Sunset Christmas Cookies

Sarah

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Serves: 3 dozen

These easy, festive shortbread cookies decorated with colored sugar will dazzle your holiday treat trays.

ChristmasSunsets.jpg

Once December hits, it’s cookie time!! I’m making my list (of what I want to bake this month) and checking it twice. There is one little cookie that is an obvious choice and makes the cut each year.

Sunsets are festive, cute-as-a-bug cookies that come from a recipe my mom got from one of our Finnish neighbors years (and years!) ago and have been part of her holiday treat trays ever since. They are so easy to make—it’s a shortbread dough that you form into logs and then roll in colored sugar. The dough has to chill for an hour before you cut it into slices and bake.

I often chill the dough overnight and then bake the cookies the next day so I can enjoy a few with my morning coffee. Not a bad way to start the day during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season!

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Sunset Cookies

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 12 minutes
  • Total time: 2 hours
  • Serves: 3 dozen

Sunset Cookies are festive bites of shortbread rolled in colored sugar.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, 2 sticks
  • 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cup flour
  • 2-3 tablespoons colored sugar

Method

  • 1)

    Cream butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.

  • 2)

    Add flour and work in with hands.

  • 3)

    Divide dough into two (or more) sections and roll into logs.

  • 4)

    Roll the logs in colored sugar.

  • 5)

    Refrigerate until firm. About 1 hour.

  • 6)

    Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

2 Comments

  • Stephanie

    December 4, 2023 at 8:56 pm

    I grew up with Sunset cookies as a kiddo in Wisconsin; the recipe came from my mom side of the family, which is Swedish and Norwegian! Every year I find myself searching for this recipe online and there’s very few recipes for it so I finally printed yours! Although this year if you type in “Sunset cookies” on Google, you get a whole different search results stream. 😲🫣

    1. Sarah

      December 5, 2023 at 3:26 am

      LOL, I just googled Sunset cookies and see what you mean. That’s pretty funny!!

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