Here's Why You'll Love This Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe

Moms, I know how hectic the holidays can get with family in town, parties to host, treats to bake - it's enough to drive anyone to indulge in a little extra self-care! 

That's where this versatile master dough recipe I found on Pastry Living with Aya comes in.

With just one batch, you'll have the basic dough for over 10 different kinds of cookies to enjoy all season long. From soft and chewy cookies to festive freshly baked cookies, each batch will contain just the right amount of calm and cheer. 

As a "baked" baker whose business and intention is to inspire others to join me in living the healthy cannabis-infused lifestyle I embody, I am proud to have found this recipe that is so easy to customize for every cookie exchange while still leaving you time and brain-space for what really matters: your peace and joy. 

So roll up your sleeves, soften your butter, and let's get to baking stress-free holiday magic together. 

Ready to get baked now? Buy your new favorite apron and thank you for supporting my business with your purchase of Rep Your State of Mind advocacy apparel and accessories 🙏💚🙏

What Recipes Didn't Make The Cut & Why

But first we must discuss what holiday baking strategies failed to make it into the blog and exactly why:

It became crystal-clear in the research to find the right cookie-baking strategy that I cared about two things:

1. being able to make a true variety of different cookies that varied in flavor, texture, and shape

2. making these cookies in a fun and easy yet strategic process that truely had you make one dough and at least 10 different cookies from the og dough (no backsies!).

The Master Cookie Recipe Competitors

First, the venerable Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, & Ethan Becker was called upon to yield unto us the "Fourteen In One Cookies (Master Recipe)".

All seemed well until.... I read the instructions in some of the variations that called you to replace or substitute ingredients in the original dough recipe to make some of the different cookies.

I realized after reading through the WHOLE recipe (a nerdy habit I very much recommend all cooks and bakers adopt) I decided to keep looking for a Master Recipe that did not require changes to the base dough to make the variations.

Next, I discovered Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking where she shares her Crazy Cookie Dough recipe with which you can make endless variations with your choice of mix-ins and toppings.

No changing the original recipe to make the variations.

This was good, so why didn't I like this strategy?

Well, this recipe produced cookies that were all uniformly circles and similarly flavored in the base and textured.

But for a Christmas cookie assortment for the holiday dessert table, I felt like I needed a recipe that could make traditional cookie-cutter shaped cookies as well as round cookies and could make a variety of cookie textures as well as flavors.

Which led to more searching, and then, finally: Eureka! I found it!

The Winner: My (New) Favorite Master Cookie Dough Recipe

This delicious cookie dough is a wonderful recipe that's easy to make, I am so glad I found this genius master cookie recipe and brain-saving way to enjoy holiday cookie baking!

This Master Cookie Dough recipe is a beautiful basic butter and sugar christmas cookie recipe with which is expertly transformed into you ten different holiday-inspired variations without any substitutions to the original dough.

Winner.

How It All Works...

Master Cookie Dough Recipe 800g

400g Vanilla Base Dough makes about 40 to 4 dozen 100-150g cookies:

• Snowball Cookies

• Wreath Cookies

• Piped Dark Chocolate Cookies

• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

200g Chocolate Base Dough makes about 30 to 3 dozen 90-150g cookies:

• Linzer Jam Sandwiches

• Chocolate Butter Cookies

• Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

200g Gingerbread makes about 20 to 2 dozen 150-200g cookies:

• Gingerbread Friends

• Chewy Gingerbread Sugar Cookies

All you need are a few simple ingredients and some baking tools.

Here's a list of what you'll need:

• Unsalted butter (softened)

• Powdered sugar (whisked and/or sifted)

• Salt

• Whole egg (room temperature)

• Egg yolk (room temperature)

• All-purpose flour (whisked and/or sifted)

• Almond flour (whisked and/or sifted)

To Make the Master Cookie Dough

Start by mixing the softened butter, sifted powdered sugar, and salt until you have an even blend.

Then, add the room temperature whole egg and the egg yolk and continue to mix until the mixture is smooth. Be patient, it will happen, I promise.

Finally, add in the all-purpose flour and almond flour, and mix until you have a consistent dough.

Once you have your dough, it's time to get creative. You can make at least ten different types of cookies from this dough!

Making Three Different Base Cookie Flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Gingerbread

To create vanilla, chocolate, and gingerbread variations with the base cookie doughs you'll need:

• Vanilla Extract

• Cocoa Powder

• Molasses

• Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Allspice, & Clove

• All-purpose Flour

First, we divide the dough in half and make one of the halves Vanilla Cookie dough simply by mixing in vanilla extract until evenly mixed.

Then divide the remaining dough in half again and add cocoa powder to one half to create the Chocolate Cookie Dough.

Finally, take your last remaining half of dough and make the Gingerbread Cookie dough by mixing in molasses, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice & cloves.

Making the Perfect Chewy Sugar Cookies

One type of cookie that is a must-have in your assortment is one with a chewy texture. To make the ideal chewy cookie all we have to do is remember 2 important steps:

1. Strategically add ingredients like brown sugar, baking soda, and/or milk to a portion of our doughs to make them chewy.

2. Remember to shorten baking times to 6-7 minutes ONLY - cookies will be soft while hot but cool to the perfect chewy texture. If you bake your chewy cookies too long, they will crisp up while they cool.

When you add these two ingredients to a portion your Vanilla, Chocolate, Gingerbread cookies dough variations and only bake these cookies for 6-7 minutes, you'll bake up the chewiest, most mouthwatering cookies more quickly and easily than you EVER have before!

Use This Easy Guide to Make Ten Different Sugar Cookie Recipes

All we need are a few more common baking ingredients & supplies you probably already have around your kitchen. All links are paid.

Ingredients & Decorations:

• Toasted Pecans

• More Powdered & Granulated Sugar

• Melted Dark Chocolate & White Chocolate

• Chocolate Chips

• Dried Fruit (cherries or cranberries great)

• Assorted Holiday Sprinkles

• Toasted Mixed Nuts

• Fruit Jam

• Milk

Baking Tools and Supplies:

• Cookie Cutters set

• Piping Bag and Tips set or Ziploc bag

• A toothpick

• A pastry or clean art brush

• Parchment paper

• Rolling Pin

• Two Baking Sheets

• Wire Rack

• Bowls, Electric Stand Mixer or Wooden spoon, Spatula, Oven.... etc.

With these delicious ingredients and supplies, you can have a cookie decorating party with more holiday fun more easily than you ever have before!

5 Tips for the Best Baking Sesh EVER

Tip #1:

Use softened butter.

I promise you that taking the butter out at least half an hour or more to soften at room temp will significantly improve the mixing of your dough. This one tip alone will improve your dough's mixing the most.

FWIW: The best butter I have ever tasted is Kerrygold brand from Ireland.

Tip #2:

Manual Mixing will Make You Mad

Use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or electric hand beaters (this "best value"-winning one by Hamilton Beach is less than $30 on Amazon - paid link)

While it's possible to mix all this by hand with a wooden spoon, it will be tedious and tiring. I am a great believer in better living through science which can often mean using magical machines like mixers (and more!) to make our kitchen witchcraft simple and easy.

Always remember to clean and scrape the bowl with a silicon or rubber spatula regularly when using a stand mixer.

Tip #3

Just chill, baby.

No really - the key to success at this stage in the game is to relax and chill your dough any time you're not shaping it or cutting it out. Chill it right after you make it and before doing any mix-ins or shaping. Put your freezer & fridge to work for you.

• This will really help make your dough much easier to work with, roll out, and cut into various shapes.

• I love a good "set it and forget it" recipe. For example, you can break up the work by making the dough the night before and put it in the fridge until morning.

• Take a break between flavors or whip up an awesome array of cookies super fast - your choice!

Tip #4

Will it scale?

• I HIGHLY recommend using a scale to measure out your ingredients using the same metric system we weigh our weed with...

• After becoming a huge British Bake-Off fan and cannabis DIY teacher, I can honestly say: this is the way.

• Need a scale? Here is mine. (paid link)

Tip #5

Want BIG Cookies? Double Your Dough

When I tested this, I loved the petite cookie size I was making at about 150g each, but if you like bigger cookies, definitely make double the dough and weigh out your cookies to 200 or 300g each.

So with these tips, let holiday cheer be your guide as you confidently celebrate Christmas with cookies, cookies, cookies!

Versatile Vanilla Cookie Variations

Vanilla is everyone's favorite celebration flavor, and us cannabis lovers are no different.

• Snowball Cookies: This yummy dough balls cookie classic is a #1 fan fave for sure. Take a portion of your vanilla base dough and mix in toasted, chopped pecans. Roll into balls, bake, cool, then roll individually in powdered or confectioners sugar to finish.

• Piped Cookies: The recipe calls for your vanilla base cookie dough to be piped out of a piping bag or snipped Ziploc bag with a tip like "Large Star". Pipe out circles. Decorate with toasted mixed nuts and/or dried fruit. Bake them until they're just lightly browned crisp edges. Fill by piping the center with melted dark chocolate and cool completely.

• Wreath Cut Out Cookies: Roll your dough out on a floured surface or between two layers of parchment paper, then cut it into a wreath shape with a cookie cutter. Cut out the center of the wreath as well. Wash with reserved egg white (from the egg yolk in the Master Dough recipe) and 1 tablespoon water and decorate with red and green sprinkles. Bake until crispy and light golden brown on the edges.

• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies: Add brown sugar, baking soda, and chocolate chips to the base Vanilla dough. Roll balls, place at least 3 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and lightly flatten with your palm to ensure uniform spread as they bake. Add more chocolate chips to the top of each cookie and bake just briefly - 6 to 7 minutes only - to ensure a 0chewy texture.

Charming Chocolate Cookie Ideas

Chocolate cookies are a Christmas classic! Here is a recipe so dope you will be actually excited to make all year long.

• Linzer Sandwich Jam Cookies: Roll out chocolate dough and cut into circles, then cut out a smaller circle or other shape in the center of half of the circles to create rings. Bake all pieces (reserve the center shapes for "CutOut Cookies", below. Pipe fruit jam onto the whole circles, sprinkle powdered sugar on to the rings. Place one powdered sugar ring on each jam-circle to create yummy Linzer-style sandwich cookies.

• Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies: Add brown sugar and baking soda to the base Chocolate dough. Roll balls, place at least 3 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and lightly flatten with your palm to ensure uniform spread as they bake. Bake just briefly - 6 to 7 minutes only - to ensure chewy texture. Cool. Dip half of each cookie in melted dark chocolate, sprinkle with chopped, toasted nuts. So good!

• Cut-Out Circle Cookies: This is basically a cookie made from cutting out the center of your Linzer-style cookie. Roll your dough out on a floured surface or between two layers of parchment paper, then cut it into a wreath shape with a cookie cutter. Cut out the center of the wreath as well. Wash with reserved egg white (from the egg yolk in the Master Dough recipe) and 1 tablespoon water and decorate with sprinkles. Bake until crisp.

Gorgeous Gingerbread Gateaus

Here's why you'll love these festive Gingerbread-flavored cookies: they are mouth-wateringly moist, full of Christmas spices, and so simple to make that being high will only make it more fun!

• Gingerbread Friends Cookies: Roll out your dough and cut out gingerbread people shapes. Add eyes, a nose, a mouth, and buttons to each cookie. Feel free to brush lightly with egg wash and add sprinkles to boots, mittens, or other parts of each cookie. Bake until slightly crispy. Cool.

• Chewy Gingerbread Sugar Cookies: Add brown sugar and baking soda to the base Gingerbread dough. Roll balls, place at least 3 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and lightly flatten with your palm to ensure uniform spread as they bake. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake just briefly - 6 to 7 minutes only - to ensure chewy texture. Cool. Dip half of each cookie in melted white chocolate, sprinkle with chopped, dried cranberries.

Leftover Dough Cookie Recipe Ideas:

This is a GREAT idea to keep in the freezer for whenever the munchies hit or some surprise guests need a festive & freshly-baked treat.

• Icebox Cookies: Combine any leftover dough with other dough flavors and mix in dried fruits, nuts, or candies to your liking. Roll into a log shape and then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge. Once it's firm, cut it into slices and bake them until they're crispy and lightly golden on the edges.

Master Cookie Dough Recipe

from Pastry Living with Aya

Ingredients:

• 226 g Butter (softened) 2 US sticks

• ▢142 g Powdered sugar / 1 ⅙ US cups

• ▢1/4 tsp Salt

• ▢1 egg Whole egg

• ▢1 yolk Egg yolk (Reserve the egg white for egg wash)

• ▢285 g All-purpose flour / 2 ¼ US cups

• ▢85 g Almond flour / ⅞ US cup

Instructions:

• Mix soft butter, powdered sugar, and salt in a bowl until it's evenly blended. 226 g Butter (softened), 142 g Powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp Salt

• Add a whole egg and yolk and mix until totally smooth. (Clean the paddle, side and the bottom of a standing mixer bowl with silicon or rubber spatula regularly). 1 egg Whole egg, 1 Egg yolk (reserve the white for an egg white wash)

• Add sifted all-purpose flour and almond flour and mix until it's evenly incorporated. (Continue to clean the paddle and the bowl with your silicon or rubber spatula regularly if using a stand mixer )285 g All-purpose flour, 85 g Almond flour

• If you want to roll & shape dough immediately, use parchment paper so your rolling pin does not touch the dough directly. Best to chill the dough in the refrigerator first for at least 30 mins (or overnight) and roll later.

• Chill the cut-out cookies in the fridge (preferably plastic-wrapped in the freezer) before baking it to prevent excessive spread.

• Bake at 345 F | 174 C for about 6 - 15 minutes (or more!). Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven and the size and thickness of your cookies. To enjoy the light and crispy texture, bake the cookies until you see nice golden color around the edges. To ensure chewy cookies retain their texture, shorten baking times to just 6-7 minutes and cool while still soft.

Christmas Cookie Assortment Recipes

from Pastry Living with Aya

Ingredients:

Vanilla Base Dough

• ▢400 g Master Cookie Dough Recipe (which is half the recipe)

• ▢1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1. Snowball Cookies

• ▢100 g Vanilla Base Dough

• ▢33 g Toasted Chopped Pecans

2. Piped Dark Chocolate Cookies

• ▢100 g Vanilla Base Dough

• ▢Optional: Toasted Nuts

• ▢Melted Dark Chocolate

3. Wreath Cookies

• ▢100 g Vanilla Base Dough

• ▢Optional: Dried Cherries

• ▢Optional: Holiday Decorative Sprinkles

4. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

• ▢100 g Vanilla Base Dough

• ▢16.6 g Brown Sugar

• ▢1/8 tsp Baking Soda

• ▢33 g Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips

Gingerbread Dough

• ▢200 g Master Cookie Dough Recipe

• ▢40 g Molasses / US 2 Tbsp

• ▢3/4 tsp Ginger

• ▢3/4 tsp Cinnamon

• ▢1/8 tsp Allspice

• ▢1/8 tsp Clove

• ▢25 g All-purpose flour / US 3 Tbsp

5. Chewy Gingerbread Sugar Cookies

• ▢100 g Gingerbread Base Dough

• ▢16.6 g Brown Sugar

• ▢1/8 tsp Baking soda

• ▢Granulated sugar (for final coating)

• ▢Melted White chocolate

• ▢Optional: Melted Dark chocolate

• ▢Optional: Dried cranberries

6. Gingerbread Friends Cookies

• ▢The rest of the gingerbread dough

• ▢Sprinkles

Chocolate Dough

• ▢200 g Master Cookie Dough Recipe

• ▢1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Cocoa powder

7. Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

• ▢100 g Chocolate Base Dough

• ▢16.6 g Brown Sugar

• ▢1/8 tsp Baking soda

• ▢1.5 tsp Milk

• ▢Some Dark chocolate as decoration

8. Chocolate Linzer Sandwich Cookies

• ▢The rest of the chocolate dough

• ▢Any Fruit Jam

• ▢Powdered Sugar

9. Chocolate Butter Cookies

• ▢The dough from Linzer cookies

• ▢Egg white egg wash

• ▢Decorative Sprinkles

Any Extra Dough: Make Mixed Icebox Cookies with Whatever You Have Left

10. Dried Fruits & Nuts Icebox Cookies

• ▢Any Leftover dough 

• ▢Any Chopped Dried fruits

• ▢Any Toasted nuts 

• ▢Egg white egg wash

• ▢Granulated sugar for coating

How Long Will All This Holiday Baking Take, Michelle?

With just this one dough and these few techniques, you can have ten varieties of cookies, and even more if you get creative. Plus, the master dough is so easy to prepare, I was able to whip it up in just 15 minutes!

In my test run, I made the master dough in the morning and baked 8 variations before school-pick up time, in about 4 hours total.

How Long Can I Store the Dough?

Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for four days and in the freezer for a few months.

How Long Can I Store the Baked Cookies?

Store baked cookies in an air-tight container for up to four days at room temperature and a couple weeks in the fridge.

Cookies stored in the fridge will be harder than room temp cookies as the butter will harden in the cold temperature.

Mine lasted one single day and were gone!

How Can I Make My Cookies Infused?

There are so many ways to infuse your food with cannabis. I typically do not choose to infuse, but rather take my tinctures, topicals, suppositories, and use inhaled cannabis methods like smoking and dry herb vaporizing.

However, infused edibles are always exciting to make, take and share, so let's discuss some winning strategies for infusing.

Low Dose Infusion Ideas

The easiest way in my opinion to infuse baked cookies with cannabis for is to make an alcohol-based tincture with a dosage of 1mg of cannabinoid per drop.

For example, combining & then straining out about 2 grams of decarbed THC cannabis in 1 ounce of Everclear-type high-proof alcohol or rum will yield you a tincture that has approximately 1mg of THC per drop, 30mg of THC per 1ml dropper, and 300mg of THC per bottle.

Simply drop the dosage you would like onto each cookie and allow to dry. Works best with low-dose cookies, like 5mg and under so as to make sure you are not soaking your cookies in too much alcohol.

Powerfully Potent Ideas for Infusion

A good strategy for infusing cookies with higher doses of cannabinoid is to replace some or all of the softened butter in the recipe with infused canna-butter or ghee. This will produce much more potent cookies without soaking them in too much alcohol.

In Conclusion...

Baking cookies during the holiday season is a tradition, and being able to make ten different types of cookies using one dough is a game-changer. With this stoner-friendly butter cookie dough recipe, you can make delicious buttery and flavorful cookies without going crazy.

Remember, Christmas is a time to enjoy and create memories with your loved ones, and what better way to do it than through baking and healthy cannabis use?

Happy Holidays, from one baked baker to another!

Thanks and happy holidays! Buy your new favorite apron to bake your cookies in and thank you for supporting my business with your purchase of Rep Your State of Mind advocacy apparel and accessories 🙏💚

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