Easy Christmas Funfetti Cookies Recipe
If you’re looking for a festive holiday cookie for your holiday cookie exchanges try Christmas Funfetti Cookies. They are a slice and bake shortbread cookie with Christmas nonpareils. After all, who doesn’t love a funfetti cookie recipe?
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- This cookie recipe is mixed in a food processor. No mixing bowl is necessary.
- It’s a festive addition to a holiday cookie tray or dessert table.
- It’s a shortbread cookie that melts in your mouth.
- Make this cookie with any color nonpareils.
Ingredients and Equipment for Christmas Funfetti Cookies
All of the ingredients you need are in this handy list. For best results have all of your ingredients at room temperature.
Ingredients
These homemade cookies use only a handful of ingredients.
- Unsalted Butter
- Powdered Sugar, also known as Confectioners’ Sugar
- Salt
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Christmas Nonpareils, or other colors such as red and white for Valentine’s Day
Equipment
- Food Processor – you will need one. Neither a stand nor a hand-held mixer will give you the right consistency.
- Plastic Wrap – You’ll need to wrap the cookie dough in plastic and refrigerate it.
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife: These are slice and bake cookies.
- Sheet Pan, aka Baking Sheet – for best results line the baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If you don’t have either of those, you can use ungreased cookie sheets. Just watch the cookies so they don’t get too golden brown on the bottom.
- Wire Rack – The best way to cool them.
Should I use Sprinkles or Nonpareils?
The type of sprinkles you use in these Christmas funfetti cookies matters. Sprinkles, also known as jimmies, are the long pieces of confectionery I used on the soft frosted sugar cookies. The most popular are rainbow sprinkles.
Nonpareils are the small round pieces of confectionery you see on these chocolate nonpareil drops. They are available in a variety of colors and color combinations.
So use nonpareils in these Christmas confetti cookies so the jimmies don’t bleed when cut. Use a good quality product.
Tips and Suggestions
Use nonpareils over Christmas-colored sprinkles, or jimmies. Sprinkles will bleed more when cut. Sprinkles are better suited for a drop cookie.
The nonpareils may all fall to the bottom of the bowl. If necessary, use clean hands to gently work them into the dough.
This easy recipe comes together quickly but you do have to plan for the chilling time.
You can make the Christmas funfetti cookie dough up to five days in advance.
How do you serve funfetti Christmas cookies?
Serve these homemade cookies any time of the year not just during the holiday season. Switch up the colors of the nonpareils.
These sweet treats are a great recipe for holiday cookie exchanges, a cookie platter you plan to gift, or a bake sale, just wrap them up in cellophane bags and tie them with a festive ribbon. I don’t know about you but looking at them puts me in a festive spirit.
Being a shortbread cookie, these Christmas funfetti cookies are delightful with tea, coffee, or a glass of cold milk.
How do you store shortbread cookies?
These cookies do not need to be refrigerated but you do need to keep them in an airtight container. They will be good on the counter for four or five days.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for more Christmas cookies try soft frosted sugar cookies, chocolate stuffed snickerdoodles, or double peppermint cookies. More homemade funfetti cookies include funfetti shortbread bites and funfetti ice cream sandwiches that are perfect in the summer.
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Christmas Funfetti Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2â…“ cups flour
- ½ cup Christmas nonpareils
Instructions
- Add butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a large food processor. Process until smooth, about eight 5-second pulses. Add flour and pulse until the mixture looks crumbly and coarse, like sand, about six 5-second pulses. Add sprinkles and quickly pulse several more times, until the sprinkles are just incorporated. Overworking them will make them bleed.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape it into two logs, about 2 inches in diameter. Tightly wrap each log in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Remove one log of dough from the freezer. Cut dough into ¼-inch to ⅓-inch thick slices, rolling log every few slices to maintain the round shape of the cookies. Arrange cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies just barely turn a light golden color around the edges, between 10 and 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
- Repeat with the second cookie dough log.
