Christmas Baking: Sugar Cookies

Join me as I share three new Christmas recipes!

In 2021, I shared three recipes from three different cookbooks. You can find them here:

Gingerbread

Delicate Cake

Christmas Cookies

In 2022, I shared three more recipes from 19th century cookbooks:

Three Minute Cake

Apple Pie

Spice Cookies 

You can also find all my recipe videos in one easy playlist on my YouTube channel. (Be sure to hit that subscribe button while you’re there!)

This year I’m kicking things off by doing a bake-along with two fellow readers and BookTubers: Kay of Kay’s Hidden Shelf and Andrew of Andrew’s Wizardly Reads!

Join us LIVE at 1:00pm MST (3:00pm EST) on Sunday, Dec 3 or watch later at your leisure!

And now for the recipes… (You’re in luck! We ended up sharing THREE different sugar cookie recipes!)

Meredith Sugar Cookies

*Makes about 30 thick cookies, about 50 thin cookies

Ingredients:

1 C butter

1 8 oz package cream cheese

3 1/2 C flour

2 C sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

Food coloring (optional)

Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, but only half of the flour. Mix well. Add remaining flour.
3. For extra festive fun, divide dough into two parts. Add red food coloring to one part, add green food coloring to another.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 375°F.
6. Roll out dough to about 1/4″ thick if you want chewier cookies. Cut into desired shapes. Can add sprinkles if you’d like them baked with decoration. Can do a swirl by combining red and green doughs together (don’t mix until brown, just roll out different colors beside each other before cutting out shapes).
7. Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes.
8. Cool before decorating with frosting, if desired.

Frosting:

1/4 C butter

3 C powdered sugar

Almond flavoring

Milk to the right consistency

1. Combine first three ingredients and then add milk until the frosting is a spreading consistency. (Not too runny so it drips off the cookies.)
2. Divide and add food coloring.

Kay’s Cookies with Sparkles

*Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 C tenderflake lard

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C white sugar

1 C flour

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Cream the lard with the sugars.
2. Add the egg, then the rest of the ingredients.
3. The dough will be very sticky, so you’ll need lots of flour to roll it out with. Flour the bottom and top as you roll out the dough as thin as you can.
4. Cut out shapes and top with sprinkles before baking.
5. Bake at 225°F for 15 minutes.

Wizard’s Sugar Cookies

*Makes about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 C margarine or butter

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 C flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cream the butter with the sugar.
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Mix wet and dry ingredients.
5. Roll in tube.
6. Chill overnight (or whack them in the freezer for a short time!)
7. Cut with sharp knife into circles.
8. Bake at 350°F until light brown around edges.

(BONUS!) Kay’s Lavender Cookies

*Makes about 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons dried lavender (divided)

2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and vanilla.
3. Ground 1 tsp of lavender. Add with remaining tsp of whole lavender flowers to butter mixture.
4. Stir in flour and baking powder until well blended.
5. Drop by half teaspoons on an ungreased baking sheet. Leave room between them as they will spread during baking. (From Kay: I usually make them bigger about 1/2 tablespoon as I use the smaller cookie scoop you can buy. Same time to bake.)
6. Bake at 375°F for 6-8 mins.

Join me over the next two weeks as I live bake the recipes found in the back of my latest mystery: Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman!

Sam Shovel only comes to life for twelve days a year at Christmastime, and this year, he’s in time to solve a murder mystery at the North Pole. O. Tannenbaum—the world’s largest supplier of Christmas trees—has been murdered, and although Nick and Nora Claus are too busy to solve the mystery, Sam has enough time on his branchy hands to take a stab at it. 

The North Pole is full of suspects, from the owners of the neighboring candy cane farm to Santa himself! But which Santa? Is it Nick Claus, Père Noël, Sinterklaas, Ded Moroz, der Weihnachtsmann, Sheng dan Lao ren, Baba Noël, or someone else entirely?

Woven with enough Christmas references to choke a reindeer, find out if Sam succeeds in catching the killer in Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman.

A fantastical Christmas cozy mystery perfect for enjoying with a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie any time of year!

NOW AVAILABLE in hardback, ebook, and audiobook!

Ebook— Find it in your favorite ebook format!

Audiobook— Find it in your favorite audiobook format!

Print— Purchase a signed hardback copy from me here!

Special Deluxe Christmas Box— Purchase only through our store!

Also available in a special Christmas Deluxe Gift Box!

Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman Deluxe Gift Box now available!

Make this Christmas one you’ll never forget with the gift of this deluxe book box. Inside you’ll find:

—One signed hardback edition of Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman

—One handmade peppermint soap from Honey Mountain Hives, LLC @honeymountainhives_

—One handmade Christmas bookmark with snowflake dangle

—One Christmas cookie cutter

—One package of hot cocoa mix with “unassembled snowman” marshmallows

—Two laminated recipe cards for recipes included in Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman (including the two I’m sharing live!)

—One Christmas tea candle

—One candy cane

—Christmas stickers

Each box will be specially decorated on the outside, with gift-wrapped items inside to make it the perfect addition for under your Christmas tree! (Some items will vary in appearance such as gift wrap, bookmark paper, and cookie cutter design.)

This box worth over $65.00 is available for just $59.99, only at GAMES-AFOOT.SQUARE.SITE! Order now to get it by Christmas!

Special thanks to @honeymountainhives_ for collaborating with me on this box! Visit her website at HoneyMountainHives.com to learn more!