How to Make Perfect Snowflake Sugar Cookies for Winter Parties

These festive snowflake cookies are a perfect holiday treat: beautiful, buttery, and delicious. This simple shortbread recipe makes crisp, sturdy cookies that hold their shape and look lovely on a cookie tray or at an exchange.

With Christmas music on and lights aglow, I love baking seasonal cookies. These are my favorite this year for their charming snowflake shapes and delicate royal icing details. The dough is a buttery vanilla shortbread with a touch of almond extract, and the royal icing gives a crisp, sweet finish that’s ideal for piping intricate snowflake designs.

What You’ll Need

• Snowflake cookie cutter
• Baking sheet
• Mixing bowl
• Electric or stand mixer
• Piping bag or squeeze bottle
• Food coloring (optional)
• Sprinkles (optional)

Ingredients

These are shortbread-style cut out cookies, which are sturdier than typical sugar-cookie dough and much less likely to spread while baking. The ingredients below make about 20 cookies depending on cutter size.

• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Royal icing:

• 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 1/2 tbsp meringue powder
• 7–8 tbsp water

Variations

Customize these cookies to suit your taste:

• Add a teaspoon of citrus zest for a bright note.
• Swap almond extract for peppermint for a candy-cane flavor.
• Mix in a pinch of cinnamon and allspice for a spiced variation.
• Stir a tablespoon of cocoa powder into the dough for chocolate snowflakes.

Tips

• Keep the dough chilled before rolling so the cutters produce clean edges.
• When piping, less is more—use a thin line of icing for fine snowflake details.
• Practice your design on paper first, or use a squeeze bottle if you don’t like piping bags.

How to make Snowflake Cookies

Make the shortbread cookies

• Cream the softened butter with the granulated and brown sugars in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk, mixing until combined.

• Scrape the bowl, then add vanilla and almond extracts and mix another minute.
• Add flour and salt and mix just until combined—do not overwork the dough.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for one hour.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough to about 1/2-inch thickness and cut snowflake shapes. Re-roll scraps as needed.

• Arrange cookies about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake 13–15 minutes, until edges just begin to turn golden. Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before decorating.

Make the royal icing

• In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 7–8 tablespoons water until thick and smooth. Adjust water a tablespoon at a time to reach piping consistency. Use a hand mixer if needed.

Decorate the Cookies

• Fill a piping bag about halfway with royal icing. For colored designs, divide icing into bowls and tint with gel food coloring.
• Cut a very small tip from the bag or use a small round piping tip and pipe lines, dots, and branches to create snowflake patterns. You can also dip cookies in the icing for a base layer, let dry, then pipe details on top. Add sprinkles if desired.
• Allow decorated cookies to dry uncovered at room temperature for at least one hour so the icing sets completely.

Recipe FAQs

More Cookie Recipes

• Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
• Pink Peppermint Sugar Cookies
• Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies
• Matcha Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Christmas Tree Cookie Bars

Snowflake Cookies

These festive snowflake cookies are buttery, sturdy shortbread cut-outs topped with sweet royal icing — perfect for the holidays.

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Chill time: 1 hr

Total: 1 hr 35 mins

Servings: 20 cookies

Equipment

• 2 baking sheets
• Stand or electric mixer
• Piping bag or zip-top bag
• Snowflake cookie cutter
• Optional: sprinkles, food coloring

Ingredients

• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Royal Icing

• 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 1/2 tbsp meringue powder
• 7–8 tbsp water

Instructions

Make the shortbread cookies

1. Cream butter and sugars for 3 minutes. Add egg and yolk and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.
2. Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness and cut snowflake shapes.
4. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake 13–15 minutes, until edges are lightly golden. Cool completely.

Make the royal icing

1. Whisk powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 7–8 tbsp water until thick and smooth. Adjust water for piping consistency.

Decorate

1. Pipe designs with a small round tip or cut a tiny hole from a bag. Let icing dry at least one hour.

Notes

• Use minimal icing for fine details.
• Practice piping on paper first if needed.
• If you prefer not to pipe, use a squeeze bottle.

Nutrition

Calories: 276 kcal; Carbohydrates: 45 g; Protein: 2 g; Fat: 10 g (approximate)