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Kicking off the holiday baking season with my Easy Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies. Made with brown sugar, real vanilla, and my secret ingredients, a little bit of hazelnut liquor and almond extract to bring out the vanilla flavor. These cookies are soft, buttery, and perfectly sweet with the best vanilla flavor and notes of brown sugar. They’re generously frosted with a thick and creamy whipped caramel buttercream frosting. Then decorated with festive holiday sprinkles. The combination of real vanilla, brown sugar, and almond extract, keeps these cookies incredibly flavorful. Plus, they’ve got some really GOOD frosting. These cookies make for a great homemade gift, and a festive addition to your holiday cookie box!
Just like last holiday season, I’m focusing on ALL of the Christmas cookies. I have so many ideas and not enough days to share – like so many ideas. I’m in Christmas mode, and picking the best cookies to share has been hard!
These cookies were an easy choice. I think my mother picked them from my list 5 times over, so I had to start here. And I’m happy I did. I LOVE these cookies. They might be one of my easiest, but cutest.
I know it looks like making these cute could take time, but I have a secret little shortcut you’ll love.
My hang-up with basic sugar cookies is that they’re often flavorless. And even worse, the frosting just tastes like sugar, and I’m definitely not into that.
With these cookies, I wanted to add flavor with brown sugar and real vanilla bean. But most importantly, I wanted to use a buttercream frosting instead of the classic sugar icing.
A soft brown sugar vanilla cookie with real whipped caramel frosting = VERY GOOD sugar cookies!
The details
Beat the butter with the brown 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 eggs, hazelnut liquor, and almond extract, then all the dry ingredients.
From here, shape the dough into two logs, wrap them up in paper, and chill until firm enough to slice n’ bake.
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!
The frosting
I went with a vanilla buttercream, but there’s a little secret ingredient involved – salted caramel. Or you can use thick maple syrup. It’s only a fourth of a cup, but it just makes the frosting melt in your mouth.
Use homemade caramel sauce or store-bought, though I prefer homemade sauce if you have the time.
It’s honestly, so good and makes for one of the best buttercream frostings.
Decorating is easy and fun
Even though each cookie looks all cute, I kept things SO simple. The trick is to use Christmas cookie cutters as “stencils”. Then fill in the cutter with holiday sanding sugars. I used a small reindeer, a Christmas tree, and a Santa hat.
Just place the cookie cutter on top of the frosted cookie and sprinkle a little sanding sugar inside the cutter. Shake the cookie to evenly distribute the sanding sugar.
It’s so easy and I had fun decorating! To help get the sanding sugar cleanly into each cookie cutter, I made a small funnel out of paper.
And of course, you can skip using the cookie cutters altogether. Simply decorate each cookie with your favorite assortment of holiday sprinkles. They’ll be delicious and cute either way!
Looking for other Christmas cookies? Here are my favorites:
Vanilla Ginger Shortbread Wreaths
Lastly, if you make these Easy Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Bean Sugar 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 Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies
Servings: 40 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 112 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Vanilla Almond Cookies
- 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut liquor (optional)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Whipped Caramel Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce or maple syrup
- assorted holiday sprinkles, for decorating
Instructions
- 1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add the hazelnut liquor (if using), almond extract, and eggs – 1 at a time, and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, beat until combined and the dough forms a ball. 2. Divide the dough in half. Place each ball of dough on a large piece of wax or parchment paper. Shape into a log about 10" long. Wrap the dough up in the paper and place in the fridge for 3-4 hours or up to 5 days.3. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.4. Unwrap the dough and cut the log into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange the slices on the prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes for soft cookies. Let cool. 5. To make the frosting. Beat together the butter and vanilla in a large bowl until extra light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and caramel or maple. Beat until whipped, about 2 more minutes.6. Frost the cooled cookies and decorate as desired. To make the shapes of your favorite Christmas cutouts, find a few small Christmas cookie cutters and gently place in the center of the frosted cookie. Sprinkle the inside of the cookie cutter with sanding sugar. Gently shake the cookie to evenly distribute the sanding sugar and then remove the cookie cutter and finish decorating. See photos for reference.7. Store cookies, covered for up to 4 days at room temperature.
Notes
If in a Hurry, Freeze the Dough: Alternately, if in a hurry, you can freeze the dough for 45 minutes. Then slice the logs into 1/4 inch rounds and bake as directed.
Tip: If you have an almost empty roll of wrapping paper, cut the roll down the center, then fit the cut roll around each log. This will prevent the dough from forming a straight edge in the fridge.
Tip: Use a piece of paper as a funnel for the sanding sugar. This ensures that the sugar stays neatly inside the cookie cutter.
I have loved all the HBH recipes I have tried in the past but this recipe was a flop. The cookies were dry and the flavor wasn’t great.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear these were not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! Happy Holidays! xx
Can’t wait to make this for Christmas! QQ – how long can I keep the dough in the fridge/make in advance?
Hey Bridgette,
This dough is good in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let me know if you give the cookies a try, I hope they are a hit! xT
I made the dough for these cookies and stored it in my fridge for a few days. I opened the recipe back up online to make the frosting and read the other reviews. I was REALLY nervous to bake my cookies after reading people’s poor experiences (I am NOT an experienced baker) but let me tell you, these turned our AMAZING! My husband did NOT want to share these :). I followed the recipe word for word (again not experienced,) and have now shared this with my extended family for them to make it. I stored the dough in my fridge, rolled in a not stick cookie mat (I don’t own parchment or cling wrap) for 3 days then baked & iced the cookies. I will make these every year/for any event I need cookies. So easy & SO YUM!
Hey Marissa,
Happy Holidays!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you!🎁🎅
Genius with browning the butter! It adds some dimension and makes this cookie more interesting. 1 star down because I wouldn’t recommend as a cutout cookie. I followed all the directions, including freezing the dough, and the resulting gingerbread men spread significantly (my kids were a bummed about that for decorating). Highly recommend for a slice and bake though!
Hey Rosita,
Thanks so much for making these cookies and sharing your feedback! Sorry about the spreading, I think your dough just needed to be colder! Happy Holidays! xT
Cookies came out great, they were so easy to make! Wondering if you can give a tip about the frosting, mine came out a little runny. Yours looks so much thicker. Any suggestion to why? But overall the cookies were so yummy 🙂
Hey Sarah,
Happy Monday!❄️🎄 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Just add some more powdered sugar to thicken the icing. xT
My new favorite sugar cookie. I don’t know what is happening to others but mine turned out amazing! Another fabulous HBH recipe!
Hey Jackie,
Happy Monday!❄️🎄 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! xT
Hi! Very excited to make these! I just made the dough. How long can you freeze before using? Any modifications when freezing?
Hey Taryn,
You can freeze for up to 3 months:) Let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love them! xT
I made these but only baked a little less than half of the dough cos I had not visitors coming over.. I liked the cookies okay but they are a bit too bland without the frosting and too sweet with the frosting for me, the vanilla+sugar combo just does not do it for me. I have so much dough in the freezer now and I do not want to put it into waste but do not want to bake more of these cookies.. could I turn it into another cookie? Like add chocolate chips or something..
Hi Eve,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear they were not enjoyed. I would not use this for chocolate chip cookies, sorry! xx
Eve – do you think you could use the dough as the crust of a fruit pizza? Many people use store-bought rolls of sugar cookie dough for theirs. Our family loves fruit pizza any time of year.
I followed the recipe exactly and the cookies came out bone dry— Similar experience as others. I think there is too much flour called for in the recipe. Disappointing for sure.
Hi Stacey,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear they didn’t turn out for you! xx
I didn’t make these cookies because I have no idea where to find all of these ingredients but I made the caramel buttercream with another cookie recipe and I will forever use this! I actually used Monin caramel syrup to flavor it and it worked perfect! I’ll be on the hunt to make these cookies in the future.
Thanks for trying the frosting Stephanie!! Sorry, is there a specific ingredient I can help you find? These should all be readily available at your local grocery store! xx
Just finish making these! Used King Arthur gluten free 1:1 flour. I would say I had the same opinion about these cookies as others. They’re more shortbread-ish than a cookie. A bit crumble-y when you eat them. The flavor was average for me. But the frosting…WOW. I had a bit of trouble using the recipe for caramel from here so I started with wet sugar, instead of dry, and in the end the caramel was a success!
Hey Ashley,
Happy Sunday! I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was delish! xx
My daughter and I made these cookies and they did not flatten like yours did. They taste good, but basically stayed as thick as when we sliced them so they were too small to decorate like you did.
I wonder what went wrong. On your IG video it looks like you added white sugar to your bowl but I don’t see that on the recipe. I’d love to try to make them again if you have any advice. Thanks!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try! Were any of your ingredients expired? Did you happen to freeze the dough at all? Let me know how I can help! xx
Just made these cookies and they are so yummy! I modified the recipe and the dough ended up being crumbly, although it did form into a log. The cookies came out dry, but I blame that on my modifications. I halved the recipe and swapped the brown sugar for coconut sugar because I ran out of the former. Delicious and I will be making them again, but unmodified haha
Hey Morgan,
Thanks for giving these cookies a try and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear they were enjoyed:) Happy Holidays! xx
These cookies same out absolutely fantastic. The dough was easy to work with and I froze it for 45 mins instead of refrigerating for a few hours. I didn’t have any of the issues that others seemed to have so I’m not sure what/if anything I did differently. I did use vanilla extract as well as hazelnut liqueur. So good… I’ll definitely make these again!
Hey Nicole,
Happy Friday!!❄️🧑🎄 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx
Not sure what I did wrong but these did not come out soft. They were dry slightly chalky. Didn’t have much flavor honestly and I followed (or thought I did) the recipe as written. Better luck next time I guess.
Hi there,
Thanks for making these cookies and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear they did not turn out for you! Anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Let me know how I can help! xx