Description
Delightfully festive Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies are buttery, crispy sugar cookies perfect for holiday celebrations. These cookies feature rich vanilla and almond flavors, are easy to make, and provide a perfect canvas for fun and colorful ugly sweater designs that everyone will enjoy.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks or 340g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is fluffy and well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add Eggs: With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the eggs and egg yolks, mixing until fully incorporated and smooth.
- Scrape Bowl: Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Add Extracts: Turn the mixer back on low and add the vanilla and almond extracts, blending them into the mixture.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder to ensure no lumps and even distribution.
- Mix Dry with Wet: Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture about a cup at a time, mixing on low until just combined and a dough forms.
- Chill Dough: Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least one hour to firm up for easier rolling.
- Preheat Oven: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Roll Dough: Lightly flour a flat surface and roll out the chilled dough evenly to your desired thickness, usually about ¼ inch.
- Cut Shapes: Using a sweater-shaped cookie cutter or by hand, cut the dough into sweater shapes roughly the size of your hand or preferred size.
- Bake Cookies: Place the cookies on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning the edges.
- Cool Cookies: Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet until firm enough to handle, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Decorate: Once cool, have fun decorating your Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies with icing, sprinkles, and other festive embellishments.
Notes
- The BEST sugar cookie recipe ever, perfect for holiday celebrations with a classic buttery flavor and crisp texture.
- Ensure dough is well chilled before rolling to make cutting shapes easier and maintain the cookie shape while baking.
- Keep a close eye on baking time to avoid burning, as cookies can quickly overbake.
- Use your favorite royal icing, colored sugars, or edible decorations to personalize each cookie into a festive ugly sweater.
- These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week or frozen for longer storage.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 396 kcal
- Sugar: 25 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 13 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 51 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
