12 Days of Christmas Cookies
My Grandmas Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies are pillowy soft and delightfully chewy without even a hint of crunch! The cookies themselves aren’t overly sweet but they are begging, demanding even, to be iced!
This is the same Grandmother who brought us these Soft Molasses Sugar Cookies, so you know they are going to be good!
The cookies themselves have just a hint of vanilla, and they taste just like those impossibly soft cookies you buy at the store. Except they are homemade with love.
What are the holidays without a little snow?
If I weren’t going to ship these cookies, I would have made a sweet, fresh strawberry frosting or a spiced cream cheese frosting.
But I did ship these little snowflakes out, so I went a more traditional route with a vanilla sugar cookie frosting.
The little bit of texture and incredibly sweet frosting pairs beautifully with the soft sugar cookies. It can easily be colored for any occasion.
This was surprisingly unfussy dough. It was very easy to work with and didn’t get inordinately hard in the refrigerator. It rolled out easily and didn’t need to be re-refrigerated before re-rolling.
Of all three rolled Christmas cookies that I have made, these are by far the easiest!
The buttermilk keeps it extra soft and pliable. Like I said before, grandmothers know best!
This is an incredibly simple icing recipe. I usually don’t measure, but for you I did.
Don’t be like me and think you’re all smart, “if milk is good, heavy cream will be better.”
It won’t be.
Heavy cream has a…wait for it…cream color and it will tint your frosting. Duh, Lindsey.
Milk is also less viscous so you won’t need as much to make the icing pipable.
To answer the question that you didn’t ask, but I know you’re dying to know, each snowflake is unique.
My Grandmas Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies are for the eleventh day of my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies! You won’t want to miss the Festive Almond Crinkle Cookies, No Bake Gingersnap Brandy Balls, Chocolate Pecan Tassies, Molasses Sugar Cookies, Old Fashioned Gingersnaps, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Old Fashioned Oat Lace Cookies, Raspberry Linzer Cookies, Holiday Bark or Cherry Pecan Cookies!
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Grandmas Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 10 hours
Description
My Grandmas Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies are pillowy soft and delightfully chewy without even a hint of crunch! Just how I like them. The cookies themselves aren’t overly sweet but they are begging, demanding even, to be iced!
Ingredients
For the Sugar Cookies:
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup buttermilk
For the Sugar Cookie icing:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3–5 teaspoons milk
Instructions
Make your Cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder; set aside.
- Beat eggs with fork in a large bowl then stir in sugar, butter and vanilla. Alternately add flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, stirring until well mixed.
- Refrigerate overnight. My aunt says you can do it for less time, but this is what I did.
Bake your Cookies:
- When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out dough until about ¼ inch thick, dip your cookie cutter in flour and cut out shapes. I bake all the same shapes on one sheet to ensure even baking.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed and the bottoms have browned but the centers are still slightly underdone. You can tell this because the centers are slightly darker than the outsides.
- Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Make your icing:
- Combine sugar and vanilla in a bowl and add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until it is your desired consistency. If it gets too thin, you can add more sugar to thicken. It will also thicken as it cools.
- I wanted mine to be a bit thicker so I could pipe it. If you are going to flood your cookies with frosting, you might need a bit more milk.
- I piped the cookies in this post by cutting off a tiny corner of a small plastic, zip-top baggie. You could also use a piping bag fitted with a small round tip to the same effect! But then you have to clean it…just sayin’…
Notes
The yield on this recipe will obviously vary by the cookie cutters that you choose to use. Mine yielded about 3 dozen large and small snowflakes.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
Tis the Season for festive desserts!
No Bake Gingersnap Brandy Balls
Grandma’s Molasses Sugar Cookies
Spiced Apple Cider Cranberry Cupcakes
Soft Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
58 Comments
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
December 19, 2014 at 8:17 amThese sugar cookies are absolutely gorgeous, Lindsey! Almost too pretty to eat…almost! 🙂 Your icing is beautiful, too. This might just be my favorite Christmas cookie of yours yet…such a classic and delicious treat. Pinned!
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:19 pmThanks, Gayle! Their prettiness didn’t stop me! lol!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter
December 19, 2014 at 8:59 amOh my gosh!!! Gorgeous gorgeous cookies! I love how pretty you decorated them! Classic sugar cookies always remind me of the holidays and yours look perfect!
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:19 pmMe too, Kelly! Thank you so much! I felt they turned out ok for a first try!
JoAnna E Moyers
December 22, 2020 at 4:15 pmIs the dough supposed to be sticky? What is it supposed to be like.?
Lindsey
December 23, 2020 at 9:23 amIt is a sticky dough. Just make sure you use enough bench flour to make your life easier 🙂
Amy (Savory Moments)
December 19, 2014 at 9:06 pmOh these cookies are so pretty! They look so light and delicate and really soft! Having recipes from your family is such a great thing, especially at the holidays.
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:24 pmThanks, Amy!
marcie
December 19, 2014 at 10:42 pmI love how fluffy and gorgeous these are! Butter and buttermilk instead of a ton of butter sounds like a great idea. Pinning to try! 🙂
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:25 pmThanks for the pin, Marcie! I was wary of the buttermilk but in the end it turned out perfectly! I should never have doubted…
Ella-HomeCookingAdventure
December 20, 2014 at 5:44 amNever used buttermilk for sugar cookies.. will definitely need to try them out.. made me curious..
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:25 pmThanks, Ella! It was surprisingly delicious!
David @ Spiced
December 21, 2014 at 8:52 amSugar cookies are probably my number 1 favorite cookie of all time…although can one really select a favorite cookie? I mean, there are so many good ones out there! But yes, these cookies are (were) delicious, and I’ve been begging my mail-lady to bring me more. She just keeps ignoring me and speeding right on by…splashing me with melted snow-slush in the process. In the words of Michelle Tanner, how rude!
Love these cookies…pinning them now!
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:33 pmYou just referenced Full House…and you are now my most favorite person ever! But to answer you question…no, one cannot choose a favorite cookie. It is just simply not possible.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
December 21, 2014 at 1:30 pmLindsey!!! These cookies are so pretty-looove them!
Lindsey
December 21, 2014 at 7:33 pmThanks, Kayle!
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting
December 22, 2014 at 1:32 amgrandma’s have the best cookie recipes!
Lisa
December 28, 2014 at 12:16 pmThis dough was a dream to roll out and work with. I chilled my dough for 6 hours (instead of overnight) and it was perfect! Thank you for our new family favorite sugar cookie roll out recipe!
Lindsey
December 29, 2014 at 12:16 amI’m so glad you liked it, Lisa! I’m glad 6 hours worked well! I guess my Aunt was right 🙂 Enjoy!
Pamela
November 15, 2016 at 3:57 pmSweet! It’s been chilling about that long! I was scrolling through, hoping I’d find a post like this!
Lindsey
November 15, 2016 at 3:59 pmI’m glad you found it, Pamela! Happy Baking!
Pamela
November 16, 2016 at 7:59 amOMC I have been searching forever for this kind of recipe! I loathe crunchy chewy sugar cookies! These are amazing, so soft and just barely sweet. I’m going with a minimal amount of frosting to keep them that way.
Pamela
November 16, 2016 at 5:10 pmOMC I have been searching forever for this kind of recipe! I loathe crunchy chewy sugar cookies!
These are amazing, so soft and just barely sweet. I didn’t frost them, I made them flower shaped, and dipped the tips of the petals in melted white chocolate chips.
They are divine!
Wish I could post a picture, but nothing I’m trying will let me.
Pamela
November 17, 2016 at 9:04 amI was also wondering (Because I hate the taste of cornstarch in frosting.), how I could richen up the cookie so I wouldn’t need it. I don’t want to add more sugar really, more like sour cream or cream cheese, without losing the texture. (I love to bake, but my experiments are never good)
Pearse
November 18, 2019 at 7:02 pmPamela, did it hold the shape well ?
Thanks
PF
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Annabelle
November 29, 2015 at 4:51 pmI was really excited to try this recipe, but they did not turn out at all! The dough was so sticky that I could hardly roll it out (I let the dough chill over night and used a floured rolling pin). Once I got it rolled out, I wasn’t able to get the cookies off the table to put on my cookie sheet (again, I used a floured surface). Any ideas on what went wrong? I’ve never had trouble with sugar cookies before.
Lindsey
December 1, 2015 at 10:29 amHi Annabelle, As I recall the dough was sticky and not like other sugar cookie doughs that I worked with before, but it didn’t stick to my counter after I rolled it out. The difference could simply be in how you measure your flour. When dough is sticking just keep adding more bench flour! You could also try rolling it out between parchment paper but I find this more trouble than it’s worth and sometimes it still sticks. Hope that helps! Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Annabelle
December 1, 2015 at 1:55 pmThanks for the advice Lindsey! I will try using more flour and giving it another go 🙂
Lindsey
December 2, 2015 at 10:51 amYou are most welcome, Annabelle! Good luck!
Annabelle
January 25, 2016 at 9:35 amI did try the cookies again! I measured flour the incorrect way and added a generous amount of bench flour and it worked perfectly. My daughter and I ate up all the cookies. We’ll be making heart shaped ones for Valentine’s day this year too 😉
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joanna
December 18, 2015 at 12:33 pmThis will seem silly, but did you measure the 1/2 cup of butter before you melted it or is the 1/2 cup measure of melted butter total? I ask because measuring the butter out before melted will yield less than 1/2 cup when melted.
Lindsey
December 18, 2015 at 2:17 pmIt’s not silly! Great question. I measure the butter before I melt it! Happy holidays!
Joanna
December 18, 2015 at 2:48 pmThank you. Happy holidays. I look forward to making these.
Lindsey
December 21, 2015 at 12:19 pmHappy Holidays, Joanna! I hope you enjoy!
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Lexi
February 3, 2016 at 2:18 pmGorgeous cookies! Worried about not using the correct amount of flour. Do you scoop your flour into the measuring cup or put the measuring cup right into your flour?
Thank you!
Lindsey
February 5, 2016 at 9:19 pmHi Lexi! I scoop my flour into my measuring cup with a spoon and then level it off without tapping it. Great question!
Mariam
February 10, 2016 at 9:22 pmSo gorgeous! What can I use in place of buttermilk? Look forward to trying these! 🙂
Lindsey
February 10, 2016 at 11:58 pmHi Mariam! You can stir one tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 cup of 2% or whole milk. Buttermilk is usually 2%. Enjoy!
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L
October 24, 2016 at 10:34 pmHi. When i made the cookies, it was very crumbling doigh. I couldnt really mix it. That is when i didnt put it in the fridge yet. Also, when you put it in the fridge, doesnt it get harder? The butter gets hard in the fridge, right? I havent baked it yet cuz i just put it in the fridge, but why do you have to put it in fridge? And why is my dough crumbly?? What could i add to make it better? Or is it too late?
Pamela
November 15, 2016 at 4:01 pmYou had to have measured the flour wrong. Mine was about twice as thick as cake batter, really not what you expect! But did you spoon the flour into a cup and level it? Don’t scoop flour! For this very reason! Good luck trying it again.
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Kristeen
December 25, 2017 at 10:14 amAnyone use almond flour? Will it come out the same?
Lindsey
December 26, 2017 at 12:19 pmHi Kristeen, I don’t think I would substitute all the flour for almond flour if you are looking for the same texture but a partial sub would be delicious!
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