12 EASY Circle Christmas Cookies

Round Reindeer Cookies

It’s everyone’s favorite red-nosed reindeer, in adorable cookie form! These fun reindeer sugar cookies are great for little ones (and adults!) who don’t have a steady hand for piping frosting.

• How to Make: Spread brown frosting onto a round sugar cookie, then add the face by pressing on two pretzels for antlers, two brown M&Ms for eyes, a red M&M for that signature red nose, and half of a brown M&M for a cute little smile.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!
• Get the full step-by-step tutorial & printable instructions: Easy Rudolph Cookies

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place these easy reindeer cookies in a plastic bag and tie it off with a personalized gift tag! This is one of my favorite round Christmas sugar cookie designs because it’s the easiest for kids!

Wreath Circle Cookie

This festive wreath cookie couldn’t be easier to make! If you don’t have a small round cookie cutter to cut out the center hole, you can use an apple corer, the lid of a spice jar, or even a paring knife instead. (Here’s how to make dark green frosting for your wreaths!)

• How to Make: Pipe medium-sized dots along the edges, then fill in the space between them for the look of lush holiday greenery. Decorate with sprinkles and use M&Ms or frosting to create a bow or berries.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!
• Get the full step-by-step tutorial: Easy Wreath Sugar Cookies

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the wreath cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a free printable Christmas gift tag!

Round Christmas Tree Cookie

My final circle Christmas cookie design is a festive Christmas tree decked out with ornaments. I use a star tip to pipe the border, but dots will work just fine if you don’t have any decorative tips to use.

• How to Make: Spread on a buttercream frosting background, then switch to a piping bag filled with green frosting and fitted with a small tip. Pipe back and forth to form a tree, add some sprinkle ornaments, a star on top, and pipe on a border for an elegant finish.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the Christmas tree cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a personalized gift tag! This is one of my favorite circle holidays cookies because it’s so simple, but looks fancy.

Round Snowflake Cookies

They say no two snowflakes look alike, so feel free to get creative with these circle snowflake cookies! While they look fancy at first glance, it’s really just a simple combination of lines and dots.

• How to Make: Use a piping bag fitted with a small tip to draw a line straight across a circle sugar cookie, then criss-cross it two more times. Pipe additional lines and dots to create a symmetrical snowflake design. Dust with sanding sugar if you have it!
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the snowflake cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a snowman gift tag! You can also use my royal icing recipe to turn these into royal icing snowflakes (which dries harder than buttercream!).

Gumdrop Cookies

Shaping cookies without cutters is as easy as using a butterknife to pinch, squeeze, and cut sweet little gumdrop-shaped cookies. With my fluffy sugar cookie recipe, these taste just like the soft-baked Lofthouse cookies they sell at the grocery store!

• How to Make: Start with fluffy sugar cookies and use a mini cookie cutter (or the top of a champagne flute!) to cut the dough; use a butterknife to squeeze in the top of the circle, then cut off the bottom to create a gum drop shape. Spread on frosting in your choice of colors and dip the gumdrop cookies in white sanding sugar—just like a real gumdrop!
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: Pair with our gingerbread man cookie for a cute cookie tray!Or if you’re only making gumdrop cookies, you can put 2 or 3 different colors in a plastic bag and tie it off with a candy cane or gingerbread gift tag!

Peppermint Sugar Cookie

These easy Christmas sugar cookies are made to look like peppermint candies! If you want them to taste like peppermint too, add a few drops of peppermint extract to the buttercream frosting.

• How to Make: Spread white frosting onto a circle sugar cookie, then pipe a red spiral over it. Dip into white sanding sugar and you’re done! Wrap these cookies in cellophane and tie both ends to complete the peppermint candy look.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: Place in a long, clear plastic bag and tie off each end with twine to create a cute “wrapped candy” cookie! These are also cute paired with candy cane cookies on a cookie platter.

Gingerbread Face Cookie

This cheeky little gingerbread man has a wry smile and rosy cheeks, along with that trademark gingerbread squiggle on the top of his head. These gingerbread circle cookies are almost too cute to eat!

• How to Make: Spread brown buttercream onto a round sugar cookie (I have a color formula for this here). Use half M&Ms for the mouth and eyes, and whole red M&Ms to create rosy cheeks. Pipe a white squiggle on the top and a bow tie on the bottom. 
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!
• Get the full step-by-step tutorial: Circle Gingerbread Man Sugar Cookies

Gifting Idea: Pair with our mini gumdrop cookies to create an adorable gingerbread-themed cookie tray! Or to gift individually, place the gingerbread head cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a candy cane gift tag!

Round Snowman Cookies

This snowman-in-a-snowglobe round Christmas cookie is a bit more elaborate than some of the others, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a cinch to make! The details here are all made with sprinkles.

• How to Make: Spread light blue frosting onto a round sugar cookie for a wintry background. Pipe a curved white line at the bottom and fill that in to create your snow. Pipe one large circle and a smaller circle on top to build your snowman and use sprinkles for the carrot nose, arms, eyes, and buttons. Use some extras to create a snow globe effect, then pipe dots along the border for a decorative touch.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the snowman cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a personalized gift tag!

Circle Polar Bear Cookies

This Arctic cutie is another effortless circle Christmas cookie idea. No need to mix up a bunch of frosting colors, either—you only need white buttercream and M&Ms!

• How to Make: Spread or pipe white frosting onto a cookie—use sanding sugar for a little bit of sparkle! Pipe on a large dot for the snout, and two smaller dots for the ears. Mini M&Ms make the cutest little eyes and cheeks, and a regular-sized M&M is the nose.
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: Pair our polar bear cookie with the reindeer & snowflake cookies to create a cute wintery trio!

Round Present Cookie

For a sophisticated decorated Christmas cookie, try this simple gift design. You don’t need a present cookie cutter—just use a circle cookie cutter or the rim of a glass and pipe on a decorative bow!

• How to Make: Spread circle cookies with frosting—I used pink, but you can use any color you like! Smooth it out, then pipe horizontal and vertical lines to make a plus sign. Little loops in the middle make a beautiful holiday bow!
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the present cookie in a plastic bag and tie it off with a personalized gift tag!

Snowman Face Circle Cookie

With rosy red cheeks, a carrot nose, and a sweet little smile, these snowman circle cookies are super cute—and since all the decorating is done with M&Ms, they’re super easy too! This one is perfect for preschoolers.

• How to Make: Pipe or spread frosting onto a round sugar cookie and smooth it out, then dip it into white sanding sugar for that sparkling fresh snow effect. Use M&Ms for eyes and cheeks; an orange M&M on its side makes the perfect carrot nose, and a half M&M makes a smile. 
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!
• Get the full step-by-step tutorial: Easy Decorated Snowman Cookies

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place the snowman face cookie in a plastic bag and decorate it with a snowman gift tag! Or decorate a few of the cookies with M&M buttons to create the “body” and gift a face & body on top of each other in a tall plastic bag to create a full snowman.

Circle Santa Cookies

You can’t make a batch of decorated circle Christmas cookies without Jolly Old St. Nick! While there are many Santa cookie designs out there, this holiday circle cookie version is the easiest for sure.

• How to Make: Pipe a curved red line along the top of a round sugar cookie, then fill it in and smooth it out to form a hat. Switch to a piping bag full of white frosting and pipe dots along the edge of the hat (don’t forget the pompom!), and then keep going to form a beard. I use mini M&Ms for eyes, a red M&M for a nose, and a half M&M for a friendly smile. 
• Video Tutorial: Watch on TikTok here!
• Get the full step-by-step tutorial: Santa Face Sugar Cookies

Gifting Idea: After the frosting dries, place each circle Santa cookie in a plastic bag and decorate it with a candy cane gift tag!