This Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe is the ONLY sugar cookie recipe I made during the holidays! It makes the most melt-in-your-mouth delicious cookies that cut out perfectly and hold their shape. Plus, they’re so easy to make!
I usually make these sugar cookies as snowflake sugar cookies, and they’re so pretty!
Table of Contents
- The Story Behind the Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Ingredients
- How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Tip for Success
- More Christmas Cookie Recipes
The Story Behind the Recipe
Okay, so the truth is, I have no idea if this recipe truly originates from Dolly, but if it did, thank you Dolly! Not only are you a super cool chick, but you gave me my go-to recipe for sugar cookies for going on probably 20 years now. I love Dolly Parton’s Sugar Cookie Recipe so much!
I happened across this fab recipe while googling – heck, maybe I was using Netscape (remember Netscape? Or am I alone?!) Anyway, I searched for a sugar cookie recipe, and found this one. Intrigued, I tried it out.
It was perfect.
(And as it turns out, Dolly Parton recipes have a bit of a cult following – she and her sister even have a cookbook now!)
One year, many Christmas seasons ago, my guy, his buddy, and I were snowed in for days. It was a weird, wonderful, memorable time – I’d never seen anything like it in all my years in Seattle.
One day, we spent an entire afternoon frosting sugar cookies of various shapes and drinking hot buttered rum. The guys totally got into it – cabin fever, I guess – and we had a blast.
These days, I usually go with classic snowflake shapes, but you can make these any shape you wish.
Why You’ll Love This Sugar Cookie Recipe
When I make Christmas sugar cookies, this is the only recipe I use. I’m convinced there is no better. My hope is that you’ll feel the same!
The taste (with just a little bit of lemon zest) is out of this world. The dough rolls and keeps its shape when cooking beautifully. And they taste amazing. Did I mention they’re delicious? (The dough is yummy, too).
Ingredients
For the Christmas sugar cookies:
- Butter – I like to go with unsalted butter for my baking. Make sure it’s at room temp so it blends easily.
- Sugar – White, granulated.
- Egg yolks – Save the whites for an omelette! You just want the yolks, here.
- Lemon zest – I think that the lemon + butter flavors take these Christmas sugar cookies over the top! Of course, if you prefer, you can swap in a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.
- Flour – Straight up all purpose flour, here.
For the icing:
- Powdered sugar – Sift it to make sure there aren’t any lumps.
- Milk – You can use dairy milk or plant-based milk, whichever you have on hand/prefer.
- Light corn syrup – This helps make the icing glossy and hold its shape when you want it to.
- Vanilla – I like to add a bit of vanilla extract to my icing.
How to Make Christmas Sugar Cookies
First, blend together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. Add in the egg yolks and lemon zest and blend well. Sift the flour over the top and blend together just until incorporated.
Place the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and bring it together into a ball. Wrap tightly and chill for at least 3 hours. When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven and roll your dough out into approx 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out shapes (I’m partial to snowflake sugar cookies!) and bake them.
You’ll want to bake these Christmas sugar cookies JUST until they begin to develop a bit of pinkish-brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once they’re cooled, whip up the icing and frost them however you like!
Tip for Success
- If your house is warm/you live in a warmer climate, I suggest working with half the dough at a time when rolling and cutting out shapes. Keep the other half in the fridge, chilling, so the dough doesn’t get too warm, which can result in the cookies spreading out when baking.
I hope these Christmas Sugar Cookies become a go-to sugar cookie recipe for you like it has for me! I love that they aren’t just pretty, they taste amazing too.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Mini Gingerbread Men (and Women!)
- Simple Gingerbread Tree Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- Sparkly Chocolate Snickerdoodles
Christmas Sugar Cookies (Dolly Parton’s Recipe!)
Ingredients
For the sugar cookies:
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened (4 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 1 medium lemon)
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- Icing and decorations of your choice (if desired)
For the icing:
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl of a stand mixer afixed with an S blade or with a hand mixer. Mix until pale yellow, fluffy, and well-incorporated.
- Add the egg yolks and lemon zest and mix until well-combined.
- Sift the flour over the wet ingredients, and mix just until combined.
- Knead together very gently until it forms enough of a ball to plop onto a piece of plastic wrap. Work the dough just enough to get it to stick together, but be careful not to overdo it. Honestly, I get so paranoid about overworking the dough that I pile the crumbs onto the plastic wrap, fold it up around the mound, and press it together that way.
- Completely wrap the dough with the plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least three hours.
- When you're ready to pull the dough out and prepare it, preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Roll out dough – I go as thin as 1/8 inch, but I prefer about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes, adding additional flour as necessary to avoid sticking. Place cookie shapes on a cookie sheet (no need to grease).
- Bake just until the cookies start to turn pinky beige around the edges, around 8 minutes. Let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet, then move to wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, add the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, corn syrup, and the vanilla to a small mixing bowl. Use a wire whisk or a fork to mix it well. If it's too thick, add more milk a teaspoon at a time. You want the icing to be thin enough to be pipeable but thick enough to hold a line. Transfer the icing into a piping bag with tip or a Ziploc bag with the end snipped off, and pipe the icing onto the cookies. Let the icing sit until it hardens before storing or assembling on cookie plates.
- Cookies keep up to one week in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Hi! I’m Karen – I’m a real person with real recipes. No A.I. here! Since 2009, every recipe on Kitchen Treaty is thoroughly tested and loved before I hit “publish.” I’m a home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m a vegetarian married to a carnivore, and my goal is to coexist deliciously.
Is that just plain sugar you sprinkled on the frosting?
Is there a printer friendly button? I would like to print this!
Actually it’s cupcake/cookie sprinkles. Plain sugar would probably work fine, it’s just a little finer so not quite as sparkly.
Hmm… not yet, but I should work on that! For now you could copy and paste into Notepad or Word, or I can create something for ya – let me know 🙂
I’m saving this recipe for Valentines Day.
Thanks.
Is the cookie hard or soft after it is baked?
What frosting recipe do you use? Does it harden to make storage easier? Thanks!
This recipe does not say when to add the lemon zest or the egg whites.
Hi Daniel, thank you for your comment! You’re right – it is missing the step for when to add the lemon zest and egg yolks. I must’ve somehow deleted that when I was updating it recently. I’ve added that step back – they’re added after you cream the butter and sugar together. Thank you again for pointing it out and I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
These cookies look so cute and delicious!!