Sandra This classic Joanna Gaines Christmas Cookies Recipe features a sturdy, butter-rich dough creamed with superfine sugar and fragrant vanilla extract. Rolled out and stamped into festive shapes, these biscuits bake into a pale golden canvas with a tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb that holds its crisp edges perfectly for decorating. It is the quintessential holiday baking project, providing a reliable, fuss-free foundation for an afternoon of icing and decorating with the whole family.
Joanna Gaines Christmas Cookies Ingredients
The Cookie Dough:
- 225g (1 cup) Unsalted Butter: Softened to room temperature. This allows for proper creaming with the sugar.
- 1 cup Caster/Superfine Sugar: The finer grain dissolves faster than regular granulated sugar, resulting in a smoother, more tender cookie texture.
- 1 Large Egg: Room temperature, to bind the dough.
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract: High-quality vanilla is the primary flavor here.
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour: Provides the structure for cut-out shapes.
- Leavening: 3/4 tsp Baking Powder creates a slight lift without distorting the shapes.
- 3/4 tsp Salt: Balances the buttery sweetness.
Decoration (Optional):
- Royal Icing: For piping intricate designs.
- Melted Chocolate: For dipping.
- Silver Balls or Sprinkles: For festive flair.
How To Make Joanna Gaines Christmas Cookies
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the softened butter and caster sugar together on medium speed for about 1 minute. You want the mixture to be creamy and pale, but don’t over-beat it, or the cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until completely combined and smooth.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Start the mixer on low speed to avoid a flour cloud. Mix until the dough just starts to clump together. It will look shaggy, but do not overwork it.
- Shape and Chill: Turn the clumpy dough onto a floured work surface. Pat it together into a cohesive ball, then cut it in half. Shape each half into a flat disc. Chef’s Tip: If the dough feels warm or sticky, wrap the discs in plastic and chill for 15-20 minutes before rolling.
- Roll and Cut: Dust your surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out to your desired thickness: 1/8 inch for thinner, crispier cookies, or 1/4 inch for softer, thicker cookies. Use cookie cutters to press out your shapes.
- Transfer: Use a thin spatula or palette knife to carefully lift the shapes onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving a little space between them. Re-roll the scraps gently to cut more cookies.
- Bake: Bake for 10 minutes. Halfway through baking, swap the trays (move the top tray to the bottom rack and vice versa) to ensure even coloring. The cookies are done when the surface is pale golden and the edges are just barely turning light brown.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking trays. They will be soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool. Decorate once fully cold.
Recipe Tips
- Thickness Matters: The texture of this cookie depends entirely on how you roll it. For a sturdy cookie that stands up to heavy royal icing, aim for the thicker 1/4 inch roll. For a delicate tea biscuit, go thinner.
- The “Swap”: Most ovens have hot spots. Rotating the trays halfway through baking is the secret to ensuring every gingerbread man and star is the same shade of golden brown.
- Flour dusting: Be generous when flouring your work surface. This dough is rich in butter and can stick. Move the dough around frequently while rolling to ensure it isn’t glued to the counter.
- Room Temperature Egg: If your egg is cold, place it in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. A cold egg can shock the butter, causing the batter to curdle and separate.
What To Serve With Christmas Cookies
- Hot Cocoa: The ultimate dunking companion for a vanilla sugar cookie.
- Royal Icing: Essential for decorating.
- Mulled Wine: A spiced adult beverage pairs well with the vanilla notes.
- Ice Cream: Sandwich a scoop of peppermint ice cream between two cookies.
How To Store Christmas Cookies
- Room Temperature: Store cooled, undecorated cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week. If decorated with royal icing, ensure the icing is rock hard before stacking with wax paper between layers.
- Freeze: You can freeze the baked (undecorated) cookies for up to 3 months. Or, freeze the raw cut-out shapes on a tray and bake from frozen (add 1-2 minutes to cook time).
Christmas Cookies Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 96 kcal
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Sugar: 5g
- Protein: 1g
Nutrition information is estimated per cookie.
FAQs
Spreading usually happens if the butter was melted rather than softened, or if the dough got too warm before baking. If your cut-outs feel soft, pop the whole tray in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
Yes. You can make the dough discs and refrigerate them for up to 2 days. Let them sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes to soften slightly before rolling.
You can use regular granulated sugar, but the texture might be slightly grainier. You can make your own superfine sugar by pulsing granulated sugar in a food processor for 30 seconds.
Joanna Gaines Christmas Cookies Recipe
Description
A classic, reliable vanilla sugar cookie dough that holds its shape perfectly for holiday cut-outs and decorating.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar (1 min).
- Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt until clumpy.
- Shape into discs (chill if sticky).
- Roll to 1/4 inch thick; cut shapes.
- Bake at 350°F for 10 mins (swap trays halfway).
- Cool on trays.
- Decorate as desired.
Notes
- Rotating trays ensures even color.
- Roll thicker for soft cookies, thinner for crisp.
- Use superfine sugar for the best texture.
- Perfect canvas for royal icing.
