Christmas Cookies (No-Chill Vanilla Cut-Out Biscuits)
These Christmas Cookies are classic vanilla sugar biscuits made for cutting out into festive shapes. They hold their shape perfectly when baking, making them ideal for decorating with icing, chocolate or sprinkles – and they taste wonderful plain.
This is a NO-CHILL dough, so you can mix, roll, cut and bake straight away.
IngredientsMetric225g unsalted butter, softened (use salted and skip the added salt if needed)
200g (1 cup) caster/superfine sugar (granulated sugar also works)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg (55–60g)
3 cups (approx. 375g) plain/all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
IcingUse your preferred icing for sugar cookies (royal icing, powdered sugar icing, or coloured Christmas icing).
InstructionsPreheat the Oven
Preheat to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Cream the Butter & Sugar
Beat butter and sugar until creamy (about 1 minute on speed 5).
Add Egg & Vanilla
Mix until fully combined.
Add Dry Ingredients
Add flour, baking powder and salt.
Start mixing slowly, then beat until the mixture becomes clumpy and the flour disappears.
Prepare the Dough
Sprinkle flour on your work surface. Turn out the dough, pat it together and divide into two discs.
Roll Out
Roll to 0.3cm (1/8") for crisp cookies
or 0.6cm (1/4") for soft cookies.
Dust underneath and over the dough so it doesn’t stick.
Cut Shapes
Use your favourite cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to the trays using a knife or spatula.
(Keep the dough that’s waiting in the fridge.)
Bake
Bake for 10 minutes, swapping trays halfway (see Notes).
Edges should be pale golden, with the surface just starting to colour.
Cool
Leave cookies on the trays to cool completely – they finish cooking as they cool.
Decorating IdeasClassic icing – pipe or spread colourful Christmas icing.
Chocolate dipped – dip half the biscuit in melted chocolate.
Icing sugar dusting – simple and elegant.
Sprinkles or silver balls.
Serve plain – they’re sweet and buttery on their own.
Recipe NotesQuantity: Number of cookies depends on cutter size and how thick you roll the dough. Usually fills 3 trays.
Swapping trays: Halfway through baking, move the bottom tray to the top shelf and the top tray to the bottom to ensure even baking.
Origin: Adapted from Sugar Spun Run’s sugar cookie recipe.
Storage:
Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Still tasty after this, but they start to dry slightly.
Nutrition (per cookie)Calories: 96
Carbs: 12g
Fat: 5g
Sugar: 5g
Protein: 1g
KeywordsChristmas Cookies, vanilla biscuits, cut-out sugar cookies, no-chill sugar cookies, Christmas baking, festive biscuits
This is a NO-CHILL dough, so you can mix, roll, cut and bake straight away.
IngredientsMetric225g unsalted butter, softened (use salted and skip the added salt if needed)
200g (1 cup) caster/superfine sugar (granulated sugar also works)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg (55–60g)
3 cups (approx. 375g) plain/all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
IcingUse your preferred icing for sugar cookies (royal icing, powdered sugar icing, or coloured Christmas icing).
InstructionsPreheat the Oven
Preheat to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Cream the Butter & Sugar
Beat butter and sugar until creamy (about 1 minute on speed 5).
Add Egg & Vanilla
Mix until fully combined.
Add Dry Ingredients
Add flour, baking powder and salt.
Start mixing slowly, then beat until the mixture becomes clumpy and the flour disappears.
Prepare the Dough
Sprinkle flour on your work surface. Turn out the dough, pat it together and divide into two discs.
Roll Out
Roll to 0.3cm (1/8") for crisp cookies
or 0.6cm (1/4") for soft cookies.
Dust underneath and over the dough so it doesn’t stick.
Cut Shapes
Use your favourite cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to the trays using a knife or spatula.
(Keep the dough that’s waiting in the fridge.)
Bake
Bake for 10 minutes, swapping trays halfway (see Notes).
Edges should be pale golden, with the surface just starting to colour.
Cool
Leave cookies on the trays to cool completely – they finish cooking as they cool.
Decorating IdeasClassic icing – pipe or spread colourful Christmas icing.
Chocolate dipped – dip half the biscuit in melted chocolate.
Icing sugar dusting – simple and elegant.
Sprinkles or silver balls.
Serve plain – they’re sweet and buttery on their own.
Recipe NotesQuantity: Number of cookies depends on cutter size and how thick you roll the dough. Usually fills 3 trays.
Swapping trays: Halfway through baking, move the bottom tray to the top shelf and the top tray to the bottom to ensure even baking.
Origin: Adapted from Sugar Spun Run’s sugar cookie recipe.
Storage:
Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Still tasty after this, but they start to dry slightly.
Nutrition (per cookie)Calories: 96
Carbs: 12g
Fat: 5g
Sugar: 5g
Protein: 1g
KeywordsChristmas Cookies, vanilla biscuits, cut-out sugar cookies, no-chill sugar cookies, Christmas baking, festive biscuits