Shabby Chic Christmas Cookies

Hello! Well we are just a few days from Christmas, and today I want to share with you my sugar cookie recipe. I have been making these sugar cookies EVERY Christmas since I was 14 years old, so.....20 years now! lol

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home Magazine and its been my "go to" recipe ever since. You can see the recipe on their website here.

When I was younger, I always decorated my cookies in red and green icing, but in the last 5 years or so, I've changed it up to shabby chic style! Here are my cookies from last year all decorated!

Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons 2% milk

Food coloring, optional

Step 1:

In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, 2 hours.

Step 2:

Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until set (do not brown), 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Step 3:

For frosting, in a bowl, beat butter, shortening and vanilla until blended. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and enough milk to reach spreading consistency; beat until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. If desired, beat in food coloring. Frost cookies. (Keep frosting covered with a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.)

These cookies are definitely a labor of love. When I was younger, I would make these each year for Easter and Halloween, but lately I just bake them for Christmas. Have fun with your decorating and get creative! I usually use pastry bags and different icing tips to decorate my cookies and the decorating goes fairly quickly!

Also do not over bake your cookies! You do not want them to be brown! That will make them crunchy and they won't be soft. I always make a double batch of the frosting because if you want to do a lot of different colors and details, you will need the extra icing.

The below photos are just cell phone photos from the last several years, nothing fancy, but I just wanted to share how the cookies have looked over the years.