Soft Frosted Holiday Sprinkles Cookies

Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies — Christmas sugar cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll cookies that everyone goes crazy for!

Frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies 

Who can resist sprinkles cookies around the holidays? I sure can’t. I especially can’t resist them when they’re frosted with cream cheese frosting.

These Christmas cookies with icing and sprinkles are easy and there’s no rolling or cutting out involved. Major time savers which is so nice when we’re all so busy around the holidays.

The cookies are super soft and buttery with tender, pillowy centers. The dough base is adapted from a recipe I shared years ago. I love it because the cookies just melt in your mouth. They remind of Lofthouse or bakery soft frosted cookies, but way better.

I opted for cream cheese frosting because in my book it’s at the top of the frosting food chain. You’ll likely have a little extra, but that’s what spoons are for. Or you can keep it for weeks in the fridge for your next baking project.

Ingredients in Frosted Christmas Cookies

To make the Christmas sugar cookies, you’ll need: 

• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Light brown sugar
• Egg
• Heavy cream
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt

And to make the frosting for the Christmas cookies, you’ll need: 

• Cream cheese
• Unsalted butter
• Confectioners’ sugar
• Salt
• Sprinkles 

How to Make Frosted Christmas Cookies 

These Christmas cookies with frosting come together much like any other cookie recipe. Here’s an overview of the baking process: 

1. Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the egg, vanilla, and cream. 
2. Mix in the dry ingredients, then scoop the dough into balls and chill for at least 3 hours. 
3. Once chilled, bake the cookie dough balls until the edges have set and the tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center. 
4. Let the holiday sugar cookies cool completely before topping with frosting! 

Additional Frosting Options to Try 

Personally, I think the cream cheese frosting I’ve shared in the recipe card below is the BEST Christmas cookie frosting. However, you can easily use one of the following ideas as the Christmas cookie frosting:  

• Vanilla Frosting
• Chocolate Frosting
• Buttercream Frosting
• Peanut Butter Frosting

How to Store the Cookies 

Baked and frosted cookies will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. I’m comfortable storing items with cream cheese frosting at room temp, but if you’re not, store in the fridge noting cookies will be more prone to drying out in the fridge. 

Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Extra frosting will keep airtight for weeks in the fridge.

Tips for Making Christmas Frosted Sugar Cookies 

Chilling the dough: The dough is very soft and MUST be chilled before baking. There’s two tablespoons of cream in the dough, which makes the cookies so creamy but also makes for a very soft dough.

Cream cheese: To make the cream cheese frosting for the sugar cookies, it’s important that you use brick-style cream cheese and not the whipped kind in a tub. 

Also, make sure the cream cheese has been softened to room temperature first. If you skip this, the frosting won’t whip up properly. 

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4.62 from 13 votes

Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies

By Averie Sunshine

Christmas sugar cookies topped with cream cheese frosting and loaded with sprinkles! Easy, no-roll cookies that everyone goes crazy for!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes minutes

Servings: 15

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Ingredients 

Cookies

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 tablespoons cream or half-and-half
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Frosting

• ▢ 6 ounces cream cheese, softened (lite okay)
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ▢ sprinkles, to taste (I used these

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Instructions 

For the Cookies:

• To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric mixer), add the butter, sugars, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
• Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the cream, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 1 minute. The batter may look a little ‘grainy’ and almost as if it’s separated, this is okay.
• Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
• Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or your hands, form approximately 15 equal-sized mounds of dough. The dough is very soft and I find it easiest to use a cookie scoop. Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading. After chilling, flatten each mound about half the original height.
• Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
• Bake for about 8 minutes or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool.
• Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet completely before frosting. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack. Make sure they’re completely cooled before frosting them or the frosting will melt.
• For the Frosting: 
• To a large bowl (or to the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment) add the cream cheese, butter, and beat with an electric mixer on high-speedy until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and beat until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes.
• Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of frosting to each cookie, and spread into a smooth, flat layer using a knife, keeping a bare 1/4-inch perimeter.
• Add sprinkles to each cookie, to taste. I use a variety of red and green flat sprinkles, glitter, non-pareils (little balls), etc.

Notes

Cookie Storage: Baked and frosted cookies will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. I’m comfortable storing items with cream cheese frosting at room temp, but if you’re not, store in the fridge noting cookies will be more prone to drying out in the fridge. 

Cookie Dough Storage: Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Frosting Storage: Extra frosting will keep airtight for weeks in the fridge.

Cookies adapted from Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies. Frosting adapted from The Best Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 256kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 43mg, Sodium: 201mg, Sugar: 24g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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