before baking now.
So if you want them thicker and softer, roll to 8 mm and add two minutes, which is how I do the ones for the hot chocolate board.
If you bake this Christmas cookie recipe, a star rating and a comment genuinely helps me more than you’d think. Tag me too, I like seeing which shapes people pick!
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