Santa and all his helpers will be overjoyed with a plateful of these bakery style Gluten Free Holiday Sprinkle Sugar Cookies. They are a perfect combo of crispy and chewy with a little crunch of festive sprinkles.
Have you ever heard that song I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus?
I think it’s such a cute song. And hilarious. The poor kid believes that his mom is having an affair with Santa after catching them smooching at night. He thinks his daddy will be devastated to find out mom’s been cheating with jolly old Saint Nicholas.
Now we all know that Santa and daddy are one in the same. So really mommy is just smooching on daddy and all is right in the world…
…unless you don’t understand the song…
…unless you are Ben, that is.
He seriously turned to me in the car the other night as we were driving around listening to Christmas music and whispered, “Babe, this is such a scandalous song!”
I looked at him a bit perplexed and asked, “What do you mean?”
To this he replied, “Uhhh, the mom is gettin’ busy with Santa and the dad doesn’t even know about it!”
Really??? I thought he was kidding, but he legitimately thought…for years…that this poor kid was watching his mom actually kiss another man…SANTA! Don’t worry, I then explained to him that Santa is not a real being. It crushed his poor spirit.
Just kidding. Of course he already knew that Santa doesn’t exist. He just didn’t quite get the song. Although, Ben’s parents still won’t admit that there is no Santa. To this day I cannot get them to say that Santa isn’t real. For the first 6 years of our marriage without kids, “Santa” would leave an entire sackful of presents for Ben and me. If you ever tried to thank his parents, they would just brush it off and say, “We didn’t buy that. Santa gave it to you!”
Oh the magic!
But speaking of Santa, have you figured out what yummy cookies you’ll be leaving out Christmas Eve???
I know the easy route is plopping an Oreo or Nilla Wafer (gluten free versions, of course) on a plate and calling it good, but don’t you think Santa would enjoy something a little more…homemade??? Indeed he would!
How about let’s compromise with homemade and easy and settle on these Gluten Free Holiday Sprinkle Sugar Cookies for Santa? They don’t take much effort, yet they are adorably festive with all the red, white, and green sprinkles.
These cookies began as an epic fail to make cutout sugar cookies, which I have since mastered. Check out my previous post for the perfect cutout sugar cookie recipe. Anyway, I originally wanted to use this dough recipe to make cutout cookies and my snowmen, stars, and Christmas trees spread into unrecognizable blobs. Delicious blobs that my kiddos still decorated, but blobs nonetheless.
Too much butter + too much sugar + too much baking soda = sugar cookie disaster.
But then I thought, “Hmmm, if they’re going to spread, why not roll them into balls, coat them with sprinkles, and then bake???”
GENIUS!
These new version sugar cookies turned out just perfect! They remind me of bakery style sugar cookies you get at the grocery store. You know the ones with sprinkles that are slightly crispy on the edges and oh so chewy in the center? Yep, these cookies are a spot on resemblance.
I absolutely love the flavor of these cookies. The vanilla shines through and there is such a perfect balance of sweet and buttery. And again, just like I emphasized in my last post, don’t skimp on the salt. Yes, these cookies call for a full teaspoon of salt and it makes them all that much better. Salt is a cookie’s best friend.
Even though I’m posting these as Christmas cookies, you can bake these year round by changing up the color of sprinkles you use. Valentines? Go red! St. Patty’s Day? Green all the way! Easter??? Go the pastel route. The options are endless…
…unless you can’t find sprinkles. Don’t get me started on shopping for sprinkles ya’ll. Between Ben and I, we literally went to 8 different stores around town looking for Christmas sprinkles for another batch of cookies. We were too late to the game because not a single store had Christmas sprinkles. Not a single one.
So the next time you spot some festive sprinkles, buy them ALL up so you can make these holiday sprinkle cookies whenever your heart so desires. Or you can dress up as Santa and come to my house Christmas Eve where there will be a plate of these waiting for Mr. Kris Kringle, a.k.a. my hubby.
What are your traditional treats for Santa?
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2¾ cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour
- jar of small round holiday sprinkles
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and egg until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add salt and baking soda and mix well. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until well incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed. Add remaining ¾ cup of flour and mix on low until dough is smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1-2 hours until firm.
- Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mat.
- Pour sprinkles into a shallow bowl. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball between palms of your hand. Roll ball of dough in sprinkles to completely cover. Repeat with dough, placing balls 2" apart on cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies, one pan at a time, at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and slide paper with cookies onto a cooling rack. After 5 minutes, transfer cookies off paper onto cooling rack and reuse paper for another batch. Continue until all dough is gone.
- Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in fridge for up to 1 week, or in freezer for up to 3 months.
More from my site
Gluten Free Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten Free Cinnamon Spiced Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Chocolate Peppermint Hershey’s Kisses Cookies
Gluten Free Soft and Fluffy Cutout Sugar Cookies
Gluten Free Eggnog Bundt Cake with Buttercream Eggnog Drizzle