Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies are cookies that will melt in your mouth and are full of colorful sprinkles to get you in the holiday spirit! Check out my Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies for a classic ooey-gooey cookie.
Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies
Although my Ooey Gooey Butter Cake recipe is made with cake mix, I wanted to try a from-scratch version for the cookies. I tested quite a few recipes and was troubled by the flavor and consistency that they produced. So after a lot of tweaking and a lot of eating (no complaints here!), I finally settled on a cookie that everyone loved. And, with a few added sprinkles, they are perfect for Christmas!
Tips for Ooey Gooey Butter Cookie Dough
Do Not Refrigerate: You may have noticed that I did not refrigerate the dough. Most recipes call for this so I, of course, tested that. What exactly does refrigerating do for cookies? Well, when you chill cookie dough, it solidifies the fat. Then, when you are ready to bake the cookies, the chilled dough takes longer to melt and remains solid longer, meaning the cookies spread less.
Don’t Be Afraid of Confectioner’s Sugar: Adding confectioner’s sugar to the dough is one of the reasons these cookies are so “ooey gooey”. We’ll use it IN the batter as well as ON.
How to Bake the Cookies
To bake the cookies, use a two-tablespoon cookie scoop to create balls of dough. Roll each ball in the remaining half cup of confectioners’ sugar and place each on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I put about 6 cookies on each sheet. Use the bottom of a glass or your hand to flatten out the dough a bit.
Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until they no longer appear wet on top. Let them rest on the baking sheet for about five minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
How to Freeze Christmas Cookies
Freezing the Dough: The very best way to freeze these cookies is to freeze the dough. I like to scoop out my individual cookies, place them on a baking sheet (they can be close together), and then place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Once they are chilled through, I place them in an airtight bag and then label them with the cookie name and date.
Freezing the Baked Cookie: If you want to freeze the cookies after they are baked, allow them to cool completely. Then, lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen, store them in a freezer-safe zipped bag, labeled and dated. They will keep for up to four weeks.
More Christmas Cookies
Christmas Ooey Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) salted butter, softened
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (282 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (126g) confectioners' sugar, divided
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ cup Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and granulated sugar until blended.
- Add in egg and vanilla.
- Add in flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. With the mixer on low, gradually beat into creamed mixture.
- Gently fold in the sprinkles by hand. The more you fold, the more likely the sprinkles will bleed, so fold until just incorporated.
- Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough, and then roll in the remaining 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar. Place approximately 6 dough balls on each of the lined baking sheets. Use the bottom of a glass or your hand to flatten out the dough a little bit.
- Bake until they no longer appear wet on top, 8-11 minutes. After about 5 minutes, place on wire racks to cool.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
made these cookies last year and they are wonderful! Now I am wondering about using a big mixer instead of a hand mixer. Is there a reason this is called out? Also, can this recipe be doubled?
Thanks
Hi Arlene- yes it can be doubled and you could use a hand-help mixer. It’s just a bit more work for you.
Made these this week and they are absolutely amazing! I can’t get enough. Used a 1.25 scoop and baked them for 15 min. Less was too undercooked for our tastes.
The recipe card doesn’t say to flatten them with a glass first, but the description does, so if you are making these be sure to slightly flatten them!
Amanda, posso usar adoçantes culinários no lugar do açúcar granulado? Sou Diabética.
Dear Amanda,
I have made many of your recipes and was always delighted. Unfortunately I followed this recipe step by step and they tasted awful. I even left them in longer, but they tasted like raw dough. I would have been okay with this problem if my daughter was not get married in 2 weeks and my level of stress and dealing with little details is driving me nuts. Please modify these beautiful-looking but horrible tasting cookies. I love your recipes!
Hi Marta – sorry you didn’t like the flavor and I certainly know how stressful life can be before a child’s wedding can be quite stressful! I do hope it goes off without a hitch and you are able to enjoy her beautiful day.
However, these cookies are good. As you can easily read by the other reviews. Maybe revisit them when you are less stressed? Regardless, I hope there are no more little details gone awry for you in the next couple of weeks. 🙂
Made these cookies for a church event and OH MY GOODNESS so good!!! These will be my go-to cookies, for sure!! I do have a question, though. I froze some dough balls for Christmas Day (they were THAT good). How do I cook the frozen ones? Put them in the fridge overnight? Put them on the counter for a while then cook them? Would I cook them longer (guessing so)?
I made these today and they are delicious!! I debated between this recipe and a similar one that used pudding mix instead of cream cheese. After reading the comments, I decided I needed to give this one a try to vindicate the author of the rather mean comment left by one person. 😂
These taste like, but are BETTER than, those cake batter cookies you see on Pinterest. I was wanting to try a recipe that replicated that flavor but from scratch, and this hits the nail on the head! Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I understand tastes differ, but it seemed a little like the commenter was taking out some of her stress on an innocent cookie blogger. 🫤
The batter is a bit gooey, which I think is expected when it’s literally in the names of the cookie. This was my first time using a cookie scoop (I’ve been an avid baker for over a decade, but just recently got around to buying a set of scoops) and it was a lifesaver! I did have to bake mine about 15 minutes. But oven temps can vary so 🤷♀️ Just my two cents!
Thanks for a super yummy recipe, it’s going to go great in the mixed cookie tins I pass out to friends and family. Happy baking and Happy Holidays! 🎄
Made these for the first time tonight. Substituted 1-for-1 gluten free flour…turned out great.
I love butter & cream cheese dough. I must make these
When you don’t have salted butter, can you add some to unsalted and how much?