My Christmas sprinkle cookies are easy to make and so much fun to eat! These are a hit in my family's Christmas cookie boxes and I'm honored to share them with you.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my chocolate chip candy cane cookies, too!
Jump to:
❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Simple to Make - This funfetti Christmas cookie recipe is beginner friendly and a great Christmas baking project to let little ones help out with!
Fun and Festive - Decorating Christmas sprinkle butter cookies is as easy as rolling balls of cookie dough in sprinkles and they come out looking like bakery quality treats.
I love baking unique desserts during the holiday season and have plenty more Christmas-themed treats for you to make this time more merry and bright: tahini sugar cookies, sweet potato pie cheesecake, peppermint pound cake, and gingerbread cake donuts!
What You'll Need for this Recipe
Sprinkles are the finishing touch that makes these proper Christmas cookies and I use a variety of shapes including colored sugar sprinkles, jimmies sprinkles, and nonpareils sprinkles.
Cream Cheese helps make the cookies soft and light as a feather. The tenderness of the cookies is the perfect contrast to all the crunchy sprinkles on the outside so don't leave out the cream cheese!
Vanilla and Almond Extracts add subtle notes of sweet, mellow, and nutty flavor that makes homemade cookies taste as good as any bake shop.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Colors - I most often make these cookies using red, green, and white colored sprinkles but you can try different seasonal color combinations including metallics like silver and gold or baby blue, white, and silver for a winter blues vibe.
Make Ahead - The cookie dough freezes well so you can prep it in advance to have available for a Christmas cookie decorating party or whenever you have a holiday cookie craving.
How to Make the Best Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
- Step 1: Cream the butter and cream cheese then mix in the sugar, egg, and extracts.
- Step 2: Meanwhile, whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Step 3: Mix the wet and dry mixtures together until a dough forms then cover and chill.
- Step 4: Scoop the cookie dough into balls then roll them in sprinkles.
Pro Tip #1
You can chill the dough for up to three days ahead of time! I've also included freezing instructions below for longer term storage.
- Step 5: Gently flatten each cookie using a measuring cup or the bottom of a glass.
- Step 6: Bake the cookies until the edges are very lightly golden brown, cool, and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can prep or bake the cookies in up to one week ahead of time. Use the storage and freezing instructions below.
These cookies keep well at room temperature for up to one week when stored in an airtight container.
The cookie dough keeps well for up to three months in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, thaw the dough for 30 minutes before scooping and rolling in the sprinkles then bake as normal.
And to freeze the baked cookies, cool them to room temperature then place on a baking sheet into the freezer and flash freeze for about 30 minutes then transfer them to an airtight, freezer-safe container. They will keep for up to three months.
How to Serve
These cream cheese Christmas cookies with sprinkles don't have to be eaten warm and are actually (in my opinion) a lil better once they've set into their texture. I recommend enjoying them with a glass of milk or steaming mug of holiday hot chocolate like my peppermint hot cocoa or gingerbread hot chocolate with bourbon.
Add them to your Christmas cookie platter for Santa Claus or serve them on your holiday party dessert table.
You can also include these in Christmas cookie exchanges with my neighbors, family, and friends.
More Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes
Looking for other recipe like this? Try these:
I hope you'll enjoy these Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies soon and very soon. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
Equipment
- 1-3 cookie sheets to bake multiple batches simultaneously
- 1 whisk
- 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
- plastic wrap
- 3 small bowls
- 1 cookie scoop or table spoon
- 1 rocks glass
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup red and green jimmies sprinkles
- 1 cup red and green nonpareils
- 1 cup red and green sugar sprinkles
Instructions
- Using stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and uniform (about two minutes). Then mix in the granulated sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract for about one minute.
- Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add flour mixture to butter cream cheese mixture and mix until a smooth and wet dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper and set aside. Pour each kind of sprinkle into its own bowl.
- Scoop out cookie dough and roll into balls (about two tablespoons of dough each) then roll each ball in the sprinkles of your choice. Place the balls on prepared cookie sheet, leaving about two inches of space between them.
- Use the bottom of a glass or back of a measuring cup to gently press each ball to flatten into a disc about ¾ inch thick. Transfer cookie sheet pan(s) to oven and bake for about 12 minutes or until cookie edges are very light golden brown. Bottoms will brown but tops will not.
- Allow cookies to cool and set on pan for about five minutes before handling. If you are working with one cookie sheet, remove the baked cookies then repeat the baking process with remaining cookie dough.
Amaare says
Five stars from my whole family! I made these for Christmas cookie boxes and they have been a standout. Your recipe was easy to follow and the cookies are light and buttery as well as soft on the inside with a bit of crunch on the outside from the sprinkles. I’m going to make these again for a birthday with rainbow sprinkles! Thanks, Jazz!
Jazzmine Woodard says
You're so welcome, Amaare! Glad you and your family enjoyed these.