Christmas is almost here, so we are hitting the kitchen and baking some Christmas sugar cookies for Santa! No matter how old I get, I still love the tradition of baking and decorating Christmas cut-out sugar cookies.
Traditionally, I make standard, cut-out sugar cookies; however, this year I wanted to do something a bit different. In honor of Tennessee, I decided to add some Tennessee honey whiskey to the batter and a little bit to the frosting to continue to carry out that sweet whiskey flavor. These Tennessee honey whiskey Christmas sugar cookies are one for the books with hints of maple, vanilla, and molasses from the brown sugar, with slight notes of sweet honey whiskey throughout. This is a recipe that I will definitely be bringing back year after year and one that all of your friends and family will love!
You can also sub out the whiskey for bourbon if you prefer a stronger bourbon taste. I personally love the taste of Tennessee honey whiskey though.
How To Make Christmas Sugar Cookies:
Add 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter and 3/4 cups of packed brown sugar to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, whip the butter and sugar until it is fluffy and lighter in color.
Next, add 1 egg at room temperature, 2 tsp. of vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 Tbsp. of Tennessee honey whiskey. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and continue to whip for 30-60 seconds until all the ingredients are fully combined.
Next add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. of baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. of salt.
Blend all the ingredients together on slow speed until the flour is fully incorporated into the dough.
Once everything is incorporated, flour a workspace and spoon the dough onto the floured workspace.
Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough and begin kneading the dough into a disk shape. You want the dough to be pliable at this point and not super sticky. Add additional flour as needed, 2-4 Tbsp.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place the dough in the refrigerator to rest for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Dust flour over the workspace and over the dough.
With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/4″ thick.
Using your favorite cookie cutters, begin cutting the dough and placing the cookies onto the sheet pan.
Freeze cookies for 15 minutes in the freezer before baking to allow the dough to set back up.
Bake at 350° F for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden in color.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to fully cool before frosting them.
Royal Icing Recipe:
Add 2 cups of powdered sugar into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Add 1 Tbsp. of Tennessee honey whiskey and 1 Tbsp. of vanilla extract.
On low speed, begin mixing everything together and stream in 1-2 Tbsp. of water. (if you want a thinner icing, add more water, 1 Tbsp. at a time).
Poor into an icing bag fitted with a small tip and begin frosting the cookies.
Some Of My Favorite Holiday Treats You May Like:
Sourdough Christmas Star Bread: Cinnamon Roll
Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Muffin
Cinnamon Cranberry Apple Crisp: Old Fashioned
Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Tennessee Honey Whiskey Christmas Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Dough Ingredients:
- 1.5 sticks butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1.5 Tbsp. Tennessee honey whiskey
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus 2-4 Tbsp. for rolling out dough)
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Maple and Honey Whisky Royal Icing Ingredients:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. Tennessee honey Whiskey
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tbsp. filtered water
Instructions
Cookie Instructions:
- Add softened butter and packed brown sugar to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, whip the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 60-90 seconds.
- Add one egg at room temperature, vanilla extract, and Tennessee honey whiskey. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and whip for an additional 30-60 seconds until all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Add all-purpose flour, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until the flour is fully incorporated into the dough.
- Once everything is incorporated, flour a workspace and spoon the dough onto the floured workspace.
- Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough and begin kneading the dough into a disk shape. You want the dough to be pliable at this point and not super sticky. Add additional flour as needed, 2-4 Tbsp.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place the dough in the refrigerator to rest for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
- Dust flour over the workspace and over the dough.
- With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/4" thick.
- Using your favorite cookie cutters, begin cutting the dough and placing the cookies onto the sheet pan.
- Freeze cookies for 15 minutes in the freezer before baking to allow the dough to set back up.
- Bake at 350° F for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden in color.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to fully cool before frosting them.
Maple, Whisky Royal Icing Instructions:
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
- Add 1 Tbsp. of Tennessee honey whiskey and 1 Tbsp. of vanilla extract.
- On low speed, begin mixing everything together and stream in 1-2 Tbsp. of water. (if you want a thinner icing, add more water, 1 Tbsp. at a time).
- Poor into an icing bag fitted with a small tip and begin frosting the cookies.
Notes
- Use Ziploc: If you do not have a piping bag, no worries! You can always use a small Ziploc bag and snip a small portion off of the corner of the bag for piping.
- Bake time for smaller cookies: If your cookies are different sizes (some are smaller or bigger than others), adjust the back time accordingly. For smaller cookies bake for about 6-8 minutes.
- Kid-Friendly Version: If you want to make your cookies non-alcoholic for the kiddos simply substitute water in place of the whiskey for the icing.
