Gordon Ramsay Christmas Cookies Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas cookies are spiced butter biscuits cut into festive shapes, decorated with a thin icing glaze and coloured sugar. The dough uses unsalted butter, caster sugar (superfine sugar), one egg, plain (all-purpose) flour, and ground mixed spice. They take 55 minutes total and make 20 to 24 cookies.

This recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay: Make It Easy (2005), where it appears in the “just for kids” section alongside his quote: “Cooking with children is pure magic, I love to see the joy on their faces as they see the product of their work.” The book positions these as a hands-on baking project anyone can pull off, shaped with festive cutters into trees, stars, and figures.

The technique that separates his version from generic cutout cookies is working the dough by hand. He instructs you to start with a metal spoon, then switch to your hands to bring it together, then knead for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. This develops just enough structure so the cookies hold their shape through cutting and baking without turning tough.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay divide the dough into 4 portions instead of rolling it all at once?

Working in quarters keeps the dough cold while you cut. Butter-based doughs get soft fast under your hands and a rolling pin, and soft dough sticks, tears, and loses its shape on the cutter. Rolling one portion while the other three stay wrapped in the fridge means every batch goes into the oven at the same temperature and cuts cleanly. If your shapes are coming out ragged or stretching when you lift them, the dough has warmed up too much.

Why only 1/2 tsp of mixed spice instead of more?

Ramsay keeps mixed spice light because the biscuit itself is the point, not the spice. Mixed spice contains cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, which can turn bitter and medicinal when overused in a delicate butter dough. Half a teaspoon gives you a warm background note that reads as “festive” without competing with the buttery crumb. If you want a stronger flavour, add a small pinch of cinnamon separately rather than doubling the spice blend.

Why does he use a metal spoon first, then switch to hands?

Ramsay’s baking chapter explains that biscuit dough needs less air than cake batter, which means less beating. Starting with a metal spoon lets you incorporate the flour without overworking it, because a spoon has less friction than an electric mixer. Switching to your hands for the final knead gives you control. You can feel when the dough comes together without going too far. Overworked biscuit dough develops gluten and turns tough rather than short.

Why does the icing use water instead of milk or egg white?

A water-based glaze stays thinner and sets faster than royal icing or egg-white icing. The goal here is a light, translucent coating that lets the coloured sugar sit on top and stick without adding significant sweetness or weight to the biscuit. Milk can make the glaze yellow slightly as it dries. Egg white sets much harder and is trickier to control with a pastry brush. For decorated cutout cookies meant to be eaten the same day or given as gifts, water gives you the cleanest finish.

How is this different from his rosemary shortbread?

The Christmas cookies and his rosemary shortbread cookies use the same creaming method, but the doughs behave differently. Shortbread uses no egg and a much higher butter-to-flour ratio, which produces a crumblier, more delicate texture that snaps cleanly. The Christmas biscuits include one egg, which binds the dough enough for rolling and cutting without falling apart when you lift the shapes off the surface. Egg also gives them a slightly softer bite once baked, which is why they hold up better to handling and decorating.

Can I make these ahead and freeze the dough?

Ramsay’s book notes that these cookies freeze well for up to a month once baked, wrapped tightly in plastic. For raw dough, the same logic applies as his walnut chocolate chip cookie advice: roll the dough into a log, wrap it tightly, and freeze it. When you’re ready to bake, slice the frozen dough into rounds or thaw it in the fridge overnight before rolling and cutting shapes. Baked and decorated cookies keep up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature.