Christmas Eve Sugar Cookies: A Tradition 17 Years in the Making
Some recipes are made for the table. Others are made for memories.
For our family, this Christmas sugar cookie recipe has been part of Christmas Eve since our daughter’s very first Christmas. Seventeen years later, we’re still pulling out the cookie cutters, mixing up the icing, and gathering together to decorate.
Depending on our schedule, sometimes we bake and decorate the cookies on Christmas Eve, and sometimes we bake them the day before. But one part never changes: we always decorate them together on Christmas Eve.
It’s something our kids still look forward to every year.
It’s Not Really About the Cookies
Here’s the thing about family traditions: they don’t have to be complicated to become important.
You can make your sugar cookies completely from scratch. You can grab refrigerated cookie dough. You can even buy premade cookies and set out icing and sprinkles.
It really doesn’t matter.
Because years from now, your kids probably won’t remember whether the dough came from a family recipe or the grocery store. They’ll remember sitting around the table together. They’ll remember the sprinkles everywhere, the cookies piled with way too much icing, and everyone laughing at the one cookie that looked nothing like it was supposed to.
It’s the act of doing something together that holds the memory.
That’s why decorating Christmas cookies can be such an easy family tradition to start. There’s no big itinerary or elaborate plan. You just need a little time together and, preferably, plenty of sprinkles.
When the Kids Start Taking Over
In our family, we do make our sugar cookies from scratch. And in the last few years, our daughter has started baking them herself.
That part gets me.
The little girl whose first Christmas started this tradition is now the one in the kitchen making the cookies.
Traditions have a way of growing up right alongside our kids. What starts with little hands covered in icing eventually becomes teenagers who know exactly which cookie cutter they want and how they like to decorate their cookies.
And someday, I hope she and her brother pull out a bowl, some cookie cutters, icing, and sprinkles and start this same tradition with their own kids.
Maybe they’ll even use this recipe.
Our Family Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe
Speaking of the recipe, I’m letting you in on a family secret.
As a special Christmas treat, I’m sharing the homemade sugar cookie recipe we’ve used to make all those memories.
For your eyes only!
Sugar Cookie Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
How to Make the Sugar Cookies
- Mix the shortening, sugar, and eggs.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
- Chill if needed. If the dough feels too soft or sticky to roll easily, cover and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes. This will make it easier to roll and cut into shapes.
- Roll and cut. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin to prevent sticking. Roll the dough to about ¼-inch thick, then use your favorite cookie cutters to cut it into shapes.
- Bake at 375°F for 8–10 minutes.
- Cool completely. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure the cookies are fully cooled before icing so the icing doesn’t melt or run.
- Ice the cookies with powdered sugar icing.
Our Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe
Of course, the cookies are only half the fun. Decorating them together is what makes Christmas Eve special.
This is the icing recipe we use for our Christmas sugar cookies.
Icing Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream (sub milk if desired)
How to Make the Icing
- Beat butter and shortening until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in vanilla.
- Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Mix until combined.
- Add 2 more cups of powdered sugar and 2 more tablespoons of heavy cream. Mix until light and fluffy. If needed, add another tablespoon of heavy cream to thin icing. Add a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to thicken icing.
- Divide the frosting between bowls and stir in food coloring. Decorate cooled cookies as desired.
- Frosting will set and harden after a few hours. Store the cookies in a sealed container at room temperature.
Can You Make Christmas Sugar Cookies Ahead of Time?
Absolutely. In fact, we do it ourselves when Christmas Eve is especially busy.
If your family has church, gatherings, travel, or other Christmas Eve plans, bake your sugar cookies the day before and save the decorating for Christmas Eve. That way, you still get the part of the tradition that matters most without trying to squeeze baking, cooling, icing, and decorating into an already packed day.
For us, decorating together is the tradition. Baking can happen whenever it works best.
Decorating Christmas Cookies With Kids
You don’t need a picture-perfect cookie decorating setup to make this fun.
Put out several colors of icing along with sprinkles and other favorite toppings. Give everyone a few cookies and let them create whatever they want.
Turn on Christmas music or a favorite holiday movie while you decorate. Make hot chocolate. Take pictures. And definitely take a picture of the finished cookies, especially the funny ones.
If you have younger children, this is also where premade cookies can make life much easier. There’s no rule that says a meaningful family tradition has to be homemade from beginning to end.
The goal isn’t a perfect cookie.
The goal is time together.
How to Start a Christmas Eve Cookie Tradition
If your family doesn’t already have a Christmas Eve tradition, cookie decorating is an easy one to start because you can make it fit your family and your season of life.
Maybe you bake everything from scratch. Maybe you buy the cookies. Maybe Grandma joins you every year. Maybe everyone decorates one special cookie for Santa. Maybe you choose a Christmas movie to watch while you work.
And your tradition doesn’t have to look exactly the same every year.
Ours certainly hasn’t.
The kids have grown. Schedules have changed. Our daughter has started doing the baking. But every Christmas Eve, we still find our way back to the table to decorate those cookies.
The Traditions They Carry With Them
Christmas can become so focused on gifts, schedules, meals, parties, and everything we think we need to do to make the season special.
But sometimes the things our children remember most are much simpler.
A familiar recipe. A messy kitchen table. Christmas music playing in the background. The same cookie cutters coming out of the cabinet every December.
Seventeen years ago, we made sugar cookies with our daughter on her first Christmas. We had no idea we were beginning something she and her brother would still look forward to all these years later.
Someday, I hope I get to see them make these cookies with their own children.
Because sometimes you don’t realize you’re making a memory until it becomes a tradition.
