I have always loved the look (and taste) of those beautiful sugar cookies you see at bakeries this time of year. You know the kind I’m talking about… buttery and sweet with just the right amount of frosting. The kind that cost $5 per cookie. As in WHAT? $5 for a COOKIE? In the past I’ve made sugar cookies. They were perfectly cute but not gift worthy. So this time I turned once again to my friend, Susan, who is a professional cookie maker. I asked if she’d mind sharing some of her secrets for making her famous Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies.

She gave us the recipe in advance because she insists the dough needs to refrigerate for 3 full days before making the cookies. Three days later she came over and patiently showed us exactly how she bakes these cookies. It was an eye opening experience. First, she only cuts out one cookie at a time so she can get it to be the perfect thickness. She starts by patting it down with her hands and then only rolls it a bit. It’s around 1/8 of an inch. She also checks on the baking cookies often and removes EACH cookie from the oven separately. Meaning, she takes each one out as it is done and lets others continue to bake. I don’t know why I haven’t ever thought of doing this but it is a brilliant way of making all the cookies perfect instead of having some a little under baked and some a little over baked.

She insists the consistency of the frosting is of utmost importance. Not too thick / not too runny. Just like she’s showing in this picture. It should drip off the spoon slowly.

She also showed us her frosting trick which is to outline the cookie first like this – using a round pastry tip.

Look at her helping my kid outline his cookie. This killed me with cuteness!

Then she fills it in like she’s coloring a picture and uses a toothpick to fill in any holes. Her last step is to gently tap it on the edge of table to settle the frosting. Then she decorates with sprinkles and lets them sit for 12 to 15 hours uncovered to dry completely. (Who knew they needed that long to taste great?)

I slipped these cookies in a bag, added a cute ribbon and affixed a simple sticker label on the back and proudly handed them out as gifts this morning. Here’s a link to the Wilton Snowflake Comfort Grip Cookie Cutter ^[1] we used to make these. I’m a big fan of the comfort grip.

That’s my cousin, Nicole. She was the lucky recipient of a perfect little turquoise snowflake. Love her! (She couldn’t wait to eat it.)

Here are the stickers we affixed to the back of the packages. Now that I know how to make these cookies I want to give them out for every holiday! Here’s a link to download my happy holiday stickers ^[2]. Here’s the recipe…