Smashed sugar cookies are thick vanilla cookies rolled in Christmas sprinkles, then flattened cold with a measuring cup so the edges crack. That makes them a fast Christmas cookie for a cookie exchange or a gift tin, with no cutters and no rolling pin at all. The batch makes 18 cookies.
Smash them straight from the fridge, not after they warm up. An hour of chilling is what makes the edges split instead of squashing smoothly. That cracked rim is the entire look of the cookie.
Use jimmies, the long sprinkles, and not nonpareils. The sprinkles go on before baking here, so the tiny round ones bleed in the oven. A red and green cookie comes out streaked pink and gray.
Smashed Sugar Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA plain creamed vanilla dough portioned into generous balls, rolled in festive sprinkles and chilled hard, then pressed flat on the sheet before baking. Finished with a drizzle of milk icing.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup red, green and white jimmies
- For the Icing:
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk
Directions
- Cream the butter and sugar: Beat the granulated sugar and butter on medium high about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated, scraping the bowl down as you go. A slightly curdled look at this point is fine.
- Add the flour: Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Drop the mixer to medium low, add the flour mixture slowly and stop as soon as it comes together.
- Roll in sprinkles: Divide the dough into 18 portions of about 2 1/2 tablespoons each and roll them into even balls. Pour the jimmies into a shallow dish and roll each ball until it is covered all over. Chill on a lined sheet about 1 hour, until firm right through.
- Smash them cold: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F with racks in the top and bottom thirds. Put 9 chilled balls on each of two lined sheets and press each one down with the flat base of a 1/3 cup measuring cup until it is 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide and the edges start to crack. Leave half an inch between them and flour the cup if the dough sticks.
- Bake and ice: Bake 14 to 17 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway, until the cookies puff slightly, the centers stay soft and the bottoms are just golden. Cool 5 minutes on the sheets, then move to a rack. Whisk the confectioners sugar with the milk until thick but pourable and drizzle it over the cooled cookies.
Notes
- All 18 cookies fit on two sheets at once, so the real oven time is 14 to 17 minutes, not the 45 on the original card. Jimmies hold their color through the oven, nonpareils do not.
FAQs
Why a measuring cup and not a glass?
A 1/3 cup measure has a flat base and straight sides, so it presses evenly and reaches the full 3 inches without rocking. A glass bottom is usually domed and leaves a dip in the middle. Dust the cup with flour the moment dough starts clinging.
Why does the card say 45 minutes of cooking?
All 18 cookies fit on two sheets and both go in together, so the oven time is 14 to 17 minutes and nothing more. The 45 on the card does not match the method at all. Rotate the sheets halfway and start checking at 14.
Can I skip the hour in the fridge?
No, because warm dough spreads under the cup instead of cracking, and you lose the edge that makes these worth making. An hour is the minimum and the balls can sit overnight. Smash them one tray at a time so the rest stay cold.
Are these like the big iced bakery sugar cookie?
Close in size and softness, though these carry their color in sprinkles rather than a thick frosted top. If you want the frosted bakery version, that is this Panera sugar cookie. Both are a single cookie that fills a hand.
Can I make them ahead?
Roll and coat the balls, then keep them in the fridge two days or freeze them three months, smashing straight from cold. Baked and un-iced they hold five days in a tin. The same approach works for these citrus shortbreads.
