1 Basic Dough - 4 Slice and Bake Christmas Cookie Recipes! (2024)

4.34 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 55 minutes minutes

Author: Laura

Basic Cookie Dough

• ▢ 125 g butter (softened)
• ▢ ¾ cup (165g) sugar
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups (280g) flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

Christmas Pinwheels

• ▢ ¼ teaspoon red food colouring
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon green food colouring
• ▢ ⅓ cup Christmas sprinkles for rolling

Candy Cane Pinwheels

• ▢ ¼ teaspoon red food colouring
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
• ▢ 5 crushed candy canes for rolling

Christmas Spice Cookies

• ▢ ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ginger
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ ½ cup raw sugar for rolling

Orange, Cranberry & Pistachio Cookies

• ▢ 1 tablespoon orange juice
• ▢ Zest of 1 orange
• ▢ ½ cup dried cranberries
• ▢ ½ cup crushed pistachios for rolling

For the basic sugar cookie dough

• Cream butter & sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on high speed until light & fluffy.Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

• Add flour, baking powder & salt and mix in well.

Christmas Pinwheels

• Split the dough in half and add ¼ teaspoon red food colouring to one half and ¼ teaspoon green food colouring to the other half. Mix it in really well (it's easiest either using the stand mixer or your hands) so that the dough is completely coloured. Add more colouring if you want it brighter.

• On a piece of baking paper, roll out each piece of the dough into a rectangle 40cm x 30cm. Leave the dough on the baking paper and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. Remove from the fridge and carefully flip the red dough on top of the green dough and gently press together. Peel the baking paper off the dough and with the long side of the dough rectangle facing you, carefully roll it up into a tight log.

• Add the Christmas sprinkles to a shallow baking dish or tray and roll the cookie dough log in the sprinkles until it is completely covered. Wrap the cookie log in gladwrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

• Follow the baking instructions below for all cookies.

Candy Cane Pinwheels Cookies

• Split the dough in half and add ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract to one half and ¼ tspred food colouring to the other half. Mix it in really well (it's easiest either using the stand mixer or your hands) so that the dough is completely coloured. Add more colouring if you want it brighter.
  

• On a piece of baking paper, roll out each piece of the dough into a rectangle 40cm x 30cm. Leave the dough on the baking paper and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. Remove from the fridge and carefully flip the red dough on top of the white dough and gently press together. Peel the baking paper off the dough and with the long side of the dough rectangle facing you, carefully roll it up into a tight log.
  

• Add the crushed candy canes to a shallow baking dish or tray and roll the cookie dough log in the candy canes until it is completely covered. Wrap the cookie log in gladwrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours - it is really important that these ones are chilled well as the candy canes do melt when baking so the longer it has chilled, the less they melt!

• Follow the baking instructions below for all cookies.

Christmas Spice Cookies

• Add the spices and mix in well. Using your hands, shape the dough into a roll about 40 cm long (if it's easier, you can split the dough in 2, and make 2 x 20cm long rolls)

• Add the raw sugar to a shallow baking dish or tray and roll the cookie dough log in the sugar until it is completely covered. Wrap the cookie log in gladwrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  

• Follow the baking instructions below for all cookies.

Orange, Cranberry & Pistachio Cookies

• Add the orange juice, zest & cranberries and mix in well. Using your hands, shape the dough into a roll about 40 cm long (if it's easier, you can split the dough in 2, and make 2 x 20cm long rolls)

• Add the crushed pistachios to a shallow baking dish or tray and roll the cookie dough log in the nuts until it is completely covered. Wrap the cookie log in gladwrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Baking instructions for all cookies

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

• Remove the cookies from the fridge and slice into 1-2cm thick slices. Lay the cookies out on a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silpat liner, leaving a couple of centimeters between cookies and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until starting to go golden.

• Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.Store in an airtight container for 1 week.

The amounts of extra ingredients listed for each flavour of cookie is enough for 1 batch of sugar cookie dough.

If you want to make more flavours and want lots of cookies, either double or quadruple the basic sugar cookie recipe and then split it and make the flavours separately.

If you want less cookies but still lots of flavours, make the sugar cookie dough, split the plain dough in half and then half the add ins for each flavour.