You don’t need to worry about buying gifts any longer, just make these Christmas Meltaway Cookies for your family and friends. So easy to make with very simple ingredients. These cookies make fantastic edible gifts that both kids and adults love.
These meltaway cookies already look cute with their itsy bitsy size, but you can make them look even fancier with some colorful sprinkles. Normally I coat these cookies with powdered sugar, but I wanted to make something different to give it a holiday feeling. Did I tell you before how much I love these lovely guys? They can easily put you in a party mood, can't they? Just like our marshmallows dipped in chocolate with sprinkles. They are always a hit and they make great gifts too. You might want to check them out if you don’t feel like baking something. They are much easier than these cookies. No baking and no cookie dough definitely shorten the time.
These Christmas Meltaway Cookies make the best holiday gift ever. It is very easy to make these. Way easier than going to a shopping mall and looking for the perfect gift for your beloved ones. They are ready in less than 30 minutes. Pack them in jars or fancy looking mini boxes and give whoever you like.
Ingredients
The best thing about these Christmas Meltaway Cookies is that the ingredients make about 6 dozens. So you can give them to as many people as you like. We need 7 ingredients for this super simple recipe. These are butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest(optional), salt, cornstarch, all purpose flour, colored sugar or sprinkles.
How To Make
I've made this recipe a zillion times, trying different measurements or adding various flavors. Here is what I've learnt: You can't go wrong with this recipe as long as you keep the following 4 ingredients; butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch and flour. Use these as your main ingredients and optionally spice them with ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, vanilla, lavender, cocoa powder or any other ingredient that goes well in cookies and create your own version. On the other hand, I use lemon zest in this recipe because lemon or orange zest gives them a nice fresh flavor. These are adaptable for your taste as you see.
On to the recipe now.
First; cream butter, powdered sugar and salt. If you use lemon zest, whisk it together with these.
Second; in a medium bowl, whisk together all purpose flour and cornstarch. Pour it into the wet mixture and combine well using your hand.
Third, make tiny balls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes and let them sit for 10 minutes on the baking sheet after removing from oven.
Meanwhile you can sprinkle colored sugar or sprinkles over the baked cookies when they are still warm.
How To Make Lemon Meltaway Cookies
Besides the ingredients listed above, add one teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon and enjoy that lemony flavor in these little guys. If you are a big fan of lemon flavor, you can even increase the amount of lemon zest.
How To Add Sprinkles On Baked Cookies
After receiving several questions about how to make sprinkles stick on these meltaway cookies after they are baked, I understood that not all types of sprinkles stick easily. I used colored sugar in this recipe. You can easily make it at home by using Susan's DIY colored sugar method on her amazing blog The View From Great Island.
If you want them stick on your baked cookies perfectly, use the following method:
Whisk together two pasteurized egg whites and ¼ teaspoon water. Let the cookies cool down completely and brush their tops with this mixture and sprinkle the colored sugar or sprinkles over them immediately.
If you are after a glaze or frosting, please go check out our Red Velvet Cookies with cream cheese frosting too.
Can You Freeze These?
Yes, you can freeze these cookies up to 3 months. However, don't decorate them if you are planning to freeze them. Make your decoration before serving. For this, you will definitely need the egg wash method or a glaze so that the sprinkles stick on these.
Also, it is possible to freeze the cookie dough or the cookie balls unbaked. Thaw and then bake. It gets ridiculously easy to bake these cookies then.
Well, for me these Christmas Meltaway Cookies are worth the little time and very little effort since they are literally melting in your mouth. Besides, I’m sure you don’t need to go shopping for the ingredients because you already have them in your pantry.
Also, you need to see the following amazing cookies from our friends: Almond Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Browned Butter Shortbread Cookies and Spritz Cookies.
More Cookies For Christmas
As always: If you make this recipe, let us know what you think by rating it and leaving a comment below. And post a pic on Instagram too—tag @give_recipe so we can see!
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PrintChristmas Meltaway Cookies
Cookies with simple ingredients literally melting in your mouth.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 dozens 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- Colored sugar or sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line a baking sheets with parchment.
- In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, salt and lemon zest until creamy.
- Whisk flour and cornstarch in a bowl.
- Pour the dry mixture into the bowl gradually and mix with your hands until everything is combined.
- Make tiny balls and place them on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let them sit in the baking sheet for another 10 minutes.
- Coat with sprinkles when they are still warm.
Notes
About the amount of cornstarch: These cookies are really soft and literally melting in your mouth. If you want your cookies slightly crispy, use ½ cup cornstarch and add 1 and ¾ cup flour.
About how to make sprinkles or colored sugar stick on the baked cookies: Please read my explanation above.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 33
- Sugar: 0.9 g
- Sodium: 14.3 mg
- Fat: 2.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.1 g
- Protein: 0.2 g
- Cholesterol: 5.8 mg
Keywords: meltaway cookies, christmas cookies, meltaway christmas cookies
Charlie Gronberg says
Can you make different flavors other than plain and lemon?
Linda Palbicki says
I couldn’t get the sprinkles to stick. I took them from oven to sprinkles. So, I then tried powered sugar and it didn’t stick either.. what am I doing wrong? Someone ask you about sugar which confused me, because the copy of the recipe I am looking at calls for powdered sugar. Then someone else ask about lemon zest and what I am looking at doesn’t mention lemon zest.
I planned on giving these for Christmas treats at a party I am having next week, so I am very disappointed.
Zerrin says
Hi Linda, I'm sorry to hear that. Were the cookies still warm when you tried to coat them with sprinkles? My sprinkles are like colorful granulated sugar and they stick on the warm cookies. Not as perfect as on frosted cookies, but they are okay. The same for powdered sugar. The cookies must be warm. Another thing is that sprinkles don't stick if you coat them with powdered sugar first.
If neither of these works, there is another solution that I need to add in the recipe as a note above. That is, you can use a mixture of pasteurized egg white and a splash of water. Let the cookies cool and brush them with this mixture. Sprinkle colorful sugar or sprinkles over them immediately.
I will check the other confusing parts in the recipe immediately and make the necessary corrections. This kind of problems might happen when we change the recipe card we use. Sorry again for your disappointment.
Pamela says
I saw someone asked about the amount of lemon zest but lemon zest is not listed in the ingredients?
Pamela says
that's what I get for not reading completely....nm, I see the zest listed as an addition. Making these tonight.
Carrie says
How many cookies will this recipe make?
Zerrin says
About 3 dozens.
June says
In your ingredients it says powder sugar. I didn't see the in the instructions of when exactly to put the powder sugar. Please help!!
Zerrin says
Hi June,
As it's written in the third step, in a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until creamy. And then add in the dry mixture in the bowl gradually.
Shirley says
Can they be frozen if made in advance? And, do you think they would ship well? Thank you.
Zerrin says
Yes Shirley, they freeze well. I think they ship well to as long as you put them in an airtight container.
Donna says
How long do they last in jars?
I want to make ahead of time for holidays.
Zerrin says
Hi Donna! They are good up to one week.
s says
No way to skip before finish reading, such a beautiful presentation,i am loving it.
Kaylia says
Mine totally flattened out, they didn't hold their round shape in the oven, help!
Zerrin says
Oh sorry Kaylia! That's really interesting now as these cookies never flatten. We don't use baking soda or baking powder, so they don't normally change their forms. What could be the problem in your case? Could there be a mistake in your measurements?
Jean says
How much lemon zest would you recommend?
Zerrin says
Hi Jean,
1 teaspoon zest works fine.
Maegan says
Could I use salted butter? And if so do I skip on adding salt?
Zerrin says
Hi Maegan,
Well I don't recommend salted butter because the ones I know here in Turkey are quite salty and it would be too much for the cookies. I mean it is more than the amount of salt I use in these cookies.
Susanna Piotrowski says
What type of sprinkles are those???? They look like real glitter in their shape and texture. Where can we purchase them?
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Hi Susanna,
I don't know if these have a special name. I'm just in love with the colors!
I bought them from a small shop in my hometown in Turkey. I don't know if you can find them at online shopping websites, sorry.
Luanne says
Hi! You say to make tiny balls. How tiny? Thanks, Luanne
Zerrin says
As tiny as the marbles kids play, which are 1/2 inch or 1 inch.
Luanne says
Thank you =)