Easy Italian Christmas Cookies

Name: Easy Italian Christmas Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 44
Ingredients: 1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough; 4 oz cream cheese, softened (from 8-oz package); 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, divided; 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar; 3 to 4 tablespoons water; 2 tablespoons holiday candy decors

Prep time:30 min
Total time:1 hr 40 min
Ingredients:7
Servings:44
Calories per serving:90

By Created by Joanna(Opens in a new tab)Updated 09/08/2025

Easy Italian Christmas Cookies

Prep time:30 min
Total time:1 hr 40 min
Ingredients:7
Servings:44
Calories per serving:90

These Easy Italian Christmas Cookies are made for merry moments! With a soft sugar cookie base, sweet and speedy powdered sugar glaze, and a dash of colorful holiday sprinkles, they’re as fun to decorate as they are to eat.

This recipe is a simple twist on traditional Italian Anginetti: small, soft, lightly glazed cookies topped with sprinkles and typically flavored with lemon or anise instead of vanilla.

Perfect for holiday parties, cookie exchanges, or a cozy afternoon baking session with family, these easy Italian Christmas Cookies are a fun and festive holiday dessert that brings joy to every celebration.

Recipe Ingredients

The best part about this recipe: it’s so simple! Here’s what you need to make these family-favorite holiday cookies.

Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough: In our opinion, the faster we can get to tasty holiday cookies, the better! This sugar cookie dough comes ready to bake with no mixing, no mess.

Cream Cheese: This softens the dough and adds a subtle rich and tangy flavor.

Flour: Adding just a touch of flour helps hold the cookie dough together. A word of caution: although Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough is safe (and delicious!) to eat raw by itself, once you add the raw flour, you shouldn’t eat the mixture until it’s fully baked for food safety reasons.

Other Ingredients You’ll Need: Vanilla adds warm, sweet flavor, and powdered sugar creates that smooth, classic sweetness. Festive candy decors bring the cookies to life with holiday color.

How to Make Easy Italian Christmas Cookies

These cookies couldn’t be simpler to pull together, but the end result feels so special. Here’s a quick overview of what to do—keep scrolling for the full recipe.

1. Create the Dough

Mix together Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough, cream cheese, and flour. Then, add a touch of vanilla to round out the flavor.

2. Roll and Bake

Roll the dough into balls; we like making them around 1 inch in diameter for the perfect-sized bite! Bake in a 350°F oven until just set.

3. Decorate

Once cooled, the cookies get dressed up with a glossy vanilla glaze made from powdered sugar and water; it’s quick to whisk together and easy to dip or drizzle. We found that it works best to spoon the glaze over the cookies for the prettiest look (but if you’re a glaze lover, go ahead and dip to your heart’s content). Make sure to wait for the cookies to be completely cool before putting the glaze on; otherwise, it will melt off! The final touch: a sprinkle of colorful holiday candy decors.

Storing and Reheating Easy Italian Christmas Cookies

Leftover cookies are never a bad thing. These keep beautifully in an airtight container, so you can enjoy a sweet bite long after the holiday party is over.

Room Temperature

Easy Italian Christmas cookies will last just fine at room temp in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Just make sure to let the glaze set on the cookies before putting them into the container. If you’re worried about the glaze being too sticky, you can put parchment or waxed paper in between the layers of cookies.

Refrigerator

You can store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freezer

If you want to save the cookies for longer, store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. We’d recommend thawing them before serving.