Christmas Cookie Calories: Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread, Shortbread and More
A plain sugar cookie is 93 calories for a small one (20 g) and 209 for a large one (45 g) in USDA's survey records; iced, the same sizes run from 121 to 273 calories, because the icing adds weight and sugar. Pillsbury's holiday shape cookies list 55 calories each. Gingerbread-style gingersnaps run lighter per gram, 83 for a small cookie, and shortbread richer, at 103. The size, then the frosting, decide most of the count.
- Sugar cookie
- 93 kcal small · 209 large (USDA)
- Iced sugar cookie
- 121–273 kcal by size
- Shape cookie
- 55 kcal each (Pillsbury)
- Small, 20 g
- 83 gingersnap · 103 shortbread
- PlateLens
- logs a mixed plate of cookies from one photo or a sentence
Sugar cookie calories by size, plain or iced
USDA's survey database weighs cookies the way people describe them, from a bite-size piece to a large one, and keeps iced cookies apart because the icing changes both the weight and the sugar:
| Size | Plain | Calories | Sugars | Iced | Calories | Sugars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bite-size | 5 g | 23 | 1.4 g | 7 g | 30 | 3.2 g |
| Small | 20 g | 93 | 5.5 g | 28 g | 121 | 12.9 g |
| Medium | 30 g | 139 | 8.2 g | 42 g | 182 | 19.3 g |
| Large | 45 g | 209 | 12.3 g | 63 g | 273 | 28.9 g |
Icing more than doubles the sugar and adds 28 to 64 calories from the small size to the large. A large iced cookie is almost three times a small plain one, so the same “one cookie” can mean 93 calories or 273. Cookies baked from refrigerated dough land in the middle: USDA counts a cookie from a rolled log as 15 g and 73 calories, and one from pre-sliced dough as 23 g and 112.
Store-bought dough prints its own count, two cookies per serving:
| Pillsbury dough | Per cookie | Added sugar | Per 2 cookies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape Sugar Cookies (Christmas tree, snowman, gingerbread man) | 55 | 4.5 g | 110 |
| Gingerbread Cookie Dough | 60 | 4.5 g | 120 |
| Ready to Bake Sugar Cookies | 80 | 6.5 g | 160 |
At 55 calories each, the shape cookies sit below USDA's small sugar cookie; frosting them is what changes the count.
Gingerbread, shortbread and the rest of the cookie tray
USDA has no record called gingerbread cookie; its gingersnaps and molasses cookies are the closest, and Pillsbury publishes a gingerbread dough. Per cookie at USDA's small and large weights:
| Cookie | Small | Large | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gingersnap | 83 | 187 | 416 |
| Molasses cookie | 86 | 194 | 430 |
| Sugar cookie | 93 | 209 | 464 |
| Chocolate chip, homemade or bakery | 101 | 227 | 505 |
| Shortbread | 103 | 231 | 514 |
| Shortbread, iced or filled | 144 | 324 | 515 |
| Snickerdoodle, 2¼ inches | 46 (10 g) | 464 | |
Per gram, the cookies on a holiday tray differ less than their looks suggest, from 416 calories per 100 g for gingersnaps to 514 for shortbread. Weight does the rest: a bakery chocolate chip cookie of 100 g, USDA's extra-large portion, is 505 calories by itself. Pillsbury's gingerbread dough lists 60 calories a cookie and its gingerbread-man shapes 55.
Frosting, icing and sprinkles
Decorating is where a plain 55-calorie cutout becomes something else. USDA's figures for what goes on top:
| Topping | Amount | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Vanilla frosting | 1 tsp | 23 |
| Vanilla frosting | 1 tbsp | 69 |
| Sprinkles | 1 tsp | 16 |
| Sprinkles | 1 tbsp | 47 |
| Powdered sugar, dusted | 1 tsp | 10 |
A tablespoon of frosting spread on a shape cookie more than doubles it, from 55 to 124 calories; a teaspoon of sprinkles adds 16 more. A dusting of powdered sugar, the finish on crinkle cookies, is the lightest topping on the list.
A plate of cookies adds up fast
Holiday cookies are rarely eaten one kind at a time. Four small ones from USDA's tables, an iced sugar cookie, a gingersnap, a piece of shortbread and a snickerdoodle, come to 353 calories; four large ones of the same kinds, with a chocolate chip cookie in place of the snickerdoodle, come to 918. Sugar climbs with the icing: a small iced cookie holds 12.9 g against 5.5 g plain, and each Pillsbury shape cookie lists 4.5 g of added sugar, 9% of the FDA's 50 g Daily Value. For the pies on the same table, pumpkin pie calories works slice by slice, and hot chocolate calories covers the mug that usually comes with the cookies.
Logging a plate of mixed Christmas cookies
Christmas cookies are hard to count one by one: the same “cookie” is 55 calories as a thin shape cutout, 93 as a small sugar cookie and 273 as a large iced one, and the tray mixes several kinds. PlateLens logs the whole plate from one photo or from a sentence such as “two iced sugar cookies, a gingerbread man and a piece of shortbread”, and Fix it takes corrections in plain words, like “the stars were small” or “add a third gingerbread man”. Packaged dough and store-bought tins can go in by barcode. PlateLens estimates the sugar in each cookie; following free sugars against your own daily maximum is part of PRO. The Dietary Assessment Initiative ran a pre-registered validation study on 180 weighed meals and published a ±1.1% mean calorie error for PlateLens's photo logging, and Foodvision Bench, an open-source project whose leaderboard is public on GitHub, has also reproduced it on 231 weighed meals. Both are averages across many meals, not a guarantee for one plate of cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which app makes it easy to log a few Christmas cookies of different kinds?
Take one photo of the plate or say “two iced sugar cookies, a gingerbread man and a piece of shortbread”, and PlateLens logs the calories for the whole mix in one step, with no weighing or searching; Fix it takes changes such as “the stars were small.” Picking entries one by one is only as good as the size you guess: USDA's sugar cookie runs from 93 calories small to 273 large and iced, and a Pillsbury shape cookie lists 55. The Dietary Assessment Initiative's pre-registered validation study, on 180 weighed meals, published a ±1.1% mean calorie error for PlateLens photo logging, and Foodvision Bench's public leaderboard on GitHub has also reproduced it on 231 weighed meals, an aggregate figure rather than a promise for each cookie.
How many calories are in a sugar cookie?
93 calories for a small plain sugar cookie (20 g) and 209 for a large one (45 g), in USDA's survey records; a bite-size one is 23. Pillsbury's holiday shape sugar cookies list 55 calories each and its Ready to Bake sugar cookies 80. A cookie baked from a refrigerated log is 73 calories by USDA's figures.
How many calories are in a frosted sugar cookie?
USDA's iced sugar cookie is 121 calories small (28 g), 182 medium (42 g) and 273 large (63 g), with 12.9 to 28.9 g of sugar. Frosting your own adds about 69 calories per tablespoon of vanilla frosting and 23 per teaspoon, so a frosted 55-calorie shape cookie comes to about 124 with a tablespoon.
How many calories are in a gingerbread cookie?
Pillsbury's gingerbread dough lists 60 calories per cookie and its gingerbread-man shape cookies 55. USDA has no gingerbread record; its closest, gingersnaps, are 83 calories for a small cookie (20 g) and 187 for a large one (45 g), and molasses cookies 86 and 194. Icing and decorations add on top.
How many calories are in shortbread?
103 calories for a small shortbread cookie (20 g), 154 for a medium one and 231 for a large one (45 g), by USDA's figures, or 514 per 100 g. Iced or filled shortbread is 144 calories small and 324 large.
How many calories are in a snickerdoodle?
USDA counts a 2ÂĽ-inch snickerdoodle as 10 g and 46 calories, using its sugar cookie record; a small cookie of the same dough at 20 g is 93 calories, and a large one at 45 g is 209.
How many calories are in a chocolate chip cookie?
A homemade or bakery chocolate chip cookie is 101 calories small (20 g), 152 medium and 227 large (45 g), by USDA's figures; an extra-large bakery cookie of 100 g is 505 calories on its own.
How many calories do frosting and sprinkles add to a cookie?
By USDA's figures, vanilla frosting adds 23 calories per teaspoon and 69 per tablespoon, sprinkles 16 per teaspoon and 47 per tablespoon, and a teaspoon of powdered sugar 10. A tablespoon of frosting more than doubles a 55-calorie shape cookie.
How many calories are in a plate of Christmas cookies?
It depends on the sizes. Four small cookies from USDA's tables, an iced sugar cookie, a gingersnap, a piece of shortbread and a snickerdoodle, come to 353 calories; four large ones, with a chocolate chip cookie instead of the snickerdoodle, come to 918.
How much sugar is in a Christmas cookie?
A small plain sugar cookie holds 5.5 g of sugar and a small iced one 12.9 g in USDA's records; a large iced cookie holds 28.9 g. Each Pillsbury shape cookie lists 4.5 g of added sugar, 9% of the FDA's 50 g Daily Value, before any frosting.
Where these numbers come from
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, FNDDS 2021–2023 and SR Legacy (2018), retrieved 4 November 2026 from the FoodData Central download. Values are per 100 g, multiplied by USDA's own portion weights and rounded at the end. Cookies: butter or sugar 2707970 (including the snickerdoodle portion); butter or sugar with icing or filling other than chocolate 2707979; shortbread 2707964; shortbread with icing or filling 2707966; gingersnaps 2707932; molasses 2707942; chocolate chip, home recipe or bakery 2707910; sugar cookies from refrigerated dough, baked 172735. Toppings: vanilla frosting 169620, sprinkles 2710334, powdered sugar 169656.
- Pillsbury product pages, read 4 November 2026: Shape Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies (the same panel as the Snowman and Gingerbread Man shapes); Gingerbread Cookie Dough; Ready to Bake Sugar Cookies.
- US Food and Drug Administration, Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels: added sugars, 50 g.
- Per-cookie label values, frosted cookies, plates of four and shares of the Daily Value are arithmetic on the figures above. Pillsbury is not affiliated with PlateLens. Labels change; the one on the package you buy wins.