Elf on the Shelf -Mini Sugar Cookies

Does Santa send an elf on the shelf to your house every Christmas season?  These miniature “elf-sized” cookies only require a few ingredients and a few minutes but are a delicious treat that the elves, kids, and adults will love!  You can follow my super simple sugar cookie recipe to make these adorable mini cookies, or you can simply make these using store-bought sugar cookie dough from the store.  This is one of the truly easiest cookie recipes this holiday season and when your kids see that their elf brought mini cookies, they will be so excited! 

I caved and got an elf on the shelf for my kids.  I am mostly just moving it around rather than worrying about making scenes that are too complicated. However, I do like to do a few scenes that they will get excited about.  Our elf on the shelf visits our house every December, and they kids love finding him every morning!

I know you can buy Elf on the Shelf Cookie Cutters, but without getting too complicated, you can make your kids some ” elf-sized” sugar cookies in just a few minutes.  Your kids will remember this. I mean, who doesn’t love cookies for breakfast?

II am a firm believer that all Christmas cookies should be tiny.  If you’re not making ” elf-sized” Christmas cookies specifically, I still think these are cute for anyone who wants just a little taste of Christmas :). Your kiddos will think that these cookies are so much fun!

To make ” Elf on the Shelf” mini cookies, you will need:

A frosting tip– to use as a cookie-cutter.  Or a tiny cookie cutter. 

Sugar Cookie Dough- store-bought or homemade small-batch sugar cookie dough  ( simple recipe below)

Frosting

Sprinkles

parchment paper 

a cookie sheet 

If you are making homemade sugar cookies you will want the following for these small-batch sugar cookies.

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter- melted

1/3 cup of sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2/3 cup of all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract
3. In a second small bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredient mixture.
5. Roll out the dough.  Use a frosting tip or tiny cookie cutter to cut out each cookie in the rolled dough.
6. Place cookie cutouts onto parchment paper and onto your baking pan.
7. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.  If you leave them in any longer they will get too brown. 
8. Remove them from the oven and let them cool.
9. Decorate with frosting and Christmas Sprinkles!

Christmas Cookie decorating doesn’t have to be complicated.  I used pre-made white frosting and some sprinkles.  You could always have your elf leave out decorating supplies for the kids to decorate their mini cookies.

And if you are leaving out Mini Sugar Cookies with your Elf, he needs to have a teeny glass of milk too!  ( I wouldn’t advise leaving milk out all night.  You might want to wake up a few minutes early to pour the milk.)  I had to dig in the back of my cabinets for an old shot glass.

You can get creative with these cookies.  You can decorate these with white frosting as I did, or you can use green frosting or red frosting.  You can also get creative, using lots of different Christmas sprinkles, edible glitter, etc.

I know that sometimes Elf on the Shelf can be a little annoying for parents.   For us,  these cold winter days in Iowa- can get monotonous.  I love how much excitement our elf “Cherry” brings to my kids.

Plus, you will have cookies in just a few minutes.

If you make this elf on the shelf mini sugar cookies for your kids, please let me know how they worked out for you!  Please tag me on social media or comment below and let me know how they turned out for you!  You can find me on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.