Description
Classic Christmas Cookies, also known as Vanilla Biscuits or Sugar Cookies, are buttery, soft, and lightly sweetened treats perfect for holiday decorating or enjoying plain. These easy-to-make cookies feature a rich vanilla flavor and a tender crumb, baked to a pale golden perfection for a delightful festive treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 225g / 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (or use salted, skip salt)
- 1 cup caster/superfine sugar (granulated/ordinary white sugar ok too)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (55-60g / 1.9-2oz)
- 3 cups plain / all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
Optional Icing & Decorations
- Icing for Sugar Cookies (refer to separate recipe)
- Melted chocolate for dipping
- Silver balls for decorating
- Icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and ensure even baking.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together using an electric mixer on speed 5 for about 1 minute until creamy and well blended.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Incorporate the egg and vanilla extract into the butter-sugar mixture by beating until fully combined, resulting in a smooth batter.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt thoroughly before gradually adding them to the wet mixture. Start mixing slowly to avoid flour flying, then beat until the flour is incorporated and the dough becomes slightly clumpy.
- Shape Dough: Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Scrape the dough onto it and pat it together gently. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a disc shape, which helps with easier rolling.
- Roll Out Dough: Roll each disc out to either 0.3cm / 1/8″ thickness for thinner, crispier cookies or 0.6cm / 1/4″ for thicker, softer cookies. Sprinkle flour beneath and on top of the dough to prevent sticking.
- Cut Cookie Shapes: Use cookie cutters to press out desired shapes. Transfer them carefully to the prepared baking sheets using a knife or spatula. Keep any unused dough refrigerated to maintain freshness before baking.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Place both trays in the oven simultaneously—one in the middle rack and the other on the lower rack. Halfway through baking, swap the positions of the trays to ensure even cooking, then continue until cookies are pale golden on the surface with lightly golden edges.
- Cool Cookies: Let the cookies cool completely on the trays as they will continue to cook slightly and firm up while cooling.
- Decorate and Serve: Decorate as desired using icing, melted chocolate dips, silver balls, or a dusting of icing sugar. Alternatively, enjoy the cookies plain as they are deliciously sweet and buttery on their own.
Notes
- The number of cookies baked will depend on the size of cookie cutters and thickness of the dough; this recipe yields approximately 40 cookies and enough dough to fill about three baking trays.
- Swapping baking trays halfway through cooking ensures even heat exposure, preventing one batch from overbaking because the top rack cooks faster than the lower rack.
- This recipe is adapted from the Sugar Cookies recipe by Sugar, Spun, Run, ensuring a trusted and classic flavor.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week. After that, while still edible and tasty, they may begin to dry out slightly but won’t be stale.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (approx. 28g)
- Calories: 130 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 17 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
