Kris Kringle Cookies and Frosting Recipe (2024)

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This is a traditional Christmas cut-out cookie and frosting recipe! This Christmas cookie cut-outs recipe is easy-to-make. Perfect for your holiday cookie tray, Christmas cookie exchanges, or on a plate for Santa, these delicious holiday cookies are a family favorite.

Please note that Kris Kringle refers to Santa Claus as these are traditional Christmas cookie cut-outs, and some would be left out on a plate with milk for the Big Guy on Christmas Eve.

Kris Kringle Cookies and Frosting Recipe

These Kris Kringle cookies predate my childhood. This is an old recipe. I do not know where my mother got the recipe, but it is pretty old (older than I am, and I am no spring chicken). My mother would make up a batch (or two) a few days before she would sit us down with the frosting to decorate. Whenever we saw the cookies appear in the front hall (where it was nice and cool), we knew that decorating duty was upon us that weekend.

My mother also made up sanding sugar… before it was called sanding sugar. These instructions on how to make colored sugar was something she made up along with the cookies. The frosting was made the day we frosted the cookies as it does get crumbly and hard.

When we were little (say under 10), we used to LOVE decorating Christmas cookies. By the time we got to be preteens, we thought of any excuse to head out and avoid Christmas cookie decorating duty.

Alas, my mother was having none of that. She firmly believed in child labor, and so for a few years, we made a slapdash effort at it. Once we got into our late teens, we were baking, coloring sugar, making frosting, and decorating duty, so it was a matter of pride that they tasted and looked good.

As we got older and moved out, my mother would buy cut-outs from a local bakery and then frost and decorate them herself. This is an excellent Christmas cookie frosting. This was a compromise on time and homemade. So, if you are buying cut-out, use this frosting or the royal icing frosting to make your cookies fun and festive.

Clearly, these are great cookies to make with kids and these Kris Kringles are one of my favorite cookies from my childhood.

These are the perfect cookie for the holidays. They transport well for cookie exchanges or to give as a holiday food gift; they look great on a cookie platter and will keep for a week in a cool, dry place. This time of year, round out your Christmas cookie baking with these fantastic Kris Kringle cookies.

Happy holidays!

Tips and notes for making this Kris Kringle cookie and frosting recipe:

● Pull out your butter about an hour ahead of when you plan on baking, and allow it to sit on the cupboard and soften to room temperature.
● In the United States 8 tablespoons of butter = 1 stick, and 1 stick of butter = ½ a cup. This recipe uses two (2) sticks of butter or 1 cup for the cookies and then again for the frosting.
● If you would like to substitute margarine for butter in the frosting recipe (do not substitute margarine for butter in the cookie recipe), use white, not yellow margarine.
● For my UK and Australian friends: confectioners sugar is icing sugar (powdered sugar, 10x).
How to make vanilla extract.
● Decorate your cookies with colored sugar, decorator sugar, or holiday sprinkles. You could use dried fruit bits and cut-up maraschino cherries, too. Just make sure you drain the cherries and snip them with kitchen scissors before placing them on the frosting.
● When you frost your cookies, allow them to air dry after frosting and decorating for 30 minutes. This will set the frosting, and you will not be scraping it off your storage container.

Here are some more Christmas cookie recipes for the holiday season:

Christmas Butter Cookie Recipe
Hungarian Christmas Cookies Recipe
Stained Glass Cookies Recipe

Kris Kringle Cookies Ingredients:

● 1½ teaspoons of Cream of Tartar
● 1 teaspoon Salt
● 4½ cups All purpose Flour
● 16 Tablespoons Butter, softened
● 2 cups White Sugar
● 3 Eggs
● 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
● 1½ teaspoons of Baking Soda dissolved in 2 TBSP Milk

Kris Kringle Frosting Ingredients:

● 16 Tablespoons Butter, softened
● 2 pounds sifted Confectioners’ Sugar
● ½ cup COLD water
● 1 tsp Flavoring (suggestions are vanilla, peppermint, or anise)

Kris Kringle Decorating Ingredients:

Colored Sugar
Decorator Sugar
Sprinkles
Edible Glitter
Decorator Cinnamon Imperials

Kris Kringle Cookies Mise en Place:

Stand Mixer (paddle attachment, whisk, bowls, etc.) or Hand Mixer
Baking Sheets
Measuring Cup
Measuring Spoons
● Rubber Spatula
● Plastic Wrap
Rolling Pin
● Wire Racks
Cookie Cutters
Frosting Knife
● Large Bowl
Piping Tip(s)
Pastry Bag

Kris Kringle Cookies Recipe Directions:

1. Sift cream of tartar and salt into the flour, and set aside the dry ingredients.

2. In a large bowl, using a stand mixer, cream one cup butter and white sugar together.

3. Add the eggs and beat well.

4. Add the vanilla extract, milk and soda mixture and beat well.

5. Add 3 cups of the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture until well incorporated.

6. Keep adding flour to make a dough that may be rolled.

7. Chill to make dough easy to handle (2 hours to overnight).
8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and preheat oven to 400ºF.

9. Roll dough on a lightly floured board to desired ¼-of-an-inch thickness.

10. Cut with cookie cutters or knives into shapes.

11. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in preheated 400ºF oven for 8-10 minutes.

12. Cool completely before frosting.

Kris Kringle Cookie Frosting Recipe Directions:

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar. It will be very crumbly.

3. Add water and flavoring and beat until smooth.

4. Use immediately, or the frosting will become crusty. If it does get crinkly while you are in the middle of frosting your cookies, give it a good stir by hand, and that will smooth it right out.

5. The frosting can be tinted using gel food color or food coloring.

Kris Kringle Cookie Decoration Instructions:

1. You can smear the cookies generously with the frosting using a butter knife and then dust them with colored sugar and sprinkles.

2. Or you can fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip with the frosting. First, pipe the outline around the cookie. Then add small squeezes in the middle to almost fill up. Use a toothpick to fill out the gaps.

3. Sprinkle the frosting generously with colored sugar and then tap to remove the excess.

4. After you frost and decorate your cookies, allow them to air dry for 30 minutes. This will set the frosting and you will not be scraping it off your storage container.
5. Store in a cool place in an airtight container.

Yield: 48

Kris Kringle Cookie and Frosting Recipe

Kris Kringle Cookies and Frosting Recipe (31)

Kris Kringle Cookies and Frosting Recipe. This is a traditional Christmas cut-out cookie and frosting recipe! This Christmas cookie cut-outs recipe is easy-to-make. Perfect for your holiday cookie tray, Christmas cookie exchanges, or on a plate for Santa, these delicious holiday cookies are a family favorite.

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time10 minutes

Additional Time2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time3 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

Kris Kringle Cookies Ingredients:

  • 1½ teaspoons of Cream of Tartar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 4½ cups All purpose Flour
  • 16 Tablespoons Butter, softened
  • 2 cups White Sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1½ teaspoons of Baking Soda dissolved in 2 TBSP Milk

Kris Kringle Frosting Ingredients:

  • 16 Tablespoons Butter, softened
  • 2 pounds sifted Confectioners' Sugar
  • 1/2 cup COLD water
  • 1 tsp Flavoring (suggestions are vanilla, peppermint, or anise)

Kris Kringle Decorating Ingredients:

  • Colored Sugar
  • Decorator Sugar
  • Sprinkles
  • Edible Glitter
  • Decorator Cinnamon Imperials

Instructions

Kris Kringle Cookies Recipe Directions:

  1. Sift cream of tartar and salt into the flour, and set aside the dry ingredients.
  2. In a large bowl, using a stand mixer, cream one cup of butter and white sugar together.
  3. Add the eggs and beat well.
  4. Add the vanilla extract, milk, and soda mixture and beat well.
  5. Add 3 cups of the sifted flour mixture to the butter mixture until well incorporated.
  6. Keep adding flour to make a dough that may be rolled.
  7. Chill to make dough easy to handle (2 hours to overnight).
  8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and preheat the oven to 400ºF.
  9. Roll dough on a lightly floured board to desired ¼-of-an-inch thickness.
  10. Cut with cookie cutters or knives into shapes.
  11. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in preheated 400ºF oven for 8-10 minutes.
  12. Cool completely before frosting.

    Kris Kringle Cookie Frosting Recipe Directions:

  13. Cream butter until light and fluffy.
  14. Slowly add confectioners' sugar. It will be very crumbly.
  15. Add water and flavoring and beat until smooth.
  16. Use immediately, or the frosting will become crusty. If it does get crinkly while you are in the middle of frosting your cookies, give it a good stir by hand, and that will smooth it right out.
  17. The frosting can be tinted using gel food color or food coloring.

    Kris Kringle Cookie Decoration Instructions:

  18. You can smear the cookies generously with the frosting using a butter knife and then dust them with colored sugar and sprinkles.
  19. Or you can fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip with the frosting. First, pipe the outline around the cookie. Then add small squeezes in the middle to almost fill up. Use a toothpick to fill out the gaps.
  20. Sprinkle the frosting generously with colored sugar and then tap to remove the excess.
  21. After you frost and decorate your cookies, allow them to air dry for 30 minutes. This will set the frosting, and you will not be scraping it off your storage container.
  22. Store in a cool place in an airtight container.

Notes

  • How many cookies you get from the cookie recipe will depend on the size of your cutters.
  • Watch your baking time, especially if you cut smaller or larger cookies, or roll thinner dough.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

48

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 223Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 150mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 0gSugar: 27gProtein: 2g

Note: for exact nutritional information, consult your dietitian. All nutritional information provided is simply a guideline.

First Published: December 17, 2013

Last Updated: November 28, 2022

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Kris Kringle Cookies and Frosting Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long should sugar cookies cool before icing? ›

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I like to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on baking sheets.

Can you use Pillsbury frosting for cookies? ›

Yes! You can use any canned frosting, or even make your own (but that's for another time). You can also buy colored versions of most frostings, which will give you a range of colors to work with.

Do you have to refrigerate sugar cookies with icing? ›

Choose to store them at room temperature or in the freezer instead of the fridge. If you can store your cookies at room temperature or in the freezer - do it. The fridge should be your last resort because of the moisture that can make your cookies soggy. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Do cookies need to cool before frosting? ›

If the cookies aren't completely cooled when you start decorating, the icing will melt once it hits the warm cookie. Follow this tip: Don't rush the cooling process. The first step to making beautifully decorated cookies is making sure the cookies are completely cooled when you begin adding the icing.

What's the difference between frosting and icing on cookies? ›

Frosting is the thickest of these confections and is ideal for spreading or piping on cakes, cupcakes and cookies. Icing is a little thinner than frosting and is often poured or piped over coffee cakes, pound cakes, doughnuts and cookies—and it usually hardens when it dries.

What type of frosting is best for cookie decorating? ›

Royal icing creates clean lines and takes on color to create a vibrant look. It also works for detailed piping and decorating, when you want to make a gingerbread house or small designs.

How to make store bought frosting better for sugar cookies? ›

Always begin by scraping the frosting into a mixing bowl and stirring vigorously or mixing with a mixer until smooth and creamy. This simple step of incorporating air into a can of dense store-bought frosting will make it fluffy and enhance the flavor. It may be all you need to do.

What is the secret ingredient that will improve your frosting? ›

Rather, The Washington Post suggests using white vinegar in buttercream recipes for two primary purposes. First, white vinegar helps prevent your cake from cracking, resulting in a smooth finish on your dessert. Taste of Home echoes this function; just one teaspoon of vinegar in boiled frosting keeps the mixture soft.

What is the difference between icing and frosting? ›

You'll be glad to know there is a distinction between the two. In broad terms, frosting is thick and fluffy, and is used to coat the outside (and often the inner layers) of a cake. Icing is thinner and glossier than frosting, and can be used as a glaze or for detailed decorating.

Will canned frosting harden on cookies? ›

In a pinch for a school event for frosting gingerbread cookies, yes, I have done this with a can of store-bought white frosting. The end result does stiffen and set within about 20 to 30 minutes, but the frosting was piped onto the cookie in a thin line or fat dots.

Can you leave sugar cookies out overnight to dry? ›

Once I decorate the cookies (either the day they are baked or a couple days later), the cookies need to be left out over night to fully dry before packaging. They will not get stale from being left out one day.

Do you leave sugar cookies out overnight? ›

Unless a recipe tells you otherwise, you should always store sugar cookies at room temperature to make sure that they taste as good on day three as they did on day one. Keep them in a cool, dry area of your kitchen; any additional humidity may change their texture, particularly with frosted sugar cookies.

How do you dry sugar cookie frosting quickly? ›

Luckily, there are multiple ways that you can speed up the process. Leave your cookies to try at room temperature and expose them to as much airflow as possible. If your home is humid, use a dehumidifier or a fan to help dry the cookies quicker, or use a heat gun to solidify the icing at lightning speed.

How many minutes should you let cookies cool? ›

For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. For crispier cookies, let cookies cool for one minute on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Why should the sugar cookies be completely cool before you decorate them? ›

Ensure that your sugar cookies are completely cool before decorating; otherwise the royal icing will simply melt off the cookies.

How long does it take for cookies to cool and harden? ›

It is important to note that, most of the time, a cookie isn't completely done cooking until up to 20 minutes after it comes out of the oven: as it cools it firms up, sets, and finishes baking.

Do sugar cookies harden as they cool? ›

Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 7-10 minutes. Cookies will be very light colored and just set, when you take them out. They will harden as they cool, so don't over bake them.

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