Swedish Sugar Cookies are a classic Scandinavian Christmas cookie ~ they’re deliciously simple and colorful. I’ll show you how to decorate them with your own homemade colored sugar!
This recipe for Swedish Sugar Cookies was sent in by Jane, who lives in Nipomo, California. Jane says it was given to her by her husband’s Norwegian aunt and she has been making the cookie for almost 50 years! Now that’s a cookie with a proven track record 😉 These cookies are utterly simple, but absolutely divine. Jane told me that “They are a bit crunchy on the edges but softer in the middle. It is by far one of my top five cookie recipes and I bake a LOT of different cookies, cookies are kind of my thing!”
She doesn’t lie, people, this cookie is a real winner. I was leery of it at first because of how plain the recipe is, but I’m so glad I tried them. Promise me you will too!
The first thing I thought of when I tasted these Swedish sugar cookies was that they’re like the ‘real deal’ version of slice and bake sugar cookies from the supermarket refrigerator aisle. I admit I’ve been guilty of leaning on those too many times when my kids begged to bake during busy holiday seasons. If I’d only taken a few more minutes to make a simple cookie like this with them, the payoff is much better flavor and texture, and definitely more delicious memories!
what you’ll need for Swedish sugar cookies
- all purpose flour
- white sugar
- butter
- egg
- vanilla
- cream of tartar
- you can substitute baking soda
- baking soda
the perfect sugar cookie!
Surprisingly, sugar cookies aren’t always that easy to nail. I’ve had so many that were too soft, too crisp, or too ‘eggy’ tasting. This one is just perfect, the only change I made was to double the vanilla because I’m a fanatic about my vanilla. These just have an old fashioned holiday taste, that’s the best way I can describe them. The crisp outer edge and the soft center is fantastic.
decorating your Swedish sugar cookies
Jane’s recipe says to roll the balls of dough in sugar before baking. The plain sugar was wonderful, but my inner-eight-year-old comes out at Christmas and I decided to go with colored sugar for a more festive feel. You can purchase colored sugar or you can easily color it yourself at home with a drop or two of food coloring, just mix it up with a spoon. You can see in the photos I used regular sugar and some larger crystal sugar in the raw for a variety of textures and sparkles. I have a post all about it here.
how to make colored sugar
When you make your own colored sugar you can customize it to whatever holiday you’re celebrating, and your kids can help you make it.
- Place coarse or fine sugar in a small bowl
- Add a drop or two of food coloring, it can liquid or gel. Don’t use too much!
- Stir stir stir until the color is completely incorporated.
notes for Swedish sugar cookies
- I used my trusty 1 inch cookie scoop and slightly rounded the dough. My cookies cooked in 8 minutes. I got about 2 dozen cookies.
- Cookies rolled in sugar before baking can lose some sparkle as they expand and bake. You can sprinkle on extra sugar halfway through the baking time, or sprinkle more on just as they come out of the oven.
Jane was quite insistent that I try this recipe in her message to me, and I’m glad she was so persuasive because I might have passed them over and missed a gem of a cookie.
My family will be enjoying your Swedish Sugar Cookies this year Jane, thank you!
More Swedish recipes
- Traditional Swedish Pepparkakor Recipe
- Cardamom Walnut Crescent Cookies
- Swedish Cardamom Buns (kardemummabullar)
- Swedish Cocktail Meatballs
- Swedish Visiting Cake
- Swedish Meatball Meatloaf
Reader’s Recipes: Swedish Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup butter, unsalted, at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla, I used 2 teaspoons of vanilla paste
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, I used baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all purpose flour, measure with the fluff and scoop method
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F
- Cream the softened butter, sugar, vanilla and egg well, until everything is combined and fluffy.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and combine with the sugar mixture.
- Form into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and roll in sugar.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until they just start to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool briefly on the baking sheet and then move to a cooling rack. Sprinkle with a little more sugar while hot.
Notes
Nutrition
This is the recipe my Swedish grandmother used to make. She got the recipe from her mother, so it has been around a long time.
I’ve been making these every Christmas since you posted the recipe. We have quite a collection of colored sugar and the results are always delicious, thank you!
I made this last year, and they were beautiful and tasty. This year I have tried 3 attempts and each time they spread. I am very careful to make the butter is room temperature. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Not sure either, but you might try refrigerating the balls for 15 minutes before baking, and make sure you use a cool cookie sheet, not one that has just come out of the oven from the last batch.
Why did you use baking powder in place of cream of tartar? Why do you use vanilla paste instead of vanilla? I’m trying to understand the underlying reasons so I know how to apply them in other recipes. I’m going to make this next week for a luncheon at work. Thank you!
Baking powder is just the more common leavener, and I use vanilla paste because it has a better flavor, in my opinion.