Holiday Sugar Cookies

Whether you’re going to a cookie exchange or just baking holiday cookies for your family, you’ll like this tried & true sugar cookie recipe. Make sure that you’re using natural ingredients, as the imitation stuff just isn’t the same. 

  • 2 1/3 Cups Unbleached Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 1/4 Cups Sugar
  • 1 Cup Butter (Softened)
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • Colorful Cookie Icing
  • 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 3 Teaspoons Milk
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 3 Drops Natural Food Color
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees when ready to bake.
  2. In medium-size bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Set aside.
  3. In large-size bowl beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Mix well.
  4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat, on low, until mixed well. Place plastic wrap over bowl and chill in refrigerator 3 hours or overnight. You will want dough to be firm.
  5. Remove dough from fridge and roll out onto lightly floured surface to a 1/8-inch thickness. With your favorite cookie cutters cut into shapes. Carefully lift cookies and place onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
  6. Place in oven for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cook for 1 minute before removing. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.
  7. For Icing: Mix all ingredients except food colors. Stir in additional milk as needed to thin icing or more powdered sugar to thicken as needed. Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color (if you’re using more than one color). Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.
  8. To ice cookies, hold cookie by its edge and dip top of cooking into icing. Or spoon icing onto cookie using a small spoon. Place iced cookies on wire rack set over foil-covered baking sheet to dry. To add decorative details to cookies, spoon tinted icing into resealable plastic bag. Snip off a tiny piece of the corner. Squeeze icing through hole in plastic bag to decorate cookies. If desired, colored sugar or other edible decorations may be sprinkled onto freshly iced cookies.
  9. Makes 6 Dozen Cookies or 24 (3 inch) Cookies
  10. "Work With What You Got!”
  11. © Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen

Victoria

Victoria has been cooking and writing recipes since she was a a young girl. Originally from Nebraska, her appreciation for culinary technique took off when she moved to Lyon, France. Victoria is published in Hearst Newspapers, Greenwich Free Press, New Canaanite, and more.

Explore Similar Recipes