Frosted Holiday Sugar Cookies Recipe (2024)

Just bear in mind that kosher salt generally substitutes for table salt 2:1, so that a 1/4 tsp of table salt would be the same as a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

The dough can be crumbly if there's too much flour added from accidentally over-packing the measuring cup.
If you have a scale, weighing is more exact. If not, try spooning the flour into the measuring cup lightly, making sure not to pack it.

This is the exact recipe we have been making for over 40 years - well it has more vanilla. Got it from a junior high home ec teacher. The cornstarch makes for a more tender dough that can be rolled repeatedly without getting tough. I roll the dough before chilling between sheets of waxed paper and then cut the cookies. Just peel the paper off before cutting to free the dough.

I continue to appreciate the reader/cooks notes, especially when there is an obvious error in the ingredients amount, as here. Surprised that NYT does not review more carefully. But truth is I love this site, errors and all, as long as there are good cooks catching things.

As several early commenters noted, there was an error in this recipe. It originally called for 10 grams of baking soda; it should be 5 grams of baking soda. (The corresponding volume measurement for the baking soda — 1 teaspoon —is correct.) Our apologies! We've corrected the recipe above. Thanks to all those who flagged it for us.

Having always found sugar cookie recipes rather bland, I now get it: use confectioners sugar, which I typically find to be way too sweet, but in this recipe it works. Now my challenge is to not eat all the dough...

This is a great sugar cookie. I weighed my ingredients and found the dough to be easy to work with. I didn't make the royal icing, though; instead I made a simple thin glaze with powdered sugar and water, then brushed that on the cookies and topped them with sprinkles.

I didn't make the sugar cookie recipe bc I have one that I adore and don't want to mess with things, but this is the absolute best royal icing recipe!! I always hate it bc it tastes like confectioners sugar to me, but this one was just sweetness. I think the salt really helped with that. Plus, it dries quickly but not too quickly, and it's super shiny. I did make separate thinner icing for coating large areas, it was a great suggestion. Thanks!

John, confectioners sugar has a little cornstarch in it.

You can absolutely chill the dough for 24 hours.

Instead of piping the royal icing I just dipped the top of the cookie parallel with the icing, shook off the excess, and used the back of the spoon to spread it evenly. Dried perfect and didn't require a steady hand.

Doesn’t anyone worry about salmonella in raw egg whites? Sugar concentration probably inhibits growth on cookies but the recipe should recommend using pasteurized fresh or powdered egg whites. Children, pregnant women, elderly should not consume foods containing raw egg.

Cornstarch? I don't see cornstarch in the recipe.

I finished the cookies, started the frosting, then realized the finished product involves raw egg whites. Don’t give raw egg whites to people! I recently attended the funeral of a previously very healthy, active, older lady who died from Salmonella poisoning.

I, too, fell victim to too much flour (based on how I measured the flour) which led to crumbly cookies. However, I salvaged the cookies by adding a sprinkle of water to the dough. Just enough to make it stay together for rolling out and cutting. That error aside,I am also a big an of confectioners sugar in these cookies, and these cookies were delish.

Perfectly-delicious sugar cookies! To simplify the process while cooking with a 5-year-old I used a simple buttercream frosting, and these were still good a week later. My new go-to.

Reading the comments about the cookie not holding their shapes when baking would’ve saved me so much time and effort rolling and cutting, only to have them turn into unrecognizable (yet tasty) shapeless blobs in the oven. I chilled, I froze, I tried everything. This recipe makes great cookies, but it’s not for cookie cutters.

2 tbsp water for icing is perfect for piping2.5 for flooding

Roll to specified thicknessChill dough after rolling cutting each timeChill cookie sheets to prevent spreadUse small cutters

Def use pasteurized egg whites for the frosting. CDC and every other source you can find says do not eat raw eggs. Especially children and pregnant women.

I tried this recipe after several years’ not making Christmas roll-out cookies. I was so disappointed! I weighed the flour and confectioner’s sugar, followed the recipe exactly. The dough stuck to the parchment terribly, as well as the cutters, spread into blobs in the oven, and yielded maybe 30 cookies. They were labor-intensive, not fun, and not worth the bother.

I think this recipe may work best with round shapes or less defined cookie cutters. Mine spread, as others have reported. However, they are delicious!!

So if you’re wondering what happens if you promise your 3 year old granddaughter that you’ll make cookies, forget to take the butter out and have to soften it the microwave, have no time to chill the dough so you roll it between two sheets of parchment paper and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting them out, and then decorate them with random sprinkles you find in the cabinet, I can tell you they will be remarkably delicious. Also they kept their shape pretty well!

Yikes. I used powdered sugar. I thought it’s the same as confectioners. That may be the reason my dough was very crumbly.

My dough was extremely crumbly, I could barely form a blob to wrap and put in fridge?? Followed recipe exactly, all fresh ingredients. Is that how this cookie dough should be? (I don’t do much baking!)

Very good sugar cookie recipe!

These spread a bit and lost their shape. They tasted great but looked meh. Next time I'll look for a recipe without an egg.

I found this recipe to be too high in fat and the cookies left my fingers greasy after picking one up to eat it. I won't use this recipe again.

These were wonderful. I followed a tip by another reader and rolled them before chilling. So much easier and a time saver. Rolling them between sheets of parchment meant so much less mess and less flour incorporated into my dough. New family favorite. I did not try the icing, as I found a glaze that is simpler and more forgiving, Just confectioners sugar, vanilla, milk, salt, and a bit of light corn syrup. I was able to pipe or dip with it.