Whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or another holiday, homemade treats can add a personal touch to your celebrations. Sugar cookies are a classic holiday treat, but you can add some extra sparkle by baking the dough in mini muffin tins to create adorable sugar cookie cups perfect for filling with your favorite holiday treats. Try these holiday-inspired variations on your favorite sugar cookie recipe for a seasonal twist that is sure to impress your family and friends this holiday season.
Here are our top 5 tried and tested recipes!
HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES
I add a hint of lemon to these delightful sugar cookies. For make-ahead convenience, freeze the dough up to three months, then thaw in the fridge before baking and decorating them. -Katie Koziolek, Hartland, Minnesota
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Desserts
Time 35m
Yield about 9-1/2 dozen.
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into three 10-in. rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm., Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks., In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk and food coloring until smooth; transfer to a resealable plastic bag; drizzle over cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree. Place one Red Hot at the top of each tree.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 169 calories, Fat 7g fat (4g saturated fat), Cholesterol 30mg cholesterol, Sodium 97mg sodium, Carbohydrate 24g carbohydrate (13g sugars, Fiber 0 fiber), Protein 2g protein.
HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE CUPS
Too-cute cookie cups are the perfect kid-friendly holiday treat, made easy with the help of Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix and frosting.
Provided by Ready Plan Save
Time 1h30m
Yield 36
Number Of Ingredients 5
Steps:
- Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup candy sprinkles. Shape into 36 (1 1/4-inch) balls. Place in mini muffin cups. Press indentation in center of each with end of wooden spoon.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately repeat indentation into center of each cookie with end of clean wooden spoon to make 1-inch opening, cleaning off end with paper towel when needed. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Loosen edges with small knife if needed. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
- In small bowl, place half of the frosting. Tint red with food color. Place large piping bag fitted with medium star tip on its side. Using large icing spatula, spoon remaining vanilla frosting so it covers half of the length of side of piping bag. Carefully spoon red tinted frosting on top. Insert tip into indentation in each cookie cup. Squeeze bag to fill opening, and pipe about 2 heaping teaspoons per cookie cup. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sprinkles. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIE CUPS
You may be the head elf in the kitchen, but if you want to get the little helpers involved, try these Holiday Sugar Cookie Cups. These deliciously cheerful treats are made with Betty Crocker™ Sugar Cookie Mix for that classic sugar cookie flavor, transformed into a red and green bite-sized confection. Don't forget to top it off with Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy Frosting. They're festive, fun and an easy way to pass down a holiday-making memory.
Provided by By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Categories Dessert
Time 1h30m
Yield 36
Number Of Ingredients 5
Steps:
- Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in 1/4 cup candy sprinkles. Shape into 36 (1 1/4-inch) balls. Place in mini muffin cups. Press indentation in center of each with end of wooden spoon.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately repeat indentation into center of each cookie with end of clean wooden spoon to make 1-inch opening, cleaning off end with paper towel when needed. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Loosen edges with small knife if needed. Remove to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
- In small bowl, place half of the frosting. Tint red with food color. Place large piping bag fitted with medium star tip on its side. Using large icing spatula, spoon remaining vanilla frosting so it covers half of the length of side of piping bag. Carefully spoon red tinted frosting on top. Insert tip into indentation in each cookie cup. Squeeze bag to fill opening, and pipe about 2 heaping teaspoons per cookie cup. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sprinkles. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 140, Carbohydrate 21 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Fat 1, Fiber 0 g, Protein 0 g, SaturatedFat 3 g, ServingSize 1 Cookie Cup, Sodium 85 mg, Sugar 14 g, TransFat 0 g
PERFECT HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES
This sensational sugar cookie is one that I found in "Taste of Home". The combination of extracts and the addition of cream cheese make them the tastiest and tenderest of treats! I was always a "cookie klutz" when it came to cut-out cookies, but with a few chef tricks up my sleeve and a darn good recipe, I made some cookies last Christmas that looked and tasted as if they came from the bakery. The frosting is from my Good Housekeeping cookbook. The recipe may seem long but that's because I've added some notes along the way. They're really very easy to make! I'll definitely be baking them again this season, so Santa won't be skipping my house-naughty or not!
Provided by Christmas Carol
Categories Dessert
Time 1h50m
Yield 4 Dozen
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
- Beat in the egg yolk and extracts.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda-gradually add to the creamed mixture.
- Divide into two equal portions and wrap well.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Note; Refrigerating your dough and baking sheets is the secret to perfectly shaped cut-out cookies/ The cookies won't"spread" as they bake- in other words, the shapes will be well-defined/ The points on the stars will be sharp, etc/ Also, your dough will be much easier to work with and won't stick to your cookie cutters, so the extra chilling time is well worth it.
- When dough has chilled, remove one half from refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- While oven is preheating, place cookie sheets in refigerator to chill.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to less than 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut with 2 1/2 inch floured cookie cutters.
- Reserve trimmings for re-rolling.
- Remove cookie sheets from fridge (do not grease them) and place cookies on them, 1 inch apart.
- Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
- Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
- Repeat with remaining portion of dough.
- Don't forget to put your cookie sheets back in the fridge once they have cooled/ They only need to chill for about 10 minutes.
- For your frosting, in a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff, about 5 minutes.
- Tint frosting with paste food colorings if desired.
- Keep tightly covered to prevent from drying out.
- Note; Of course you can use the regular food colorings you find in the supermarkets if you desire/ If you haven't tried the paste colorings, the colors are much more vivid than the regular food colorings/ Your X-mas trees will be much greener, Valentine hearts a brilliant red, etc/ Although they're somewhat pricier, a drop or two goes a long way.
- For detailed decorating, you can use decorating bags with small pointed tips/ You may need to thin frosting a bit to obtain right spreading or piping consistency.
- I sometimes collect pictures of decorated holiday cookies from my favorite magazines to give me some ideas.
- After decorating the cookies, set on wire racks to allow frosting to dry.
- Store in airtight, covered containers.
- Note: I am updating this recipe just to let you know about a little tip I just saw in a magazine. The person had cut out their cookies, placed them on baking sheets, and THEN refigerated them for about an hour before baking. You can do it this way also but I'd still chill your dough beforehand too, as it's easier to work with.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1384.9, Fat 55, SaturatedFat 33.7, Cholesterol 186.9, Sodium 849.6, Carbohydrate 217.9, Fiber 1.9, Sugar 161.8, Protein 9.6
ELAINE'S HOLIDAY CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES - CHRISTMAS
Grab your holiday cookie cutters and get busy on these wonderful cookies!!! The kids will enjoy making these cookies as much as they like eating them! YUM! Use your favorite icing, frosting, or glaze on them, then decorate or sprinkle some jimmy's or holiday sprinkles or candies on them! You can make these for any holiday party, but they are good anytime! ALSO: A trick I learned when doing sugar cookies, is to flour your cookie cutters if you notice the dough starting to stick to them when you are cutting them out. Just make sure you tap the cookie cutter after flouring, so you don't get too much on the cookies. ANOTHER TIP: When measuring flour, spoon tablespoonfuls into the measuring cup and DO NOT pack down. DO NOT scoop flour from the flour bag or container holding flour, as you don't get the right measurements, and your cookie dough will come out dry and crumbly. ( I got this tip for world famous baker, Nick Malgieri, at a cooking show in Chapel Hill NC a few years ago)
Provided by Lindas Busy Kitchen
Categories Dessert
Time 30m
Yield 20-40 depending on size of cookies cutters
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, to chill dough before rolling.
- Roll dough thickly. (about 1/4"). If you roll them too thin, they are hard to work with.
- Cut shapes, and put on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake 10-12 minutes.
- Cool on rack.
- Frost with your favorite frosting, icing, or glaze.
Tips:
- Use softened butter: This will make your dough easier to work with and will help the cookies spread less in the oven.
- Chill the dough before baking: This will help the cookies hold their shape and prevent them from spreading too much.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the baking sheet: This will help you get evenly sized cookies.
- Bake the cookies until the edges are just starting to brown: Overbaking will make the cookies dry and crumbly.
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating them: This will help the frosting set properly.
Conclusion:
These sugar cookie cups are a delicious and festive treat that are perfect for any holiday party. They're easy to make and can be decorated in any way you like. So get creative and have fun!
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