No fancy cookie cutters OR decorating required to make these 5 super EASY Christmas cookies for kids...all made with a circle cookie cutter! Simply spread on the frosting & use candy M&M's to decorate cute Christmas cookies!
Easy Christmas Cookies for Kids
Baking with kids doesn't have to be hard! Whether you're looking for a fun Christmas baking activity to make with the kids or grandchildren, I've got you covered with 5 EASY Christmas cookie decorating ideas! These are also great cookies for cookie decorating parties, as they don't require a lot of skill!
Each of these easy Christmas cookies has pictures, making them easy to print off or pull up on the iPad for kids to replicate!
Supplies You Need:
This list is everything you need to make ALL 5 of these easy Christmas cookies but if you only want to make 1 or 2, use the instructions below for how to make each individual cookie! These kid-friendly Christmas cookies are great for ages 6 and up but I've also included tips for baking with different ages!
- Cut Out Sugar Cookie Dough: I've linked to my recipe below but you can use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or use a premade mix from Pillsbury or Betty Crocker! My regular recipe makes 12 cookies, so you'll want to double it to get 24 cookies!
- Frosting: My favorite sugar cookie buttercream recipe is linked in the recipe card below but you can also use canned frosting for these. Because we're using M&M's, I do not recommend using a liquid sugar cookie glaze since the colors of the M&M's tend to bleed with a wetter icing.
- Circle Cookie Cutter: You can also just use a glass cup or anything round in your kitchen to cut out round sugar cookies! For the faces to fit, I recommend using at least a 2.5" round cookie cutter.
- Food Coloring: I like to use gel food coloring but you can use whatever you have on hand! I've included formulas below using the Wilton food coloring gel.
- Candy M&M's: Grab a bag of both regular and mini sized M&M's! While you can just use regular sized, I like to mix in mini M&M's for some fun size variation. Using M&M's is a cheap and easy way to make Christmas cookies, since you don't have to buy different eyeball sprinkles or mix up a small amounts of frosting just for the face!
- White Sanding Sugar (optional): while not required, if you want to add a little sparkle to your snowman or polar bear cookies, you can dip or sprinkle on some white sanding sugar!
Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
I've included a double batch recipe for my favorite Cut Out Sugar Cookies in the recipe card below! This will make 24 (2.5" round cookies). Let the kids help roll out and cut the sugar cookie dough into circles!
While I typically recommend avoiding playing with your dough (so that it doesn't spread!), the beauty of making circle cookies is that even if the kids overwork the dough and it spreads...it's still a circle! So don't stress about making the perfect sugar cookies, this is all about having fun!
Cut out sugar cookies are one of my favorite kid-friendly Christmas baking recipes since they're more of an activity than a methodical recipe!
Mixing the Frosting
You can make all 5 of these simple Christmas cookies using just white, brown, and red frosting which makes prep work super easy! If making all 5 of the cookies shown here, I'd recommend splitting the white frosting in 3 bowls (¾ cup white, ¾ cup brown, ½ cup red).
How to Make Brown Frosting: To make the reindeer and gingerbread colored frosting add 2 drops Wilton Brown + 1 drop Wilton Yellow per 1 cup of frosting.
How to Make Red Frosting: For Santa's hat, add 4 drops Wilton Crimson + 2 drops Wilton Red per 1 cup of frosting.
5 Fun Cookies to Make With Kids
Easy Reindeer Cookies
These adorable Rudolph cookies are such easy Christmas cookies to make with kids! Simply spread on brown frosting and then top with regular-sized M&M's.
- Spread on brown frosting
- Place 2 brown M&M's for the eyes, 1 red M&M for the nose, and a ½ brown M&M for the mouth (have an adult cut a few M&M's in half).
- Press on 2 mini pretzels for the antlers
Video Tutorial: Click here to watch me decorate these reindeer cookies for my 12 days of easy Christmas cookies series!
Easy Snowman Cookies
These cute Frosty the Snowman sugar cookies are the most simple Christmas cookies! You can even decorate a few cookies just with green M&M buttons and then stack them to create a full snowman!
- Spread on white frosting & press the top of the cookie into a bowl of white sanding sugar (optoional).
- Place 2 brown M&M's for the eyes, 2 red M&M's for the rosy cheeks, 1 sideways orange M&M for the carrot nose, and a ½ brown M&M for the mouth (have an adult cut a few M&M's in half).
Video Tutorial: Click here to watch me decorate these easy snowman cookies for my 12 days of easy Christmas cookies series! It's one of the easiest cookies to make with kids!
Easy Santa Cookies
These adorable Santa sugar cookies are just one of my many go-to Christmas baking ideas for kids! This one is a bit easier for older kids but for younger kids, you can also decorate the cookie and just let them add on the M&M face!
- Pipe a curved red line of frosting on the top ⅓ of the cookie, fill in, and spread until smooth.
- Using a ziploc or piping bag, pipe white dots along the edge followed by one large dot at the end for Santas pom pom.
- Pipe white dots around the bottom of the cookie, then fill in the bottom ⅓ of the cookie to complete the beard.
- Pipe 2 white dots on the outsides for the eyes & one dot in the center (this is what will hold the M&M's down).
- Press on 2 mini brown m&m's for the eyes and 1 regular sized red M&M for the nose. If desired, press on half of a brown M&M for the mouth.
- If desired, pipe on two white eyebrows.
Video Tutorial: Click here to watch me decorate these Santa cookies for my 12 days of easy Christmas cookies series!
Easy Gingerbread Man Sugar Cookies
These cute gingerbread man cookies are such fun cookies to make with kids! Pair with a candy cane cookie for the cutest little gingerbread cookie tray.
- Spread on brown frosting.
- Place 2 brown M&M's for the eyes, 2 red M&M's for the rosy cheeks, and a ½ brown M&M for the mouth (have an adult cut a few M&M's in half).
- Pipe a white squiggle line on top of the head.
- If desired, you can customize the faces with bows on the top or bottom to create little girl and boy gingerbread faces.
Video Tutorial: Coming soon!
Easy Polar Bear Cookies
These adorable little polar bear cookies are another one of my favorite Christmas baking ideas for kids! It's a great one to make for cookie trays but also a fun winter sugar cookie idea for later in the cold months!
- Spread on white frosting & press the top of the cookie into a bowl of white sanding sugar (optoional).Place 2 brown M&M's for the eyes, 2 red M&M's for the rosy cheeks, and a ½ brown M&M for the mouth (have an adult cut a few M&M's in half).
- Pipe a large dot in the lower center of the cookie for the snout and then 2 smaller dots on the top for the ears.
- Press on 2 mini brown M&M's for the eyes, 2 mini red M&M's for the cheeks, and one regular sized brown on top of the large white dot for M&M for the nose.
Video Tutorial: Coming soon!
Tips for Baking Christmas Cookies With Kids!
- Involve the Kids: Let the kids mix & help cut out the sugar cookie dough! Since we're just making circle cookies, you don't have to worry about the cookies spreading because even if they do, they will still be circles! Sugar cookies are most kids favorite cookies since it's like edible playdoh!
- Create Individual Stations: For decorating, give each child a plate of cookies and bowl of M&M's. Depending on their age, it may be easiest for you to frost the cookies first so that all they have to do is decorate.
- Print Photos: To give them a visual for what they're making, you can print off a picture from this post or bring up the images on an iPad.
- Baking with Toddlers: If you're baking with toddlers, you can use these easy Christmas cookies as a fun way to teach them words like "eyes, nose, mouth"! Help them identify each part of the face and allow them to assist in pressing on the M&M's.
- Have fun! If nothing else, remember that christmas baking for kids is supposed to be FUN. Don't stress about getting the perfect cookie...it's all about the experience!
5 EASY Christmas Cookies for Kids
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Cut sugar cookie dough into 2.5" circles and bake according to recipe instructions, and let cool.
- Divide your frosting into 3 bowls (¾ cup white, ¾ cup brown, ½ cup red) and mix in food coloring. Color forumlas included in post above.
- Pipe or spread frosting onto each cookie as shown in the pictures above. To decorate, immediately press M&M's into frosting to create hte face.
Notes from Melissa
- Storage: Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze these cookies in an airtight container up to 1 month.
- Packaging: Allow frosting to dry and develop a crust before packaging; up to 8 hours. To speed up the process, place cookies in the fridge for 1 hour, then allow to come back to room temperature before packaging.
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these are soooo cute! I love your sugar cookie recipe and am definitely going to make these with the kids!