Melt in your mouth, Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting are a flavorful sugar cookie perfect for cutting out or a simple drop cookie.
Christmas Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
I've been making this sugar cookie every Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter for over 25 years. Cream cheese brings richness and flavor to this cookie and frosting.
Ingredients
- Butter -- no substitutes for the best flavor
- Cream Cheese -- adds a rich flavor to the cookie and frosting
- White Sugar -- sweetness is essential for a cookie
- Egg Yolk -- adds richness and binds the dough together
- Vanilla Extract -- brings a warm flavor to the dough
- Almond Extract -- adds depth in flavor beyond the typical vanilla flavor
- Flour -- provides body for the cookie dough
- Salt -- enhances and balances the sweetness of the sugar
- Baking Soda -- leavening agent makes the cookie rise
- Powdered sugar -- makes the frosting body
- Milk -- just a small amount to provide a spreadable consistency for the frosting
- Colored sugars, and/or sprinkles -- bring the fun, color, and holiday theme
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
- Beat in egg yolk and extracts.
- Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Until easy to handle.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- To roll out cookies: lightly sprinkle flour on your surface, roll out dough to ⅛ inch thickness, and cut with a cookie cutter.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Bake until the edges are set but not browned.
- Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Hint: If you want round cookies, roll dough into ping pong ball-sized balls and place them on the baking sheet. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the balls to ⅛ inch thick.
Cream Cheese Frosting for Sugar Cookies
For the perfect cream cheese frosting, make sure the butter and cream cheese are really soft but not melted. This ensures you have a smooth frosting.
To make the frosting: In a small bowl, stir softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt until well combined.
Add the milk and stir until smooth.
Adjust the thickness of your frosting by adding more powdered sugar if it's too thin or a little bit of milk if it's too thick.
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup Butter softened
- 3 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 Egg Yolk
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
- 2 ¼ cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- Colored sugars, and/or sprinkles
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 Tablespoons Butter softened
- 2 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 cups Powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Milk more or less, as needed
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together 1 cup butter, 3 ounces cream cheese, and sugar.
- Beat in egg yolk and extracts.
- Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Until easy to handle.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- To roll out cookies: lightly sprinkle flour on your surface, roll out dough to ⅛ inch thickness, and cut with a cookie cutter.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Bake until the edges are set but not browned. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting: In a small bowl, stir 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 2 ounces cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Add the milk and stir until smooth. Adjust the thickness of your frosting by adding more powdered sugar if it's too thin or a little bit of milk if it's too thick.
Notes
Substitutions & Variations
- Funfetti Sugar Cookies - Stir sprinkles into the dough before forming cookies for a colorful cookie
- Plain Sugar Cookies - Leave off the frosting for a fantastic simple sugar cookie that's not so sweet
- Sugar Sprinkle Sugar Cookies - Roll dough balls in colored sugar for a tasty sugar cookie without frosting
Homemade Cookie Gift
Our family has shared hundreds of these cream cheese sugar cookies over the years alongside Dark Chocolate Peanut Clusters, French Cookies, chocolate-dipped pretzels, Mini Banana Breads, Honey Peanut Butter Cookies, and Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Sugar Cookie Recipe for Real People
Some people's beautiful cookies are pretty but not very tasty. I think a cookie better taste good first.
This cookie tastes great. The decorations can be super simple or non-existent and these cookies will still fly out of the cookie jar.
Storage
Cookies will store well in an airtight container for up to a week. Of course, these last about 1 hour here.
The dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days or freeze cookie dough for 2-3 months.
If freezing dough, I would suggest making it into cookie balls before freezing for ease. Scoop your dough into balls, place on a cookie sheet, and allow to freeze. Then put the cookie dough balls into a freezer bag for easier storage.
Top tip
Bake only until the edges are set up. Do not brown this cookie.
FAQ
If you're rolling out sugar cookies to cut into shapes, people often add too much additional flour. Be careful to keep the least amount of flour on your countertop that will keep the cookies from sticking. Also, avoid rolling cookies out multiple times in the flour. This can also cause tough cookies.
Check the edges of the cookies to make sure they are set up, but do not brown the edges of the cookies. Keeping your dough the same thickness when rolling it out can help ensure cookies are evenly baked.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting:
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Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Chuckie
This cookie recipe is a Christmas staple for eating and gifting to the neighbors. I love making them in heart shapes on Valentine's Day, too. The cream cheese makes the cookie and the frosting.