Description
These Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookies are a festive and delightful treat perfect for the holiday season. Featuring a classic buttery sugar cookie base, they are crisp on the edges and tender inside, ideal for decorating with colorful icing to create fun and quirky ugly sweater designs. A charming and delicious addition to any holiday gathering or cookie exchange.
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 unsalted butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, ensuring the sugar is well incorporated.
- Add Eggs: With the mixer on low speed, add the two large eggs and two large egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar, mixing until fully combined.
- Scrape Bowl: Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure all ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Add Extracts: Resume mixing on low speed and add the vanilla extract and almond extract, blending thoroughly into the dough.
- Sift Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder for even distribution and to remove any lumps.
- Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients: Gradually mix in the sifted dry ingredients into the butter mixture about one cup at a time, mixing on low until the dough just comes together without overmixing.
- Chill Dough: Wrap the cookie dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm up, which helps maintain shape during baking.
- Preheat Oven: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) to ensure an even bake.
- Roll and Cut: On a floured surface, roll the chilled dough out evenly to your desired thickness. Using a sweater-shaped cookie cutter or freehand, cut out cookie shapes approximately hand-sized.
- Bake Cookies: Place cookies on a prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes, watching carefully for lightly golden edges to prevent burning.
- Cool Cookies: Let cookies cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to handle, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Decorate: Have fun decorating your cookies with icing and festive designs to resemble ugly Christmas sweaters, perfect for holiday celebrations!
Notes
- These sugar cookies have a perfect buttery and crispy texture that holds up well to decorating.
- Refrigerating the dough before rolling helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking.
- Use a sharp cookie cutter or a template for precise sweater shapes.
- Baking times may vary slightly depending on your oven; monitor cookies closely after 6 minutes.
- Decorate once completely cooled for best icing adherence and appearance.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 396
- Sugar: 25g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 14g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 50g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 90mg
