Grandma’s Christmas Cookies

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Grandma’s Christmas Cookies will bring everyone into the holiday spirit. Buttermilk keeps the sugar cookies soft and tender, with great flavor. Perfect for frosting.

grandma's christmas sugar cookies on a wire rack

My grandma passed away Fall of 2021 at 99 years old. She (and my other grandma too) were the inspiration behind many of the recipes on Tastes of Lizzy T. They passed them on to my mom, who passed them on to me.

Although I have several cut out sugar cookies on our site that we make regularly, I had to share my grandma’s Christmas cookies recipe. I remember her making these every holiday season, and my sister made them when my grandma no longer could. I hope your family loves this simple recipe for Grandma’s Christmas Sugar Cookies as much as we do. ๐Ÿ’œ

  • Simple sugar cookie flavor, not overly sweet.
  • Buttermilk keeps them soft and tender. Not hard and crispy!
  • Perfect cookies for kids to frost quickly and easily with buttercream and sprinkles.
  • Makes a large batch of 48 cut out cookies.

You should also try our Christmas tree butter cookies!

How to Make Grandma’s Christmas Cookies

Plan two days to make these cookies. You’ll make the dough first, then chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator and roll the next day.

  • Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or an hand-held electric mixer), cream together the shortening and sugars.
creamed butter and shortening in a mixing bowl
  1. Add the buttermilk, vanilla and egg. Mix again, on low speed, so it does not splash. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will have a weird texture, not smooth at all, and that’s ok.
wet ingredients in a mixing bowl
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  2. Add the flour mixture to the shortening/sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl a few times during mixing to ensure it all gets incorporated together.
flour over wet ingredients in a mixing bowl
  1. Once the cookie dough is well mixed, move the dough to a glass bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill overnight.
cookie dough in a mixing bowl
  • This sugar cookie dough will be very sticky. That’s partly why they are so soft. You’ll need flour to roll the cookies out, but be careful how much you add. I measure out ½ cup of flour and don’t use more than that for rolling all of the cookies. Lightly flour the rolling pin as well.
  • Roll out the dough when it is cold. It will get stickier when it is at room temperature.
  • Divide dough into two balls. I do this to try to prevent the dough from picking up too much flour with multiple times of rolling it out.
  • Sprinkle a pastry mat with flour. The dough will be sticky so you want to be sure the pastry mat is well floured so the dough doesn’t stick. I use about a total of ½ cup more flour when rolling.
  • Cut the cookies with basic cookie cutter designs. Because the cookies puff up, they won’t hold intricate shapes well.
dough rolled out with cookie cutters

Best Way to Bake Sugar Cookies

Bake cookies on a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper or on silicone baking mats.

I tested my grandma’s Christmas cookies at several different oven temperatures. She had written down to use a very hot oven (425ยบ Fahrenheit). I found that 350ยบ Fahrenheit at about 9 minutes worked perfectly. I take the cookies out of the oven before the get brown at all. If you like a brown edge, feel free to leave them in the oven a minute or two longer.

baked sugar cookies on a baking pan

First of all, Grandma’s Christmas Cookies are NOT good for royal icing. The cookies are too soft and the royal icing will get wrinkles and crack. Use our cream cheese sugar cookie recipe or peanut butter cut out cookies for that.

This recipe is best with a simple powdered sugar glaze or a vanilla buttercream frosting. I highly recommend making your own vanilla buttercream. But if you’re really in a pinch you can use store bought frosting. Some bakeries allow you to buy their frosting too if you want a semi-homemade option.

Don’t forget to color some of the frosting with food coloring and then use sprinkles and decorations for the tops of the cookies.

sugar cookies with red and green frosting and sprinkles

How to Store and Freeze Christmas Cookies

Grandma’s Christmas cookies are safe to store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Then refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.

This cookie dough does not freeze well, but the cookies do freeze well after they are baked. Wrap the cookies tightly (preferably before frosting). When defrosting the cookies, take them out of the freezer and allow them to come completely thaw to room temperature before taking the cookies out of the packaging.

My Other Favorite Grandma Recipes:

If you love my grandma’s Christmas cookies, try one of these next!

grandma's christmas cookies on a wire rack
grandma's christmas cookies on a wire rack

Grandma’s Christmas Cookies

4.84 from 12 votes
Grandma's ChristmasCookies will bring everyone into the holiday spirit. Buttermilk keeps the sugar cookies soft and tender, with great flavor. Perfect for frosting.
Servings 48
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Chill Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 39 minutes

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Ingredients
 

For the cookies:

  • 1 cup shortening 205 grams
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar 110 grams
  • 1 cup buttermilk 8 ounces
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract * 5 grams
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) 618 grams
  • 2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder 10 grams
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda 5 grams
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 grams

For topping:

Instructions
 

Make the cookies:

  • Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and sugars. 1 cup shortening, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup brown sugar
  • Add the buttermilk, vanilla and egg. Mix again, on low speed, so it does not splash. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will not be smooth and that's ok. 1 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract *, 1 large egg
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
  • Add the flour mixture to the shortening/sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until combined. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl a few times during mixing to ensure it all gets incorporated together.
  • Once the cookie dough is well mixed, move the dough to a glass bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 350ยบ Fahrenheit. Sprinkle a pastry mat with flour. The dough will be sticky so you want to be sure the pastry mat is well floured so the dough doesn't stick. I use about a total of ½ cup more flour when rolling.
  • Divide the dough in half and roll out one-half of the dough on the floured surface, sprinkling flour on top of the dough as needed.
  • Cut out the dough in the shapes you'd like. Place the cookies on a nonstick baking mat. Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, removing them before they are browned.
  • Repeat with remaining dough, rerolling as needed. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.
  • Once the cookies are cool, frost them with buttercream frosting and sprinkles, if desired. Store in an airtight container. vanilla buttercream, sprinkles

Notes

*You can use almond extract if you’d like.
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 48 cookies, with 1 serving being 1 unfrosted cookie. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 20mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Calories 110
Keyword christmas cookies, cut out cookie recipe, vintage recipe
About JulieJulie Clark

About Julie Clark

I'm Julie Clark, CEO and recipe developer of Tastes of Lizzy T. With my B.A. in Education and over 30 years of cooking and baking, I want to teach YOU the best of our family recipes.

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4.84 from 12 votes (11 ratings without comment)
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wanda
1 year ago

Can I make this as drop cookies?

Rose
3 years ago

5 stars
Any recipe with that includes “Grandma” is a sure winner. Grandma knows best!

Ruth
3 years ago

Can I use butter instead of shortening
.