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There are sooo many amazing holiday desserts, but no matter how many choices I have my top pick is always a classic sugar cookie. They’re always in such cute shapes and decorated with delicious frosting. Just because I’m not going to full blown Christmas parties this year (thanks 2020) it doesn’t mean I don’t still want my fix of Christmas cookies. This recipe makes just 6 medium sized cookies (my cookie cutter was about 3 inches) so it’s perfect for your quarantine holiday crew. Enjoy!
Small Batch Christmas Cookies
Easy, no-chill sugar cookie dough to make just 6 perfectly soft cut out cookies with buttercream frosting
Ingredients
Cookies
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg (we'll only use half)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup flour
Buttercream Frosting
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick)
- 1 and ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- food coloring (optional)
Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, a silicone mat, or spray it with cooking spray.
- Microwave the butter (½ stick) in 5 second intervals until it softens. Softened butter should still feel cool to the touch. Your finger should make an indent but not slide off the stick. In my microwave this only takes 5-10 seconds for a half stick of butter.
- Add the softened butter and sugar (¼ cup) to a medium bowl (you can use a stand mixer here if you'd like, but since it's such a small amount of dough it might be hard for your stand mixer to mix everything very well). Using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-low speed for 1 minute, then wipe down the bowl. Then beat for 30 seconds, wipe down the bowl, beat for 30 more seconds, and wipe down the bowl once last time. I know this seems annoying but it's such a small amount of butter and sugar that they'll fly all over the bowl and this is the only real way to cream them together properly.
- We are going to add the egg next, but since this is such a small recipe you only need half an egg, or about 2 tablespoons of egg. Here's the easiest way to do that: crack your egg into a separate small bowl. Using a fork, whisk the egg really, really well, like for at least 30 seconds.
- Carefully measure out 2 tablespoons and add it to the butter and sugar. If it's hard to get the egg to fill a whole tablespoon, you can measure out 6 teaspoons instead.
- Add the vanilla extract (½ teaspoon) and almond extract (¼ teaspoon, optional but makes the cookies sooo much more delicious) to the bowl with the butter, sugar, and egg and beat on medium-low speed for 1 minute. Then wipe down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the baking powder (½ teaspoon), salt (⅛ teaspoon, this doesn't need to be super exact so feel free to eyeball filling a ¼ teaspoon half way if you don't have a ⅛ teaspoon), and flour (¾ cup) to the bowl and start beating on low speed. Your dough is going to turn into a crumbly mess and you're going to freak out, but don't worry it will come together!
- Keep beating the dough on low speed until it forms a dough that sticks together. You can always use your hands to stick any crumbs from the very bottom that aren't cooperating into the ball of dough.
- Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and use your fingers to spread it around. I like to keep a little pile of flour nearby in case I need more, and I usually rub flour on my rolling pin, as well.
- Put the ball of dough onto your floured surface, and flatten it into a disk using your hands.
- Roll the dough out until it is about ¼ inch thick. This does not need to be exact, really just roll it until it's large enough to fit your cookie cutter 4-5 times. (Pro tip: don't roll your rolling pin back and forth. Place your rolling pin in the center of the dough disk, roll in one direction, and then pick it up and place it back in the center before rolling in the other direction).
- Press your cookie cutter into the dough as many times as you can with the dough you've rolled out. Remove the excess dough around the shapes, and move the cut outs to your prepared baking sheet.
- Take the scraps leftover from your first cut outs, and roll it back into a ball of dough. You want the ball to be pretty smooth, so don't be afraid to work the dough with your hands until it really comes together.
- Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick again, and cut as many cookies as you can. Repeat this process until you have run out of dough (I got 6 3-ish inch cookies out of this recipe).
- Spread your cookies evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.
- These cookies are tricky because they give almost no signs that they're done cooking. You don't want to wait until the edges turn golden brown, unless you prefer a crispy, crunchier cookie. I like my sugar cookies nice and soft, so I take mine out as soon as the tops start to look dry.
- Once you've taken your cookies out of the oven, leave them on the hot pan for 5 minutes. This is VERY important because it allows the cookies to finish baking without getting too crispy. Then move them to a plate or cooling rack and let them cool completely before decorating.
Buttercream Frosting
- Microwave the butter (½ stick) in 5 second intervals until it softens. Softened butter should still feel cool to the touch. Your finger should make an indent but not slide off the stick. In my microwave this only takes 5-10 seconds for a half stick of butter.
- Add the butter to a medium bowl (again, you can use a stand mixer here if you'd like, but since it's such a small amount of frosting it might be hard for your stand mixer to mix everything very well). Beat on medium speed for 1 minute or however long you can stand chasing that tiny amount of butter around the bowl.
- Then add the powdered sugar (1 and ½ cups) and beat on low speed for 30 seconds or so.
- Add the milk (2 teaspoons), vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), and almond extract (¼ teaspoon, again optional but highly encouraged) to the bowl. Beat on low speed at first, and work your way up to medium high speed until the frosting comes together.
- If you'd like to dye your frosting a color (or colors!), now is the time to do that! Add your food coloring and beat until all your frosting has been dyed.
Assembly
- You can decorate these cookies however you like! Use a spatula or knife to spread the frosting on, use a piping bag to make pretty designs, or just dip the cookies straight into the bowl of frosting. Sprinkles are highly encouraged as well!
Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a baking sheet.
- Soften the butter (½ stick) in the microwave.
- Add the butter and sugar (¼ cup) to a medium bowl (you can use a stand mixer here if you’d like, but since it’s such a small amount of dough it might be hard for your stand mixer to mix everything very well). Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.
- Crack the egg into a separate small bowl and whisk it very well. Measure out 2 tablespoons of egg and add it to your butter and sugar.
- Add the vanilla extract (½ teaspoon) and almond extract (¼ teaspoon, optional) to the bowl with the butter, sugar, and egg and beat until well combined.
- Add the baking powder (½ teaspoon), salt (⅛ teaspoon), and flour (¾ cup) to the bowl. Beat on low speed until a dough is formed. The dough will be very crumbly at first, but keep beating it because it will come together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to about ¼ thick. Cut out your cookies, re-rolling your scraps until you have as many cookies as you’d like.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes.
- Once the cookies start to look dry on top (don’t wait for them to get golden brown unless you prefer a crispy cookie), take them out of the oven and leave them on the hot pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a plate or cooling rack.
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
- Soften the butter (½ stick) in the microwave.
- Add the butter to a medium bowl (again, you can use a stand mixer here if you’d like, but since it’s such a small amount of frosting it might be hard for your stand mixer to mix everything very well). Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.
- Add the powdered sugar (1 and ½ cups) and beat on low speed for 30 seconds or so.
- Add the milk (2 teaspoons), vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), and almond extract (¼ teaspoon, optional) to the bowl. Beat until the frosting comes together.
- Use food coloring to dye your frosting if you’d like, and then decorate your cookies however you want!
NOTES
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!