Make these Christmas Almond Sugar Cookies for your next Christmas celebration or cookie swap. Made with amaretto, cream cheese, and chocolate kisses, these cookies taste like chocolate-covered cherries!
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Why I Love This Recipe
These Christmas Almond Sugar Cookies are so delicious and taste just like a chocolate-covered cherry! Since these drop cookies have cream cheese in the dough, they are soft, chewy, and delicious.
Ingredients Needed for This Recipe
All-Purpose Flour: AP flour provides the structure and texture to the dough of these cookies. Just regular all-purpose flour you have in your pantry will work.
Baking Powder: Baking powder helps the cookies rise and create air inside.
Salt: Salt enhances the flavor of the cookies and balances the sweetness.
Unsalted Butter: Butter provides flavor and richness to the cookies. Make sure the butter is at room temperature so that it's easier to cream with the sugar. Unsalted is best to control the salt level, but if you use salted butter, omit the salt.
Cream Cheese: Cream cheese adds to the creamy texture of these cookies and adds moisture. Just like the butter, having the cream cheese at room temperature helps it mix in more easily.
Sugar: Sugar sweetens the cookies and adds to their overall flavor and texture.
Eggs: Eggs act as a binding agent in the cookie dough and help with the moisture and structure. These should also be at room temperature for best results, but if you forget, it's ok.
Amaretto: Amaretto is a sweet almond-flavored liqueur that adds a little extra something special to these cookies. While most of the alcohol will bake off, you can substitute more almond extract if you don't want to add liqueur.
Almond Extract: Almond extract creates the almond flavor in the cookies. It's usually very strong, so don't add too much!
Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract compliments the almond flavor and adds depth and complexity to the cookie's flavor.
Holiday Sprinkles: Holiday sprinkles make these cookies extra special and give them their festive appeal. You can make these cookies any time of the year and switch up the colors.
More Holiday Recipes to Try
How to Make These Cookies
Place the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine everything then set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and mix in. Then add the amaretto, almond extract, and vanilla extract and thoroughly mix in. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a ball while wrapping it up. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Once your dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350° and prepare cookie sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Scoop the dough and roll it into equal-sized balls using your hands. Roll each ball in the bowl of sprinkles and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until set. While the cookies are cooling on the pan, place a chocolate piece on top and gently press down.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe FAQs
Although most of the alcohol is baked off in these cookies, you can make a version without alcohol at all if you would like. Just substitute an additional ½ teaspoon of almond extract instead of the Amaretto.
Make sure the cookies cool completely before storing them. They will last 4-5 days in a sealed container.
Yes, you can freeze these cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. Freeze them on a baking sheet first, and then add them to the container for best results. They will last up to 3 months.
Expert Tips for This Recipe
- Once you place the chocolate kiss on top of the baked cookies, don't touch them until they have completely cooled! The chocolate will become very soft from the warmth of the cookies straight out of the oven.
- These cookies don't spread very much, but make sure you still give them a little room to grow on the pan.
- Since this batter is so sticky, silicone mats work amazing for these cookies. If you don't have one, use parchment paper so your cookies don't stick.
- I found that a regular spoon worked the best to scoop out the dough onto my hands to create a ball.
- You need A LOT of sprinkles to make all of these cookies. Nonpareils seemed to work the best and have a nice crunch. Regular sugar sprinkles melted just a bit but still looked good. Use your favorite or a few different types as I did!
Christmas Almond Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temp (1 ½ sticks)
- ½ cup cream cheese, room temp
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 2 tablespoon amaretto
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- holiday sprinkles of choice!
Instructions
- Place the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium mixing bowl, whisk to combine, and then set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a mixing bowl and a hand mixer), cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. This takes about 5 minutes.
- Add the egg and mix in. Then add the amaretto, almond extract, and vanilla extract and fully combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir just until combined. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and give a few more turns to get everything mixed in.
- Put down a piece of plastic wrap and place the dough on top. Form a ball with the dough while tightly wrapping it up. Chill the dough in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare cookie sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper and place the sprinkles in a small mixing bowl for rolling.
- Scoop the dough and roll into equal-sized balls using your hands. Roll each ball in the bowl of sprinkles and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until set. The cookies will continue to firm up once removed from the oven. Gently press a chocolate piece on top of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- These cookies will last 4-5 days in a sealed container.
- If you don't want to use Amaretto, just substitute an additional ½ teaspoon almond extract instead of the alcohol
- Once you place the chocolate kiss on top of the baked cookies, don't touch them until they have completely cooled! The chocolate will become very soft from the warmth of the cookies straight out of the oven.
- These cookies don't spread very much, but make sure you still give them a little room to grow on the pan.
- Since this batter is so sticky, silicone mats work amazing for these cookies. If you don't have one, use parchment paper so your cookies don't stick.
- I found that a regular spoon worked the best to scoop out the dough onto my hands to create a ball.
- You need A LOT of sprinkles to make all of these cookies. Nonpareils seemed to work the best and have a nice crunch. Regular sugar sprinkles melted just a bit but still looked good. Use your favorite or a few different types as I did!
Nutrition
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Did you Make This Recipe?
If you get a chance to make these Almond Kiss Cookies, don't forget to leave a comment below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook and show me!
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JR says
Can these be frozen?
Emily says
Yes, you can freeze these cookies. Ensure they have fully cooled before freezing. For the best results, wrap each cookie in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer-safe air-tight container. Enjoy!