Name: Simple Spiced Christmas Sugar Cookies
Yield: Makes about 24 cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, chilled; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar; 2 large egg yolks; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, cloves, or nutmeg; 1/4 teaspoon baking powder; 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for surface; Colored sanding sugars or royal icing (optional; for decorating); Assorted cookie cutters

Decorated Christmas cookies in various shapes.

Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott

A super-easy, no-mixer-needed cookie dough recipe that doesn’t dirty any bowls and leaves plenty of time for the fun stuff—baking, decorating, and eating dough scraps, of course.

Recipe notes

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