Description
Christmas Stocking Sugar Cookies are festive, buttery treats with soft centers and crisp edges. Decorate them with colorful royal icing and sprinkles for a playful, holiday-themed delight perfect for parties, gift-giving, or cookie trays. Fun to bake and even more fun to decorate, these cookies will brighten up any celebration!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cookies
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract (or almond extract)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
For the Royal Icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 8–10 tablespoons water
- Food coloring (red, green, pink, and any others)
- Optional: Assorted sprinkles (stars, nonpareils, glitter, etc.)
Instructions
- Prepare and Chill the Dough:
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until a dough forms.
- Divide the dough, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll and Cut:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thickness.
- Cut out cookies with a stocking-shaped cookie cutter.
- Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake:
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden.
- Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before decorating.
- Make Royal Icing:
- Whisk powdered sugar and meringue powder together.
- Gradually add water until soft peaks form. Adjust consistency for piping or flooding.
- Divide icing into bowls and add food coloring to each.
- Decorate:
- Outline the stocking with piping icing and let it set.
- Flood the cookie with thinner icing using a toothpick to spread evenly.
- Decorate the cuff with white icing for a fluffy texture.
- While wet, add sprinkles for a festive touch.
- Allow cookies to dry completely before handling.
Notes
- Chill the Dough: Chilling prevents the dough from spreading while baking.
- Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare the dough up to 3 days in advance or freeze for 2 months.
- Decorating Fun: Get creative with patterns, stitch details, or mini snowflakes on the stockings!
- Storage: Store in an airtight container for 5 days or freeze undecorated cookies for later.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes (+1 hour chilling)
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 50mg
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 30mg