Almond Sprinkle Cookies baked to share
These Almond Sprinkle Cookies are buttery soft, with a familiar nutty flavor from almond extract that melts in your mouth. They're straightforward to mix, taste genuinely wonderful, and are a strong match for the holidays! Break out the red and green sanding sugars and have some fun!
Why this bake works
I'm not kidding when I say that these buttery almond sprinkle cookies are genuinely wonderful! And just like my Familiar Spritz Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, and House-made Butter Cookies, they're also especially straightforward to mix and a strong match for those holiday cookie tins!
The two main ingredients in this familiar Christmas cookie are cream cheese, which makes them so buttery-soft, and almond extract, which gives them their familiar nutty flavor.
For cookie decorations, you can use red and green sanding sugars, but if you want to be a little fancier, you could swap them out for a nice confectioners sugar glaze with some nonpareils sprinkled on top.
Enjoy!
What goes in
The ingredients shown in the image below are used to make this easy almond sprinkle cookie recipe. Items noted in the bulleted list are key ingredients that needed a bit more explanation.
- All-Purpose Flour. With all my recipes, A reliable pick is the King Arthur brand, but use what you have on hand!
- Cream Cheese. Full-fat cream cheese in brick form. A reliable brand is Philadelphia. This is the ingredient that gives these cookies their soft, tender bite!
- Almond Extract. The other key ingredient to this method. You don't need much, but it gives these cookies that familiar nutty flavor!
- Sanding Sugars. Red and green are used for these holiday sprinkle cookies, but use whatever colors you like! You can also use nonpareils.
For quantities and instructions, please see the method card below.
How it comes together
Below is a brief overview of how to make this holiday almond sprinkle cookies recipe. For the full printable recipe, which can be made using US customary or metric measurements using the toggle switch, visit the method card below.
Step 1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl.Set aside.
Step 2. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together on medium-high speed until well blended.
Step 3. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
Step 4. Add the whisked flour mixture to the blended wet ingredients and mix on medium-low speed until the cookie dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 5. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour.
Step 6. Roll a small spoonful of dough into a ball. Coat it in sanding sugar, then place it onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten the top of each cookie with the bottom of a glass.
Step 7. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes at 350ºF. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes.
Step 8. Transfer the cookies to the cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Keeping and freezing
To keep almond sprinkle cookies, store them in an airtight container for up to one week.
To freeze almond sprinkle cookie dough, roll the dough into balls, flatten each with the bottom of a glass, then freeze them on a parchment sheet until solid. Transfer them to a freezer bag or an airtight container for storage. When ready to bake, roll the cookie dough balls in the sanding sugar, then place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You may need to add 1-2 minutes to your baking time for baking the frozen cookies.
Baker notes
- For the cookies, chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- You can use a spoon to scoop and roll out the almond cookies, or for a more consistent size, use a 1- to 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop. I still recommend rolling them in your hands after scooping them to smooth them out.
- Sanding sugars are an easy way to decorate these sprinkle cookies, but you can also use a simple powdered sugar glaze or nonpareils.
- To keep your almond sprinkle cookies soft, add a slice of bread to the container. I do this with the Familiar Peanut Butter Blossoms and Super Soft Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies, and it works truly well!
Questions on this bake
How long do you need to chill almond sprinkle cookie dough?Almond sprinkle cookie dough needs to be tightly covered with plastic wrap and chilled in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If you chill the cookie dough for longer than 1 hour, say overnight, for example, make sure to bring it out to room temperature about 30 minutes before rolling the dough into the balls.
Can I omit the almond extract in these almond sprinkle cookies?Try keeping this key ingredient in the method, as it's part of the name and gives them that familiar nutty flavor.
Do almond sprinkle cookies need to be refrigerated?No, baked almond sprinkle cookies can keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Yield 36 cookies
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 12 minutes
- Total 1 hour 32 minutes
- Calories 113
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 2 oz Cream Cheese
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
- Red and Green Sanding Sugars, for rolling in dough
Tools
- Hand Mixer, or Stand Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisks
- Spatulas
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
Method
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Hold to the side.
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the unsalted butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Add the whisked flour mixture to the blended wet ingredients and mix on medium-low speed until well blended.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour. If you chill the dough for more than 1 hour or overnight, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping into balls.
- Adjust your oven rack to the middle position (or the rack just above it), preheat your oven to 350ºF, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Take a small spoonful of dough and roll it into a ball, then roll it in red or green sanding sugar. If you're planning to freeze the cookie dough, see the Notes section below.
- Space the almond-sprinkle cookies roughly 1-1 1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. When done, use the bottom of a glass to gently press the cookie down, flattening it slightly. Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes at 350ºF.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
- Keep any leftover almond sprinkle cookies in an airtight container for up to one week at room temperature.
Baker notes
Instead of red and green sanding sugars, you can use nonpareils or a simple powdered sugar glaze.
If chilling the dough for more than 1 hour or overnight, let the dough sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping the dough into balls.
To keep the almond sprinkle cookies soft at room temperature, place a slice of bread in the container.
To freeze almond sprinkle cookie dough, roll the dough into balls, flatten each with the bottom of a glass, then freeze them on a parchment sheet until solid. Transfer them to a freezer bag or an airtight container for storage. When ready to bake, roll the cookie dough balls in the sanding sugar, then place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You may need to add 1-2 minutes to your baking time for baking the frozen cookies.
Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.
