Zoë's Baking Academy: Holiday Sugar Cookies
You don't have to bake to enter the giveaway (though I hope you still will!)
Making holiday cut-out cookies is one of my favorite activities of the season. Amid all the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations, I savor the time when I can put on some music, grab a cup of tea, and settle in for meditative cookie decorating.
I thought making sugar cookies, in any form would be the perfect Zoë’s Baking Academy Challenge for this time of year. No matter which holiday you celebrate these cookies are a great addition to your party. They can be as simple or elaborate as you like.
I’ve partnered with Diamond Crystal Salt to create a wonderful selection of prizes for TEN lucky winners, including a copy of Zoë Bakes Cookies and Diamond Crystal Salt Co. Baking Salt. Details about the Baking Academy and giveaway are below.
I use Baking Salt in my Holiday Sugar Cookies recipe because it dissolves into the dough so easily and creates the best texture and balance of flavor with the sugar in the cookie. Royal Icing is an elegant finish to the cookies. It is traditionally made with confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder* mixed with water, but that flavor has never excited me. By adding lemon juice and the super-fine Baking Salt to the icing you’ll get a smooth finish that’s also super tasty, which is essential for your holiday baking. I feel the cookies should be as tasty as they are beautiful.
See below for details of how to enter to win a copy of Zoë Bakes Cookies and Diamond Crystal Salt.
When my boys were young budding cookie “artists,” the experience was less meditative but full of love and always entertaining. They used to climb up onto the counter and shake as many colorful sprinkles* onto the cookies (and the floor!) as they could. It was messy and so much fun. As they got older, more of the decor made it onto the cookies but I kinda miss those days of wild cookie making.
To make sure you have success with your cookies, I’ve added some of my go-to Sugar Cookie Tips and Tricks below!
Zoë’s Baking Academy Details
To participate in the Challenge: Before December 31, bake my sugar cookies recipe with or without Royal Icing. Don’t forget to snap a photo and/or video of your cookies.
Show us your bake: Tag me (@zoebakes) in an in-feed post on Instagram or Facebook (it’s hard to track Stories and we may miss them) and use the hashtag #zoebakesacademy and/or #zoebakes. If you don’t use social media or your account is private, you can still participate! Send an email to stephani@zoebakes.com with a photo to let us know you’re in.
How to enter the giveaway: This month we’ve partnered with Diamond Crystal Salt Co. so entering is a bit different. There are actually a few ways to enter.
Leave a comment below and you will be entered one time.
Those of you who bake the sugar cookies and enter into the challenge will receive 10 entries into the giveaway!
If you rate and review the recipe on the website, you’ll get an extra five chances to win.
Winners: We’ll randomly draw TEN winners at the beginning of January 2025. Winners will receive a signed copy of Zoë Bakes Cookies and some special gifts from Diamond Crystal Baking Co., including the Baking Salt! We’ll contact the winners and then announce it that week on social media and in this email once the winners have accepted. US addresses only.
Tips & Tricks for Great Sugar Cookies
*denotes affiliate link
Room temperature ingredients: Creaming the ingredients well will depend on you starting with room-temperature butter and eggs. This is essential when mixing by hand or with a handheld mixer*, as I did in the video.
Flavors: Many sugar cookie recipes call for almond extract, but I love to pump up the flavor with bright citrus. My recipe calls for fresh lemon juice and I also add zest and lemon extract. If you prefer a warmer flavor, you can add cardamom or cinnamon with almond extract for a completely different cookie. Have fun with it!
Scrape that bowl: To make sure your ingredients get fully incorporated, it’s important that you scrape the bowl often with a rubber spatula*. If you don’t scrape the bowl, butter can cling to the bottom and end up as lumps of butter in the dough. When you bake the cookies, those lumps of butter melt and create holes or pockmarks in the cookies.
Make-ahead: I love that cookie dough can be made weeks in advance. This dough can be made a few days ahead and refrigerated or frozen for up to three weeks. If you’re freezing it, be sure to put it in the refrigerator a day before you want to use it so it can thaw.
Chilled Dough: To prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling surface or using too much flour, make sure the dough is thoroughly chilled before rolling. Pressing the dough thin when wrapping it in plastic to chill will help it chill faster.
Rolling on Silicone Mat: These reusable mats* are my favorite material for rolling cookie dough since they are non-stick and require less flour than if you are rolling on a cloth or the counter. The other benefit is you can pick up the mat and place it in the refrigerator if your dough becomes soft.
Rolling Pins: Use the one that is most comfortable for you. I like a pin with handles* but you may prefer a dowel or tapered rolling pin*. They will all work well.
Re-rolling Scraps: When you are stamping out the cookies with the cutters*, you’ll want to stamp them as close as possible so there isn’t a lot of cookie dough left over. That way there are fewer scraps to reuse. Because the cookie dough is rolled on flour, it will become dry if you re-roll too often so I suggest just doing so once, maybe twice if you don’t use too much flour.
I cannot WAIT to see your cookies. Let the baking begin!
xo Zoë
My daughter and I baked these yesterday and they turned out so good! The lemon just added the perfect freshness!
Starting today! So excited!