Name: Elf Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 19 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened); ½ cup white granulated sugar; ½ teaspoon vanilla; 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour; ⅛ teaspoon salt ((a pinch))

Elf Cookies are easy to make, miniature shortbread cookies that are bite sized and delicious. Elf on the Shelf cookies are a delicious treat to make your elf or for your elf to gift to well behaved children!

An elf on the shelf next to mini cookies

We have so much fun with our elf, even if intermittently. It’s fun to see if and what kind of surprises our elf has been up to.

These shortbread Elf Cookies make the sweetest treat for children and will get them into the holiday spirit. Elf on the Shelf Cookies are also a great gift for you elf and a fun activity for kids! A nice reminder that giving goes both ways!

Love shortbread flavor? You’ve got to try my chocolate chip pecan snowball cookies! It’s a classic cookie recipe with a delicious chocolate twist.

Table of Contents

To Make These Elf Cookies, You Will Need:

These simple cookies only require a few simple ingredients:

Butter: Unsalted and softened
Sugar
Vanilla extract: Pure is preferable over imitation
Four and salt

How to Make Elf Cookies

It takes just 20 minutes to make 48 of these cute mini cookies!

Combine sugar, butter and vanilla.
Add flour and salt and mix until combined.
On floured plastic wrap, press into a disc shape (like a thick plate) wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On floured parchment paper, roll dough to 1/4″ thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut elf cookies into shape and peel excess dough. Transfer parchment paper filled with cutouts on cookie sheet.
Bake 8-9 minutes.

Mini cookies in front of a elf on the shelf

Cookie Cutters for Elf on the Shelf Cookies

Miniature cookie cutters are the perfect tool for the job and they create these perfect mini cookies that are just deal for elf on the shelf. In fact, we use these for so much more! They’re great for stacking cookies on top of larger cookies of the same shape, using them as a stencil to sprinkle sugar in shapes on cookies and more!

An Easy Shortbread Cookie Recipe

It’s so easy to make a big batch of these mini cookies so quickly with just a few ingredients. The shortbread is deliciously sweet and buttery and you can easily make full sized cookies from this recipe if you wish.

A Fun Elf on the Shelf Cookie Idea

I love the elf on the shelf fun on the lead up to Christmas – no one knows what he’s been up to overnight! It will be such a treat for your kids when they wake up and find he has been busy baking cookies for them! These bite sized treats are easy to make, fun and festive!

Tips

Be sure to refrigerate your cookie dough for at least half and hour before rolling it out.
Bake the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven for the best results.
Once cooled, keep the cookies in an airtight container and they will be good for about 4 days.

If you try these elf cookies, please come back to share using my 5 star rating in the comments below! Not only do I appreciate it, but I know readers do, too! For more easy recipes and simple living ideas, subscribe to my newsletter!

LET’S CONNECT! instagram | newsletter | facebook | pinterest

More Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

Did you make this? Rate the recipe and tag me on social @julieblanner!

5 from 4 votes

Elf Cookies

Author: Julie Blanner

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 9 mins

Total Time 19 mins

Print Rate Recipe

Yield 48

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup unsalted butter softened
▢ ½ cup white granulated sugar
▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla
▢ 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt (a pinch)

Instructions

Combine sugar, butter and vanilla.
Add flour and salt and mix until combined.
On floured plastic wrap, press into a disc shape (like a thick plate) wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On floured parchment paper, roll dough to 1/4″ thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut elf cookies into shape and peel excess dough. Transfer parchment paper filled with cutouts on cookie sheet.
Bake 8-9 minutes.

Tips

Be sure to refrigerate your cookie dough for at least half and hour before rolling it out.
Bake the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven for the best results.
Once cooled, keep the cookies in an airtight container and they will be good for about 4 days.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 59kcal (3%), Carbohydrates: 6g (2%), Protein: 1g (2%), Fat: 4g (6%), Saturated Fat: 2g (10%), Cholesterol: 10mg (3%), Sodium: 7mg, Potassium: 6mg, Fiber: 1g (4%), Sugar: 2g (2%), Vitamin A: 118IU (2%), Calcium: 2mg, Iron: 1mg (6%)

Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.