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Vanilla Sugar Cookies - these basic cookies are a must for Christmas or other festive event, such as birthday or anniversary. Make them festive by adding sprinkles! Also, read my note below for how to make sure that these vanilla sugar cookies have a perfect texture and are not dry.
So, are you looking for a simple, delicious, and festive Holiday cookie recipe that does not involve a lot of time and effort but still looks like a true Christmas cookie? Then, try these perfectly shaped vanilla sugar cookies, decorated with colorful sprinkles! My other favorite simple Christmas cookie recipes are these almond shortbread cookies and pecan shortbread cookies.
Do you notice this really cute, rounded (not flat) shape of these cookies? It makes them very attractive, and the secret to achieving such rounded cookie top is to roll the cookie dough into 1-inch balls (then roll in sprinkles), freeze them for 30 min, then refrigerate for 30 min and only then do you bake the cookies.
As a result, your vanilla sugar cookies will have this nice rounded top:
Rolling the cookies generously in sprinkles creates a festive look without much effort. This is a perfect vanilla sugar cookie recipe if you don't have time to frost them or otherwise decorate them.
How to avoid dry cookie dough?
Is your cookie dough too dry and the cookies crumble after baking? Here is how to make sure it doesn't happen.
It usually happens because you have used too much flour. So, let's make sure we measure the flour the right way. The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first.
- Aerate the flour by sifting it using a strainer.
or
- Aerate the flour by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry cookie dough!
I am usually very short on time so rolling these Christmas cookies in sprinkles works for me as a perfect way to dress them up!
I love this recipe and will definitely be making these vanilla sugar cookies again!
Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour , sifted or aerated – see my notes below
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter (226 grams), room temperature (let the butter from refrigerator sit on the counter for about an hour or so), not melted but softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract pure
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine together flour and salt and mix.
- In a separate bowl, using electric mixer, beat softened butter and granulated sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add an egg and vanilla – continue beating for a couple minutes. Turn off the electric mixer, add flour-salt mixture and then continue beating on low speed until well-combined but without over mixing.
- Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Roll these cookie balls in sprinkles. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Freeze until firm, for about 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350 degrees F in the preheated oven for 14 minutes. Do not over-bake. Remove from the oven, and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour, or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I just made these, & am trying to figure out the calorie value per cookie, I believe it's 96 ? Did anyone else try this , lmk thanks:)
I made these and they tasted good, but retained the little ball shape.
I made these, and they were good! And they looked so pretty with all of the sprinkles. I like to read through comments on recipes to see if there were common problems or ideas that were good. I wanted to report that mine were NOT dry whatsoever. 🙂 Measuring and using the correct amount of flour is key in all baked goods.
Thank you Kristen!! I read through all these comments and I saw that Julia had originally written to make sure and sift the flour first. And I hadn't read anyone that had done that and had issues. I am going to be making these today! Thank you ladies!!!
Hi. I looovvveee these, did a batch a few weeks ago and they are beautiful! I was wondering if you can freeze the dough so I could make them in advance for a party?
Thanks
Thank you - I am glad you liked them! Yes, the dough freezes really well for these cookies. I would roll them into balls and then freeze them that way. That will save you a step of defrosting the dough and rolling into balls. Plus, frozen cookie dough balls will result in better shaped cookies when baked.
LOVE, ♥, LOVE those pretty sprinkles! Cookies look fabulous! {pinning!}
was very excited to make these... same dry dough issue. had to just take a handfull of crumbles and knead in hand...then the sprinkles didnt stick as well as i thought they would. they were so hard after being in the freezer for 25 min that i skipped the fridge and baked. they stayed in the exact shape they were rolled into. but tasty !!!
Hi Jen! Thanks for stopping by - it seems like you have used too much flour. The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour, or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. In fact, if you use the method of aerating flour I just described, you will have a much higher success rate with most baking recipes on the web, because when the recipes call for cups of flour, the flour is supposed to be sifted (aerated). Hope this helps! 🙂
I ran out if sprinkles so i replaced it with crushed candy canes. it They are delicious!
It's very easy to run out of sprinkles with these cookies! 🙂 I bet crushed candy canes were so good too! So glad you liked the cookies! 🙂
who doesn't love sprinkles?!
Hi, the cookies look scrumptious but before I can even attempt to make them I would need to what the measurement of 2sticks of butter is in grams. We only get butter in 250/500g bricks here.
Thanks
Beena, 1 stick of American butter is 113 grams, so 2 sticks will be 226 grams. I will update the recipe to reflect it. 🙂
They look adorable! Thanks for sharing!
So adorable with ALL those sprinkles (better rolling around your floor than on mine..LOL) pinned
Averie, thank you so much for stopping on my blog! And thanks for pinning the cookies! 🙂
So cute! Made these last night. Dough came out a bit dry though. And I think perhaps 30 minutes in the freezer/refrig might have been a bit too much. They stayed in their ball shape. But good little bite sized cookies!! Super festive using green, red and white sprinkles! Thanks!!
Lara, thanks for stopping by! So glad you liked them! What's interesting mine came out not dry at all, I even thought of adding more flour. 🙂 I think it's because when I measure my flour I fluff it up or sift it, so that it's not packed in a measuring cup. How do you measure your flour? Do you sift it, or do you grab it out of the bag with the measuring cup?
I made this last night as well, and had the same issue with the dry dough. I came back to see if anyone else did, but I did not sift the flour, so I will try it again. They were still yummy! Are they supposed to stay small?
Definitely sift the flour! Or, what I usually do, is I grab a smaller measuring cup (1/3 cup), use it as a scooper filling only half of it with flour, then I shake it up and down and to the sides to fluff up the flour (so that it's not packed) and then I pour the flour from this cup into 1 cup measuring cup, making 2 or 3 scoops. That way, flour is not packed but has air now. 🙂 Cookies don't have to be small - it's up to you! 🙂 I've made them different sizes as well.
These are perfect little cookies! Love the sprinkles - so festive for this time of year!