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Crumbl Christmas sugar cookies are wonderfully sweet sugar cookies with hints of almond and vanilla extract in every bite. These copycat Crumbl cookies are similar to the ones you can get at the Crumbl bakery but you can have fun making them yourself at home and not having to drive to the store. This cute vanilla sugar cookie recipe is decorated with Christmas themed frosting and sprinkles, making them perfect for the festive season.
Inspired by Crumbl pink sugar cookies, these Grinch cookies boast a similar flavour profile and Christmas themed frosting and sprinkles. Whether you’re baking for a cookie swap, holiday party or “just because” you’re going to love Grinch Christmas Crumbl cookies.
Looking for more festive delights? Try these Christmas pinwheel cookies or make these delicious chocolate covered Oreo Christmas cookies. And chocolate covered cherries will surely delight your guests.
Why You’ll Love Them
So tasty: If you love light, sweet cookies with creamy frosting, you’re going to love these. This version of Crumbl sugar cookies features Christmas colours and festive flavours to make them ideal for the holidays.
Easy to make: There are no complex instructions in this Grinch cookies recipe. Making the cookies should be easy enough even for newbie home bakers. You need to combine the ingredients, bake the cookies and then frost and decorate them.
Versatile if you want to tweak: Just as this recipe is based on the classic Crumbl sugar cookies, you can base other recipes on this one, adjusting the flavourings, frosting or decorations to suit any season or occasion.
Ingredients for these Soft Sugar Cookies
The cookies are a combination of typical cookie ingredients including all purpose flour, unsalted butter, oil, granulated sugar, eggs, cornstarch, baking powder, and kosher salt. Vanilla extract and almond extract add to the flavour, and you also need heart shaped sprinkles (here), candy cane (here) and Christmas coloured sprinkles (here mixed with these) for decorating them.
As for the buttercream frosting, that’s a mixture of butter, granulated and powdered sugar, cream, salt, green food coloring (here), and some more vanilla and almond extracts.
How to Make Grinch Sugar Cookies
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Start combining the cookie ingredients: With a stand mixer whip the butter (don’t use cold butter – bring it to room temperature first) and sugar together in a large bowl.
Add some more to the mix: Add in the oil, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts, and keep beating until the ingredients are well combined.
Add in the dry ingredients: Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and mix this flour mixture into the butter mixture, adding a little water or cream if it’s too dry or extra flour if not dry enough.
Shape the dough into cookies: Scoop (here) the dough into cookie dough balls and arrange each dough ball on parchment paper lined baking sheets or cookie sheets, pressing down to gently flatten a bit.
Chill the cookies: Put the cookies in the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
Bake them: Cook the Christmas cookies until barely golden, then let the cookies cool completely.
Make the frosting: Beat the butter and powdered sugar until light and creamy in a medium bowl, and then add in everything else except the cream.
Finish the frosting: Mix in the heavy cream and add a few drops more food coloring if needed.
Decorate the Christmas cookies: Pipe the frosting into the middle of each cookie with a piping bag and large round tip (or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off) and spread it out, before decorating with sprinkles or your preferred candies.
Substitutions and Variations
You can swap the white sugar for brown sugar for a different taste, or make a different kind of topping, such as a cream cheese based frosting or even royal icing if you want.
You can also sub other flavourings for the vanilla and almond extracts – peppermint extract would be great for a classic Christmas taste!
How to Serve Crumbl Sugar Cookies
As these are a Christmas snack or dessert, you might like to serve them with a festive beverage such as green Grinch cocktails to keep the theme running!
Other Christmas recipes you can serve with Crumbl cookies include Christmas tree appetizers, Christmas lasagna dessert and festive devilled eggs. This recipe is also ideal for cookie exchanges.
How to Store Christmas Crumbl Cookies
Store: Because of the high dairy content, these should be kept in one layer in airtight containers in your refrigerator, and should stay fresh for several days.
Freeze: You can freeze these if you like. The best way to do so is the freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet or cookie sheet for a couple of hours and then transfer them into a Ziploc freezer bag or airtight container and use within 2 months.
Thaw: Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator.
Christmas Crumbl Cookies FAQs
This step is to ensure they don’t spread out much in the oven and lose their shape. If you’re in a rush, you can swap the 15 minutes of refrigeration time for 5 minutes in the freezer. It will be worth it if you want these to be a hit at holiday parties!
As you might know (depending where you live, of course!) Crumbl is a popular bakery specializing in cookies! This cookie store was started up five years ago by a pair of cousins in Logan, Utah. There are now more than 800 locations across 50 states. Their weekly rotating menu always features exciting cookies but their sugar cookies are especially popular, and now you can make your own version and get creative with the decorations.
The choice is yours, but little red love hearts (here) and some Grinch sprinkles in green, white and red will look great (here mixed with these). You could also crumble (no pun intended!) up some peppermint candy canes (here) and add those on top.
Grinch Crumbl Sugar Cookies Recipe
Grinch Crumbl Christmas Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 4 ½ Cups all purpose flour
- 1 Cup butter, softened
- ½ Cup vegetable oil, or canola
- 2 Cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ Teaspoon almond extract
- 3 Teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ Teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ Teaspoon salt
- 20 sprinkles, Red heart shaped
- 1/4 Cup sprinkles, Christmas themed
Grinch Green Buttercream:
- 1 Cup butter, softened
- 2 ½ Cups powdered sugar
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 Teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ Teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ Cup heavy cream
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- Neon green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare 2 or 3 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
- To make the cookies, use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer and blend the butter and granulated sugar together until combined. Then add the oil, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and beat using a paddle attachment until light in color and texture.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt to the butter mixture, and mix until fully combined. The texture should be somewhat crumbly, but not dry, and can be formed into a tight ball without falling apart. If the dough is too dry, add a Tablespoon of water or cream, if the dough is too wet add additional flour.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup sized measuring cup and scoop the dough onto your prepared trays, leaving plenty of space between them. Use the flat bottom of a drinking glass or ramekin to gently press the cookie dough balls into a disk about ½” to ¾” thick. Once the tray is full, place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to chill before baking.
- Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. The cookies should be just barely golden, if at all, along the bottom edges when you take them out. Let cool completely before frosting.
- To make the grinch green buttercream, use the stand mixer or electric hand mixer again to beat the butter and sugars together until creamy.
- Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and neon green food coloring, mix well. While the mixer is still running, slowly stream in the heavy cream and beat until the light and fluffy. Add additional green food coloring as needed to create a vibrant neon green.
- Fill a piping bag, fitted with a large open round piping tip, with the finished buttercream.
- Pipe a thick layer of the buttercream onto the top of each cookie, then use a butter knife to smooth the frosting out.
- Add a red heart sprinkle to the center of each cookie, then sprinkle the outer edges of the frosting with the christmas sprinkle mix.
- Cookies can be served right away or served chilled. Store the cookies in a single layer airtight containers in the fridge.
Nutrition
These gorgeous and delicious cookies are simple to prepare and fun to decorate. They’re ideal to make around Christmas time and the sugar cookie dough recipe is based on Crumbl pink sugar cookies. The cookies are light and tasty, the buttercream on top is rich and creamy and the sprinkles add a pinch of Grinch to these little bites. They’re a super-cute holiday cookie and you’ll want to make them every Christmas. Happy holidays!
Other Recipes to Try
- These Crinkle Grinch Cookies are perfect for a quick and festive treat.
- Enjoy this festive Grinch Green hot chocolate to add some holiday cheer to your day.
- Grinch Heart Cookies are a fun and festive holiday treat.
- Sip on this Very Merry Melon Grinch Green Cocktail for a Grinch-themed drink with a twist.
- This easy 4-ingredient recipe makes the most adorable Chocolate Strawberry Birds.
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
There was no leftovers. It was so good! 🙂