Is there a better sweet treat during the holidays than a soft, frosted sugar cookie decorated in holiday fashion? This sugar cookie recipe has been in my husband’s family for generations. It is by far our favorite sugar cookie, not because it’s a “family” recipe, but because in addition to the usual sugar cookie ingredients, this recipe contains cream cheese and almond extract giving the cookies a soft, rich texture with a flavorful punch. I have been making these cookies every year for several decades now and just can’t seem to get enough of them. I’m excited to share this generational family recipe with you.
Origin of These Holiday Sugar Cookies
We don’t know exactly where this recipe originated, but the original recipe calls for oleo (also known as margarine). That tells us this recipe likely dates to at least around World War II. Oleo, the antiquated name for margarine, is shortened from the French word “oléomargarine” created by French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès in 1869. He won a contest held by Emperor Napolean III to combat the butter shortage.
A Little About Oleo
Oleo was at first made from beef tallow (or beef fat which is harder in consistency than pig lard). Today, known as margarine, it is made from vegetable fat making it plant based and dairy free. It became very popular during wartime as a cheap butter substitute. It was originally white in color thus needing food coloring to make it resemble butter. Today, it can still be found in some grocery stores, but you mostly only see it listed in old recipes from our grandmothers’ (WWII) generation or older. If you have a family recipe with oleo as an ingredient, don’t fret, just use margarine or butter which is what we’re using in this recipe.
Ingredients for Holiday Sugar Cookies
I love the ingredients in this sugar cookie recipe, specifically the cream cheese and the almond extract. For the cookie ingredients, you’ll need salted butter (or oleo/margarine), cream cheese, granulated sugar, 1 egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, all-purpose flour, salt (if not using salted butter), and baking powder. In addition, the frosting and topping ingredients include powdered sugar, milk, food coloring, and holiday sprinkles or other edible décor.
Make the Holiday Sugar Cookie Dough
Make & Chill the Dough at least 1 Day Ahead
This cookie dough is best made the day before you want to bake the cookies. The dough needs to be chilled for at least a few hours to overnight for easy rolling and cutting. The easiest part of making these cookies is mixing the ingredients, particularly if you have a stand mixer, if not, you can stir the ingredients using a large bowl and spoon.
Combine the Butter & Cream Cheese
To stand mixer bowl or large bowl, add 226 grams (2 sticks or 8 ounces) of room temperature butter. I use salted butter in this recipe because salt enhances sweetness, and this recipe doesn’t call for salt. If using unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt with the flour mixture. Use the paddle attachment or electric hand mixer and blend until the butter is soft and creamy. Add 226 grams (1 package / 8 ounces) of cream cheese. You’ll notice we have equal amounts of butter and cream cheese, thus lots of richness goes into these cookies. Mix again until combined and creamy.
Add Sugar, Egg, & Extracts
Add 300 grams (1½ cups) of granulated sugar. Mix again until the mixture is creamy. Crack an egg in a separate bowl to eliminate broken shells or a bad egg and pour it into the butter mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Mix until the ingredients are combined and fluffy.
Combine Dry Ingredients: Flour & Baking Powder
In a separate medium bowl, add 420 grams (3½ cups) of all-purpose flour. Then, add 4 grams (1 teaspoon) of baking powder (and ¼ teaspoon of salt if using unsalted butter). Give it a quick stir. With the machine on low, slowly add in the flour mixture. Continue to run the machine until all the ingredients are combined. If using a spoon or electric hand mixer, add the flour in 2-3 stages stirring in between each stage.
Cover & Chill Sugar Cookie Dough: Overnight up to 3 Days
To save space in my fridge, I transfer the dough to a separate, smaller bowl and cover. Regardless, place the covered dough in the fridge overnight for up to three days until you’re ready to roll, cut, and bake the cookies.
Roll Dough & Cut Out Holiday Sugar Cookies
Remove Sugar Cookie Dough from Fridge
The day after making the cookie dough (or up to 3 days later if refrigerated), you can roll, cut, and bake the cookies. Remove the dough from the fridge, it should be firm almost hard since the dough includes butter; butter has a harder firmness than margarine. I prefer to set my dough out for 10-15 minutes before rolling it. However, as you roll the dough it begins to soften.
Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pans
Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats for an easy cleanup.
Prepare Work Surface
Flour & Sugar OR Powdered Sugar
Add a little flour and granulated sugar to a work surface. Whenever I roll and cut cookies, I like to use a combination of flour and sugar. The flour prevents sticking while the sugar adds sparkle and sweetness to the cookie exterior. In place of the flour and sugar mixture, you could just use powdered sugar. The powdered sugar absorbs in the cookie so there’s no white powder on the baked cookie and the cookie stays sweet on the exterior.
Divide, Roll Out, & Cut Out Cookie Dough
Divide & Roll Out Cookie Dough
To make rolling the dough manageable, divide the dough in half and return one dough half to the bowl. You can wrap one dough half in plastic and return it to the fridge for a different day or freeze for even later. Use a rolling pin to roll out the remaining dough half. Roll until the dough is ⅛- ¼-inch thick. Add flour and sugar to the work surface as needed to prevent sticking. Depending on the holiday, you can use whatever shaped cookie cutters you like or have. Since I usually make these at Christmas time, I like to use Christmas cookie cutters, but I have used hearts for Valentine’s Day, eggs and bunnies for Easter, sports themed for the summer, and small letters to spell Happy Birthday for a friend. 😉
Cut Out Cookies, Place on Baking Pan, & Bake
Use desired cookie cutters and stamp out the cookies. Place each on a prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. They will spread some but not much. Once you have one pan filled, place the cookies in the oven and bake for 7-8 minutes for soft cookies and 8-9 minutes for firm cookies. They will not brown much (if at all) on the bottoms. The cookies should be pale on top and bottom. While one pan of cookies bakes, continue rolling and cutting out cookies until all the dough is used. You can bake one batch of cookies today and keep the remaining dough half in the fridge or freeze until you’re ready to bake them. If freezing the dough, allow the dough to thaw overnight in the fridge.
Cool Cookies
Once the cookies are out of the oven, let them sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes to firm before removing them. Place another pan in the oven to bake. After 2 minutes, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Then continue to fill the baking sheet with additional shaped cookie dough.
Make the Frosting & Decorate the Cooled Holiday Sugar Cookies
Make the Powdered Sugar Frosting
Once the cookies are all baked and cooled, leave them naked as they are or decorate them. To make the frosting, you can make one color or many colors. Regardless of the color, the recipe is virtually the same, minus the color of course. To a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of milk. Heat them together in the microwave for 10-20 seconds or until melted. Stir. Add 120 grams (1 cup) of powdered sugar and ⅛ teaspoon of almond extract. Stir and add another 1 -3 tsp of milk until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency; not too thick that it doesn’t spread, but not too thin that it spreads off the cookie. For colored frosting, use the same recipe but add and stir in several drops of food coloring at the end to reach the desired color.
TIPS: Melting both the butter and a little milk first prevents the mixture from being lumpy. Once cold milk hits the butter, the butter solidifies; thus, melting a little milk with the butter maintains a smooth consistency. If the mixture is too thin and runs off the cookie, stir in more powdered sugar until the consistency is thick enough to spread and stay on the cookie.
Decorate the Cooled Holiday Sugar Cookies
Use the back of a spoon, spatula, or knife to spread frosting on a cookie. While the frosting is still wet, add sprinkles, non-pareils, or other edible décor to the tops. Allow the frosting to set before eating or storing the cookies.
TIP: Frost and decorate the cookies over a baking sheet or pan with sides to keep any loose topping and frosting from falling on the table or floor.
Holiday Sugar Cookies Close Up
The frosting is set thanks to the butter helping it to solidify. The décor on the frosting stays on the cookie. The bottoms are pale like the tops. The cookie crumb is soft and tender on the inside and out thanks to the cream cheese.
Storage Suggestions
Store these cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to several days. Once frosted, place wax paper between the cookies so they don’t stick together. For longer storage, freeze in a sealed container between sheets of wax paper. Gift these to family and friends for the holidays and add them to your holiday cookie platter. This recipe of cookies makes a lot, so you have plenty to share and enjoy.
Make Now & Bake Later
This recipe makes a large batch of dough around 6 dozen (72) cookies. You can bake half the dough when ready and store the other half in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to several months. From frozen, thaw the dough in the fridge overnight before rolling, cutting, and baking.
Holiday Sugar Cookies: Final Thoughts
I’m not kidding when I say these are our favorite sugar cookies. The cream cheese combined with butter, sugar, and almond extract make (for us) the perfect bite of sweetness. The flavored frosting highlights the almond almost cherry flavor. They are very sweet. They remind me a lot of those bakery store-bought cookies that are thick, round, and topped with a thick, seasonal colored frosting with sprinkles… you know the ones!! 😋
Baker’s Perspective
Depending on my schedule, I can make, bake, and decorate the cookies over a 2-day period or multiple days. I like that this recipe can be made from start to finish in stages over days, weeks, or even months. This includes making the frosting and decorating the cookies on another day different from the day they are baked. These cookies are versatile to make for any season, holiday, or event. The dough is soft and easy to roll and manipulate once it warms up to room temperature. The frosting is thick and easy to spread on the cookies. I really hope you give these cookies a try and get your kiddos involved. These cookies are so much more enjoyable to make when you have family and friends to help you frost and decorate them. My husband even gets in on the action and helps me decorate when I’m too tired. He’s a gem; I think I’ll keep him a while. 😊
Taster’s Perspective
Yummy, yum, yum! These cookies are soft and tender thanks to the cream cheese. The almond extract takes these cookies to another level adding an almost cherry nuance. The frosting is sweet and compliments the cream cheese and butter base. The edible décor provides texture and a little crunch to the soft and tender crumb. Yum! It is such a treat for me to make and eat these at least once a year.
Check out my YouTube video on making these sugar cookies. “Holiday Sugar Cookies: Family Fav- Cream Cheese Creates Softness & Almond Extract Enhances Flavor“
Holiday Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough:
- 226 g (2 sticks / 8 oz) salted butter room temperature; if using unsalted butter, add ¼ tsp salt with the flour
- 226 g (1 pkg / 8 oz) cream cheese softened
- 300 g (1½ cups) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 420 g (3½ cups) all-purpose flour fluffed, scooped, & leveled off if using measuring cup
- 4 g (1 tsp) baking powder
- 1 g (¼ tsp) salt ONLY if using unsalted butter
Frosting:
- 1 tsp butter
- 1-4 tsp milk
- 120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- 2-4 drops or more desired food coloring optional
Decorative Topping:
- sprinkles
- non-pareils etc.
Instructions
Make the Dough: Night Before up to 3 Days Before Baking
- To a stand mixer bowl or large bowl, add butter and use paddle attachment to mix until soft and creamy. Add cream cheese and mix again until combined and creamy. Add sugar and blend again until fluffy.TIP: Use a large bowl and spoon to stir or electric mixer to combine ingredients.
- Add egg, vanilla, and almond extracts. Mix until combined.TIP: Crack egg in a separate bowl to eliminate broken shells or a bad egg and pour it into the butter mixture.
- To a separate medium bowl, stir together flour and baking powder (and salt if using unsalted butter). With machine on low, slowly add in flour mixture. Continue to run the machine until all the ingredients are combined. Cover bowl and store in fridge overnight for up to 3 days.TIP: If stirring by hand or using an electric mixer, add flour mixture in 2-3 stages stirring or mixing in between each stage.
Following Day or Days Later
- Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Remove cookie dough from fridge and allow to soften ~10 minutes on counter. Add a little flour and granulated sugar to a work surface. Divide dough in half and return one dough half to the bowl. Use a rolling pin to roll out remaining dough half to ⅛-¼-inch thick. Use cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place each on a prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart.TIPS: Use powdered sugar instead of flour and sugar to roll out dough. Sugar maintains sweetness on the cookie exterior. Save other dough half to make cookies at a later date. Store dough in sealed container or wrapped in plastic in fridge if using within a couple of days; store in freezer to bake weeks or months later. If freezing the dough, allow the dough to thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Bake cookies in the oven for 7-9 minutes or until the tops are set. While one pan bakes, continue rolling and cutting out cookies until all the dough is used.TIP: Baking for 7-8 minutes produces a soft cookie; longer baking makes them firm to crunchy.
- Once baked, let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes to firm before transferring them to cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting & Decorate:
- To a small bowl, add 1 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of milk. Heat them together in the microwave for 10-20 seconds or until melted. Stir. Add powdered sugar and almond extract. Stir again and add another 1 -4 tsp of milk until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. For colored frosting, add drops of food coloring to reach desired color.TIP: If mixture is too thin and runs off the cookie, stir in more powdered sugar until the consistency is thick enough to spread and stay on the cookie.
- Once cookies have cooled completely, use the back of a spoon, spatula, or knife to spread on the frosting. While the frosting is still wet, add sprinkles, non-pareils, or other edible décor to the tops. Allow the frosting to set before eating or storing the cookies.
Video
Notes
This recipe makes a large batch of dough. You can bake half the dough and store the other half in the fridge for up to 3 days or freezer for up to several months. From frozen, thaw dough in the fridge overnight before rolling, cutting, and baking.
You might be interested in some of these other holiday recipes.
Cinnamon Rolls & Yeast Rolls: One Recipe & One Prep
Chinese Almond Ginger Sugar Cookies
Cinnamon Buttery Apple Biscuits
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