Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies
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These soft frosted Christmas cookies are topped with a generous layer of frosting and loads of holiday sprinkles, making them perfect for Christmas parties and cookie exchanges.
The no-roll Christmas cookies are super soft and chewy thanks to a secret ingredient–vanilla pudding mix!
I love using pudding mix in cookie recipes as it makes them incredibly soft, light, and fluffy. Plus it adds incredible vanilla flavor.
The same vanilla pudding cookie dough base we use to make these soft frosted sugar cookies can be used to make sprinkle cookies, thumbprint cookies, and secret kiss cookies as well.
So if you don’t want several dozen of the same cookies feel free to portion out the dough and make a dozen or so of each kind of cookie.
Give this easy frosted sugar cookie recipe a try and I am sure that you too will become a fan of pudding cookies!
Ingredients
This section includes ingredient notes and substitution options. Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
You will need…
- Butter & shortening – I like to use a combo of butter and shortening for this recipe. The shortening helps prevent the cookies from over spreading in the oven while the butter gives the cookies that real butter flavor.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract – Use real vanilla extract if at all possible (not imitation).
- All-purpose flour
- Instant vanilla pudding mix – The smaller, 3.4 oz size box. Make sure you get instant pudding, not cook & serve pudding.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Frosting ingredients – powdered sugar, butter, and heavy cream.
- Gel food coloring – For coloring the frosting red and green. You can skip it and just use sprinkles to add a pop of holiday colors.
- Christmas sprinkles – Wilton Holiday Mix sprinkles always have a great variety of Christmassy sprinkles.
How to Make
This section shows you how to make the recipe with step-by-step photos and instructions. For the full printable recipe, see the recipe card below.
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats and set them aside.
Step 2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer and large bowl, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
Step 3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and instant pudding mix.
Step 4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture, a little at a time, mixing between additions.
Step 5. Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon, scoop cookie dough, roll it into balls, and place on prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
Step 6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
Step 7. To make the frosting, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream a little at a time, alternating and mixing between additions. Add vanilla and salt; mix until well incorporated.
Step 8. Separate frosting into one bowl per color and mix in a few drops of food color. Adding additional drops of food coloring until the desired color is reached.
Step 9. Frost cooled cookies and top with sprinkles.
Storage
Your soft Christmas frosted cookies will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature or up to 1 week in the fridge.
I would recommend storing the cookies in a single layer or with parchment paper between layers so that the frosting doesn’t stick to the other cookies.
Prep Ahead
The Christmas cookie dough can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to bake, up to 3 days. Or store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Christmas Cookie Bars
- Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies
- Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
- Italian Anise Cookies
- Peppermint Patty Cookies
Frosted Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3.4 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons ⅜ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- [gel food coloring optional]
- [sprinkles]
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set them aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer and large bowl, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
- Beat in eggs, vanilla, and instant pudding mix.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture, a little at a time, mixing between additions.
- Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon, scoop the dough out, roll it into balls, and place it onto the lined cookie sheets with each cookie about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully.
- To make the frosting, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream a little at a time, alternating and mixing between additions. Add vanilla and salt; mix until well incorporated.
- Separate frosting into one bowl per color and stir in a few drops of gel food coloring. Add additional drops if needed, until the desired color is reached.
- Frost cooled cookies and immediately top with sprinkles.
- Allow frosting to set before storing in an airtight container until serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Best soft cookies ever
I would love to try some of your Christmas Cookie recipe if I could get them to get to the actual ingredients to come up and to print when I instructors print. Why do I have so much trouble with your website? I’m baking cookies for Christmas gift boxes. I have wasted enough time to get new cookies. I love to bake n try new recipes.
Hi Carol! Did you try clicking the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the post? It takes you right to the recipe card and then all you have to do is click the green “print” button to get a printer-friendly copy of the recipe.
Can you roll these out to use with cookie
cutters?
Unfortunately, these don’t make good cut-out cookies. They are too soft and spread when baking.
Not sure if my scoops were too big, but the cookies did not flatten out. They have irregular peaks and will be hard to frost. They taste good though.
Hmm… The cookies should bake up nice and smooth on top. Did you spoon and level your flour when measuring? Or dip your measuring cup into the flour to scoop? They could possibly have had too much flour. I am glad that they are still tasty though 🙂
Is it ok to freeze these cookies frosted??
I haven’t tried freezing them frosted myself so I can’t say for sure. However, if you are going to freeze them after frosting I would recommend flash-freezing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet for an hour or two until the frosting is firm. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe container and separate layers with parchment paper. Then separate the layers when you take them out of the freezer to thaw so that they can thaw in a single layer. If you do decide to give freezing them a try please let me know how they come out!
My cookies came out really flat. Any ideas? They are still delicious though.
Hi Lauren. I am sorry to hear that your cookie came out too flat! Did you use the combo of shortening and butter called for in the recipe? Did you substitute any of the ingredients? Overspreading can also be caused by several issues, including the butter being too warm, the baking powder being old or expired, or the dough being over-mixed. I hope the cookies still tasted good at least!
Help! How many cookies does one batch make
Approximately 60 cookies.