Christmas Star Cookies, the best iced sugar cookies for the festive season. Great as homemade edible gifts for families and friends, these cookies are so easy to make, and the icing only requires 3 ingredients. You can decorate them with any sprinkles you like, or even use food colouring for your icing to get different colours.
If you are looking for an easy, failproof cookie recipe, this one is for you. The dough itself only needs 5 basic ingredients, and the icing 3. You can leave the cookies without any decorations, and they are still insanely delicious.
The texture is soft and delicate, and the vanilla flavour is just lovely. And the best thing about these cookies is that you can get the kids involved too, making it a fun Christmas activity. I have this collection of Easy Christmas Treats For Kids, and these cookies fit so well here too.
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Ingredients needed to make star cookies
- butter - unsalted butter is best, soften
- granulated sugar - or caster sugar
- plain flour
- egg - at room temperature
- vanilla extract - or any other extract of your choice
- icing/confectioner's sugar - well sifted otherwise the consistency will be too lumpy
- full-fat milk - skimmed milk isn't fat enough for baking
- sprinkles/hundred and thousands -optional
Step-by-step photos and instructions
These Christmas star cookies are not only yummy, but also really fun to make. And very easy too. Just a few simple ingredients: butter, granulated sugar, plain flour, eggs, a bit of vanilla extract (or any other of your choice) to bring even more flavour, a bit of kneading, a bit of chilling, oven on, and ta-daah, some pretty little stars.
The dough is really easy to work with, it doesn't stick to the hands or work surface as all, just use a bit of flour if it does, and that usually sorts out the problem.
Use any shape you like, it doesn't have to be stars, but make sure they are pretty much the same size so they can bake at the same time evenly. Most supermarkets will sell cookie shapes, especially at this time of the year.
The dough
- beat the sugar with the butter until smooth, then add the egg and beat again
- add the flour and vanilla extract, and knead into a dough that does not stick to the hands
- chill the dough for 30 minutes
- roll the dough, and use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut cookies - I got 30 cookies, but you can get more of less depending on the size of the cookie cutter
- transfer to a baking tray that has been lined up with non-stick paper, then cover with clingfilm and chill again for 10 minutes
- bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit)
Expert tips
A few tips here: the oven must be well pre-heated before you pop them in. The amounts listed below are enough for 30 cookies, so l had to arrange them onto 3 baking trays.
Don't get the trays in at the same time, better one by one to ensure an even bake. Depending on the size on your cookies, they should take 8-10 minutes to bake, but make sure to check them after 8 minutes.
If you take them out of the oven before 10 minutes, they will be softer, but if you want a good crunch, leave them for 12 minutes. The colour should still be a pale yellow, so don't leave them any longer than that, or the edges will burn. You might need to get the second batch out sooner, since the oven is really hot by now, but do keep an eye on them.
Best icing for sugar cookies
This must be the easiest icing to make. It doesn't need any butter or cream cheese, as it usually requires for cupcakes, but only icing/confectioner's sugar and milk (full fat one!!!), and a bit of vanilla extract for flavour. No need for corn syrup either.
If you choose to make the icing in different colours, add the food colouring paste with the other ingredients and mix well. Try to avoid liquid food colouring, it's not as good as the paste one.
The icing is really shiny and easy to spread, but once it's on the cookies, it hardens, so best to put the sprinkles on straight after, otherwise they won't stick.
You can, of course, leave them without sprinkles, that's absolutely fine. Just the icing should do. I used a piping bag with a really small round nozzle, and that did a great job at spreading the icing.
Now, the icing might not be spread quite perfectly well, l have dead hands when it comes to decorating and using precision. I usually need to try a few times before l can make a straight line.
Cookies for every occasion
Anyway, l did try my best with these cookies, l think in the end they don't look as bad as l thought they would. So, l'm kind of happy with the result. Give these easy cut out cookies a try, they are super douper yummy.
And possibly, the best Christmas Star Biscuits in the world. Just don't have too many, they are sugary. Well the name itself says it all, so moderation is the key to a happy life!
The best thing about this basic sugar cookie dough recipe is that it can be used for pretty much any other celebration, just use different cookie cutters and different icing colours, and you get yummy cookies for Valentine's Day, Easter, you name it!
If you’ve liked my CHRISTMAS STAR COOKIES or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Christmas Star Cookies
Ingredients
For the dough
- 100 g butter, soften
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing
- 200 g icing/confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoon full-fat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate:
- sprinkles/hundred and thousands (optional)
Instructions
- To make the dough, mix together the butter and sugar using a hand mixer, then add the egg and mix to get a smooth paste.
- Add the flour and vanilla extract and knead well to get an elastic dough.
- Cover the dough with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough on the work surface, and use a star-shaped cookie cutter to shape 30 stars.
- Arrange onto 2 baking trays lined with baking paper, cover the trays with clingfilm, then chill in the fridge for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Bake the cookies one tray at the time for 8-10 minutes, they will still have a pale yellow colour, but will be firm to touch.
- Arrange on a plate and leave to cool completely.
- To make the icing, sift the sugar, add the milk and vanilla extract and mix well to get a smooth paste.
- Fill a piping bag with the icing sugar, and using a small round nozzle, ice every cookie, then sprinkle with any festive sprinkles or decorations.
Video
Notes
- Click on the US Customary link to see the measurements displayed in cups and ounces.
- The servings can be adjusted by clicking the number next to Servings.
- A few tips here: the oven must be well pre-heated before you pop them in. The amounts listed below are enough for 30 cookies, so l had to arrange them onto 3 baking trays.
- Don't get the trays in at the same time, better one by one to ensure an even bake. Depending on the size on your cookies, they should take 8-10 minutes to bake, but make sure to check them after 8 minutes.
- If you take them out of the oven before 10 minutes, they will be softer, but if you want a good crunch, leave them for 12 minutes. The colour should still be a pale yellow, so don't leave them any longer than that, or the edges will burn. You might need to get the second batch out sooner, since the oven is really hot by now, but do keep an eye on them.
Nutrition
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Shelly F.
In the frosting you put 1 vanilla extract, is that 1 tsp or 1 tbsp
Daniela Anderson
It’s one teaspoon, however you can add more if you like, it won’t change the texture, just adds more flavour.
Diane
I just found the US Customary Link for this sugar cookie recipe. Thank you for including this helpful link, it will be a great time-saver!!!