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Officially kicking off the holiday season with these easy Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies. Made with nutty brown butter, double the vanilla, and a little bit of chocolate. These cookies are soft, buttery, and perfectly sweet with the best vanilla flavor. They’re generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy vanilla bean glaze. And decorated with sweet chocolate and delicious holiday M&M’s for truly some of the best sugar cookies around. The secret is all in the combination of brown butter and real vanilla beans, which keep these cookies incredibly flavorful. Fun to bake, delicious to eat. These make for a great homemade gift, and a festive addition to your holiday cookie box!
This is the year I’m focusing on ALL of the Christmas cookies. I have so many ideas and not enough days to share…picking the best cookies has been hard!
These were an easy choice though. They actually started out a little differently, but as soon as I had the idea to do Christmas lights, I was excited.
My goal this year is fun holiday desserts – but easy. Nothing too time-consuming and no big scary decorating projects. Just delicious, easy, cute, and extra festive. These cookies are all of those things.
My hang-up with basic sugar cookies is that they’re often flavorless and the frosting is even worse. They just taste like sugar, and I’m definitely not into that.
With these cookies, I wanted to add flavor with brown butter and real vanilla bean. The chocolate on top, just makes them even better.
The details
Brown the butter, then let it cool off in the freezer a bit. Once it’s cooled (you only need 15 minutes), you can start mixing and baking.
Beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla bean powder. You’ll want to beat for at least a minute to really infuse the butter with the vanilla flavor. Next, add an egg and all the dry ingredients, then roll, cut, and bake. There’s absolutely nothing fancy here.
Whenever I make any kind of cut-out cookie, I always like to roll out the dough, cut the cookies, and then freeze the cut cookies on a baking sheet for a few minutes. This ensures that the cookies hold their shape. To cut my cookies, I used a simple circle cookie cutter and a holiday tree.
If you want to skip the rolling – simply slice n’ bake
I LOVE slice-n-bake cookies, and you can easily slice-n-bake with this dough!
Just divide the dough in half as directed, then roll each piece of dough into a log and chill in the fridge until totally solid.
If you have an almost empty roll of wrapping paper around, cut the roll and fit it around each log, this will prevent the dough from forming a straight edge in the fridge!
And when ready to bake, simply slice-n-bake!
Decorating is easy
I kept the icing simple, since I wanted the color to remain white but still have a nice flavor. I added a small amount of maple syrup and lots of vanilla.
It’s simple, but with the chocolate on top, perfect!
When it comes to cookies, I try to keep the decorating as easy as can be, and this is EASY. I used melted chocolate to draw on the cords for the lights, then used mini holiday M&M’s for the lights.
Doesn’t get easier, but looks so cute once finished!
Asher wasn’t around when I made these, so I can’t wait to make these again soon with her. She’s going to love them! They’re the perfect Christmas cookie to make with kids!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Vanilla Ginger Shortbread Wreaths
Lastly, if you make these Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Servings: 22 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 206 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut liquor (optional)
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus an additional 2-4 tablespoons, if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Vanilla Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted
- mini holiday M&M’s and vanilla sugar for decorating
Instructions
- 1. Add 6 tablespoons butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat, cooking until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Stick in the freezer to chill, 10 minutes, but no longer.2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the remaining 6 tablespoons butter, the cooled browned butter, sugar, and vanilla bean powder until combined. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball. If the dough feels too wet to roll out, add 2-4 tablespoons additional flour.4. Divide the dough in half. Roll out the dough on a floured piece of parchment paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Make sure you're using enough flour or your dough will stick. Cut out the cookies using circle and Christmas tree cutters. Transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I recommend using a floured spatula to lift the cookies. Cover the baking sheet and place in the freezer until firm, 15 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining dough.5. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-10 minutes or until just lightly golden. Let cool. 6. Meanwhile, make the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water until smooth and drizzly. If needed, thin the glaze by adding water – 1 tablespoon at a time, until drizzly. 7. Spoon the icing onto each cookie, spreading it to the edges. Let sit to dry. Add the melted chocolate to a sandwich bag and cut a small portion of the corner off. Draw 2 lines onto each round cookie and then a squiggly line up the trees. Press mini M&Ms into the chocolate as "lights" (look through the photos for examples).
Notes
To Slice n’ Bake: divide the dough in half as directed, then roll each piece of dough into a log about 5 inches long and wrap in parchment paper. Chill in the fridge 4 hours or until ready to bake. Alternately, you can freeze 45 minutes if in a hurry. Slice the logs into 1/4 inch rounds and bake as directed.Â
Tip: If you have an almost empty roll of wrapping paper around, cut the roll down the center, then fit it around each log, this will prevent the dough from forming a straight edge in the fridge.Â
The sugar cookie is easy to make. I didn’t have hazelnut liqueur and the cookie seemed fine with it omitted. This is a nice, light sugar cookie. My dough did start out a little sticky but instead of adding more flour I made up for it when generously flouring my surface and rolling pin. I popped the cookies in the freezer as suggested and they kept their shape when baked. I had to add some cooking time. I didn’t enjoy the frosting as the maple was too strong for my taste. It was just a sugary coating that took away from the cookie. Creating the strings with the melted chocolate chips takes patience and skill I do not have. I only decorated about 10 cookies before calling it quits. I brought these to a party with all adults and they were not touched. Wrong audience. I will keep the sugar cookie recipe and keep it simple with just a sprinkling of sugar next time.
Hi! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! xT
I’m making these today instead of just our traditional sugar cookie. Can I sprinkle this cookie with sprinkles prior to baking like I do with our sugar cookies?
Hello,
Can I pre-bake these cookies and then freeze them and ice them later?
Thank you.,
Hi Marina! Yes, that should work just fine! xT
Hey – so I made the cookies but I found my dough was super flaky and crumbly even before cookie cutting. Am I missing something? I thought I had all the ingredients right, or did I mix up a temperature during the process of forming the dough? how did your dough malleability turn out?
Hi Ash! Hmmm I would maybe add a little less flour if your dough is feeling flakey! It shouldn’t be too sticky, but it definitely shouldn’t feel flakey! Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
The link brings to Vanilla powder not vanilla bean. Is that the same? I’ve never baked with the powder and I want to make sure I get the right one. Thanks!!
Hi there! you can use powder or extract in this! 🙂 xT
For how much I love desserts, I’m weirdly not a cookie person. But I made this recipe with my kids and their friends who are and wow! I can’t stop eating them!! lol! My kids friends kept telling me how good of a baker I am and I owe it all to this recipe! I agree with others that the browned butter makes the recipe. Delicious.
Thank you so much Beth! 🙂 xT
Hi! Will you let me know where you purchase your cookie cutters?
Hi there! I actually just made this one out of paper and traced the cookies! xT
Where did you find that beautiful Christmas tree cutter. I need one
I made it! 🙂 xT
I realized several steps in that I didn’t have any eggs, so I used a banana and it actually came out perfect! Just sharing in case anyone has an egg allergy and needs a sub.
These were delicious!
Oh wow that’s good to know! Thanks Madi! 🙂 xT
Every year my grown kids still love to decorate cookies and have gotten quite creative. We also all follow you and decided we need to try these. I already bought the Wilton cookie icing thinking we were doing traditional sugar cookies. Can I use it on these cookies, possibly add the maple syrup to the bottle? Any advice appreciate. Thanks!
Question! I’ve noticed on a couple of your posts that you say hazelnut liquor but you have it linked to hazelnut syrup. Should it be the torani syrup? Or should I be using frangelico (hazelnut liquor)?
Hi Amy! So sorry for the confusion! I use frangelico usually! xT
Made these for my own cookie box for family last year and this year, multiple people requested this exact cookie again. Cookie was definitely a bit sweet but still really great.
Thanks sooo much! Love to hear that this recipe was a success! xT
I love these – make them every year now . I want to make in advance . Can the cookie dough sit in the fridge for up to a week . Or is it better to freeze the dough ?
Hi there! I would recommend freezing instead of having it sit for a week! xT
Have you tried freezing the cookies after baking? I’m hoping to make them and freeze ahead of time so I can make a bunch of different cookies too 🙂
Can you make the frosting ahead of time and freeze or will it just not be the same?
Hello! About what size cookie cutter is used?
I’ve never commented on a recipe before, but I had to for this one. I am shocked – I am not an experienced baker – I rarely bake, when I do I usually find whatever it is doesn’t come out perfectly. I don’t like sugar cookies, but my son really wanted to make some with our Christmas cookie cutters. I used vanilla extract because I didn’t have the fancy stuff, and I skipped the liquer since I didn’t have any. These were easy! Even for me! And I can’t believe how good they are. I’m shocked. First sugar cookie I’ve ever enjoyed! We’ll make these every year. The browning of the butter intimidated this novice – but it worked out well and I think it’s what added to these being so yummy!
Hi there! So so glad to hear these cookies turned out well for you! I’m sure you’re an awesome baker! xT