These Sugared Christmas Shortbread Cookies are buttery, melt in your mouth shortbread cookies, with a festive twist. They have the classic shortbread flavor that we love, cut into Christmas designs, and finished with sparkling sugar on top. The cookies look as magical as they taste!
This shortbread cookie recipe is buttery, tender, and full of rich flavor, without being too sweet. It’s made with just a few ingredients and comes together with minimal chilling time.
These Christmas Shortbread Cookies are based on the bakery style Sugared Shortbread Cookies you can find for different holidays. The colorful sanding sugar on the cookies looks so beautiful on a cookie tray. They’re perfect for gifting, or for serving at your holiday parties!
Why You’ll Love these Cookies
- Festive Cookies: Cut the cookies into your favorite shapes, and top them with red, and green sparkling sugar for the cutest cookies you’ll make this season! Here are the cookie cutters I used. You can use cutters without the raised design too.
- Melt in your Mouth Texture: These cookies are so buttery, and crumbly they practically melt in your mouth with every bite!
- Easy Ingredients: You probably have all the ingredients on hand right now, things like butter, powdered sugar, and flour!
Ingredients Needed
This is a quick overview of some of the ingredients you’ll need for this Sugared Christmas Shortbread Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- Unsalted Butter: This gives the cookies a nice buttery flavor. You can also use salted butter and remove the added salt
- Powdered Sugar: This helps the cookies melt in your mouth. It may also be called Confectioners Sugar
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a little flavor
- All Purpose Flour: Helps give the cookies structure
- Cornstarch: Makes the dough extra tender so the cookies melt in your mouth.
- Salt: Balances out the sweetness
- Sanding Sugar: I like to use red and green, but you could use white, or a mix of them for Christmas. Or try other colors for other holidays.
How to make Sugared Shortbread Cookies
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar. Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer works great) and beat for a couple minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and mix it into the mixture.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Shape the dough into a round disc and cover it with plastic wrap to chill for at least 1 hour.
Step 3: Cut out the Cookie Dough. On a floured surface roll the dough out to be about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into their shapes and press the stamps on top of them. Place the cookies onto a lined cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. Reroll the dough to use it all.
Step 4: Sprinkle the Cookies. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies liberally with the red and green sanding sugars. Place the pan in the fridge to chill for another 20 minutes.
Step 5: Bake the Cookies. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven, one pan at a time for about 10 minutes until the edges start to turn a light golden color. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Tips and Tricks
- Chill the Dough: We can’t skip chilling the dough. We want our cookies to hold their shape and designs, so the dough needs to be chilled, to allow the butter to resolidify. Then again to help the cookies really hold their designs.
- Roll to the Right Thickness: The cookie dough should be rolled between 1/4 and 5/16 inch thick. This is the sweet spot so the cookies aren’t too thin and won’t bake too crispy, but not too thick that they’ll spread more.
Storage Instructions
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature once cooled for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container. Thaw them at room temperature, then enjoy!
You can also keep the cookie dough in the fridge for up to 1 week, wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap. Or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw the dough in the fridge. After longer in the fridge the dough will need about 30 minutes to warm up at room temperature before you are able to roll it out to the right thickness.
These Sugared Chirstmas Shortbread Cookies are buttery, lightly sweet, and so easy to make. They have a nice crumbly texture, crunchy sugary tops, and a beautiful design. Everything you’d want in a Christmas cookie. And perfect eaten with a mug of hot cocoa!
More Christmas Cookies
- Santa’s Whiskers
- Lemon Coconut Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Almond Biscotti
- Pecan Snowball Cookies
- Chewy Sugar Cookies
If you try this Christmas Sugared Shortbread Cookie Recipe, please leave a 🌟 rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Christmas Sugared Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 TBS Green Sanding Sugar
- 2 TBS Red Sanding Sugar
Instructions
- Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and beat them together for 2 to 3 minutes until creamy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl down as needed. 1 cup Unsalted Butter, 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- Add in the Vanilla Extract and mix it into the dough until combined. 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt to the dough and mix it together until just combined. Mix with your hands if needed to mix in the last bits of the flour. 1 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour, 1/4 cup Cornstarch , 1/2 tsp Salt
- Shape the dough into a round disc, about 8-10 inches across. Cover the disc with plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least one hour.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour a flat surface, and roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
- Press the cookie cutters into the dough, and then the stamp onto the cut cookie. Carefully lift the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other.
- Continue to cut out the cookies, re rolling the dough as needed until all the cookies are cut into shapes.
- Generously sprinkle the tops of the cookies in red or green sanding sugar.2 TBS Green Sanding Sugar, 2 TBS Red Sanding Sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cookie sheets in the fridge to chill while the oven is preheating, about 15 minutes.
- Bake one pan of cookies at a time, about 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are a light golden brown and the tops are no longer shiny.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Chill the Dough: We can’t skip chilling the dough. We want our cookies to hold their shape and designs, so the dough needs to be chilled, to allow the butter to resolidify. Then again to help the cookies really hold their designs.
- Roll to the Right Thickness: The cookie dough should be rolled between 1/4 and 5/16 inch thick. This is the sweet spot so the cookies aren’t too thin and won’t bake too crispy, but not too thick that they’ll spread more.
- Storage Instructions: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature once cooled for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container. Thaw them at room temperature, then enjoy!
- Cookie Dough Storage: You can also keep the cookie dough in the fridge for up to 1 week, wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap. Or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw the dough in the fridge. After longer in the fridge the dough will need about 30 minutes to warm up at room temperature before you are able to roll it out to the right thickness.
Do you have a link to the cookie cutter stamps or which brand or store are they from?? 🙂
Thanks!
Oops, I meant to link to them in the post. Here you go https://amzn.to/3JqHjVT