Cutout Sugar Cookies Recipe

This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This easy cutout sugar cookie recipe is the best! It makes soft cookies with lightly crisp edges. The perfect sugar cookie for decorating!

Sugar cookies are such versatile cookies – there’s one for every occasion! This recipe makes amazing sugar cookies for decorating. You can also try Brown Sugar Cookies and these Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies for more ways to enjoy this classic cookie!

Sugar Cookies: A Classic Holiday Cookie Tradition!

Decorating sugar cookies was a holiday tradition for my family growing up. My mom is not a baker but every Christmas she’d get things ready to make Christmas cookies with my brother and I. These caramel clusters were made very year, along with cutout sugar cookies. We’d actually ice the cookies with a traditional buttercream, but I decided to use royal icing this time around.

My mom actually gave me the cookie cutters we used to use a few years ago, figuring I’d get more use out of them now. I used those cookie cutters for these cookies. 🙂

Decorated Christmas tree sugar cookie

Why I Love These Cut Out Sugar Cookies

I also used the same recipe we’d use – with a few modifications. The original recipe actually spread quite a bit. Not really ideal for cutout cookies.

So I did some playing around with the recipe and got them just right! I’m not going to lie, they spread juuuusssst a tad. It’s really more that they rise a bit. I considered making them a touch thicker so they didn’t spread/rise at all, but honestly I love them just the way they are. Too thick and you end up with a less than appetizing, dry cookie. The spread really isn’t much and as you continue to work with the dough and re-roll it, more flour mixes in and by the time you’re done, there’s no spread at all. The cookies hold their shape great, even when they spread a tad.

You will want to make sure to accurately measure your ingredients for these cookies. The amounts of ingredients – especially the flour – really do need to be correct to ensure your cookies turn out correctly. Too much flour and you’ll have some hard cookies. Too little and they’ll spread too much.

Decorated Christmas sugar cookies

To help with that potential problem, I’ve included weight measurements for those who have a scale. It really is more accurate.

If you’re using a scoop, just be sure not to pack in the flour. I pour my flour into a canister and then scoop it out of there, so it isn’t densely packed but is loose.

How to Make Cutout Sugar Cookies for Decorating

Make the Cookie Dough

To make the dough, start by creaming the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. You should notice the color of the mixture actually get lighter in color and it should get fluffy in texture. Then you’ll mix in the egg and vanilla, then the dry ingredients. It’s a very simple and straightforward recipe as far as the ingredients and method.

Bowl with sugar cookie dough and spatula
Stainless steel bowl with sugar cookie dough

The dough will actually be quite thick, even a little crumbly at first. If it doesn’t completely come together with the mixer, use your spatula or hands to press it into a ball.

These Are No Chill Cutout Sugar Cookies

You can definitely refrigerate this cookie dough and make it a few days ahead if you want, but it isn’t required. You can start rolling our cookies as soon as it’s ready.

Shape Your Cut Out Cookies

Sprinkle a little flour onto your surface (I used our countertops). Grab some of the dough – I start with about 1/3 of the dough – and roll it out. If you find your rolling pin sticks to the dough, sprinkle a touch of flour onto it. You’ll want the dough to be 1/8 to a 1/4 inch thick after being rolled out.

Floured counter with sugar cookie dough
Rolled out sugar cookie dough on floured counter

Cut out your cookies, making the most of the dough and squeezing in as many cookies as you can. My cookie cutters were fairly big, so I didn’t get quite as many cookies per roll out. Remove the excess dough and lift the cookies with a lightly floured spatula, then place them on a lined cookie sheet. I like to use my silicone baking mat, but parchment paper would work well too.

Cookie cutters on rolled out dough
Shaped sugar cookie dough on floured counter

Bake the Cookies

The cookies bake for 7-9 minutes. You can wait until the edges are just starting to get golden, or remove them a touch sooner. The time might vary a bit between ovens, but 8 minutes was just right for me. Well baked, but not browned. I like mine a little softer.

Once you remove the cookies from the oven, you’ll want to let them sit for 4-5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. They will be fairly soft until they firm up a bit as they cool, so it’ll be easier to move them once they’ve cooled a bit.

Stack of Christmas tree sugar cookies

Decorate Your Sugar Cookies

Once the cookies are completely cool, it’s time to ice them with royal icing. It’s really not as scary as it seems, it just takes a little time and you need the right tools. I liked these cutout sugar cookies best once I had the royal icing on them. The icing softens the cookie up a bit from the moisture and results in a seriously perfect decorated sugar cookie.

In fact, I took one with me to Chicago right after I made them so that my friend Julianne from Beyond Frosting could try one. She said it was the best royal icing cookie she’s had! A big compliment. 🙂

If you’re wanting to decorate your cookies with royal icing when they’re ready, check out my post on how to make, color and pipe with royal icing. There’s even a video!

Stacks of holiday sugar cookies in various shapes

Watch How To Make Them

Read Transcript

You might also like these cookie recipes:

Best Gingerbread Cookies (Soft and Chewy Cutouts)
Christmas Tree Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Coconut Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
No Bake Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons
Gingerbread Cookies with Eggnog Icing
Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

My favorite tools for making these cookies:
Silicone baking mat
Scale, for weighing ingredients
Parchment paper
Rolling pin

Print
clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon facebook facebook icon print print icon squares squares icon
Using festive cookie cutters to cut out sugar cookies.
Recipe

Cutout Sugar Cookies

  • Author: Life, Love and Sugar
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 9 minutes
  • Total Time: 19 minutes
  • Yield: About 20 Large Cutout Cookies
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

This easy cutout sugar cookie recipe is the best! It makes soft cookies with lightly crisp edges. The perfect sugar cookie for decorating!


Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup (207g) sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups (293g) all purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  4. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Dough will be very thick. You might need to use a spatula or your hands to help it all come together.
  5. On a lightly floured surface and using smaller amounts of dough at a time, roll out dough to about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch. IF you roll them out too thickly, they might spread a little bit. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. See my notes about rolling out the cookie dough below.
  6. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies, then transfer to cookie sheet. (If you want to be completely sure that they don’t spread even a little, put them on parchment paper and freeze them for 7-8 minutes before baking them.)
  7. Bake cookies 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven just before they start to brown on the edges.
  8. Allow cookies to cool for 4-5 minutes, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Notes

The best way to measure the dry ingredients for this recipe to ensure your cookie dough isn’t dry is to measure them by weight. If you don’t have a scale though, be sure not to pack the flour into your measuring cup. I usually store my flour in a separate container from the bag I bought it in, then prior to measuring I use a spoon or other utensil to loosen the flour. I use a scoop to scoop out the flour, then level it with the flat side of a knife. Don’t tap the scoop to settle the flour or pack in the flour.

Rather than rolling the dough out onto a floured surface, you can also roll it out right onto parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then you don’t have to transfer them and move them around after cutting. I’ve started doing this, and also putting parchment paper over the cookie dough when I roll it out so I’m not flouring the dough several times or the rolling pin.

If you’d like to use it, here is my royal icing recipe for decorating the cookies.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cookie
  • Calories: 136
  • Sugar: 10.1 g
  • Sodium: 121.5 mg
  • Fat: 5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 21.1 g
  • Protein: 1.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 21.5 mg

Categories

Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links.

Cutout Sugar Cookies Collage

Share a Comment

Have a question? Use the form below to submit your question or comment. I love hearing from you and seeing what you made!

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

259 Comments
  1. Shelby Nelson

    Just made these today and they’re probably the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made. I really appreciate you putting in the weight for the sugar and flour too. One question, how do you get them to be so smooth on top. I had a few that seemed to bubble and and get bumps after baking, but they looked fine after rolling and cutting. The only thing different from your method was that I used parchment instead of a silpat.

    1. Lindsay

      I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’m not sure about the bubbling. It sounds like some extra air got trapped in some of the cookies. Was it a later batch after re-rolling the dough? Perhaps some air got in the dough that way?

      1. Jade

        Mine were smooth on top. And surprisingly flat. They must have raised a little but not much. But they were flat and not puffy and not rounded on the top. And perfect texture inside. I just had such a good experience my first time with this recipe yesterday! 






  2. Elaine

    This seems like a really great recipe! I was wondering if I could double the recipe with the weight measurements for a bigger batch. Would that cause any problems?

    1. Jade

      I doubled the recipe, using measuring cups and not a scale, and everything came out perfectly. I use dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and do the loose flour “scoop up the flour, scrape the excess off with a flat knife” when measuring my flour, method. Everything worked out perfectly. I followed the ingredients and methods she listed as is. Rolled 1/8 to 1/4 inches and even the thinner cookies were still soft and chewy. Wonderful recipe. <3






  3. Kamilia

    this is wonderful  ! i would like to try them but  i’d to know if i may baked all evenly  at max amount (enough  to fit my  3 tiered rack in the oven ) do i use convection or just normal setting ? i get confuse every time on  trying to get a well baked or an even bake sugar cookies.. 🙁 

      1. Kamilia

        oh dear, im sorry for the confusion! i wanted to know if we should bake with only 1 tray in the middle at a time  ? or is it safe for me to baked 3 trays at one  time ?  because i have tried  baking before with 3 trays at 1 shot, using convection setting  but it did not bake so well ;( Thus im wondering how do u normally bake your sugar cookies . 🙂 

      2. Lindsay

        Oh I see. 🙂 Sorry! Yes, I’d recommend regular bake setting with one tray at a time. The heat should distribute more evenly that way.

  4. Lindsay

    Have you ever tried freezing this dough? Was thinking about making a small batch and freezing the remainder. Thoughts?

    1. Jenna

      I have made very similar doughs and they freeze well. Nigella Lawson makes a sugar cookies that’s almost the same and she encourages freezing.

  5. Kelsey

    Hello!  I’ve made this recipe twice now, the cookies are just delicious.  They definitely spread, so I wouldn’t recommend using this recipe with intricate cookie cutters (which I did the first time).  But the second time I did a basic heart and flower shape for Valentine’s Day and they turned out great.  One small note I would like to make; when I doubled the recipe I found it just a tad salty with 1/2 tsp of salt.  So next next if I double the recipe I’ll keep the salt at 1/4 tsp.  But with the icing I put on top  they were still perfect.  Thanks for sharing!

    1. Caitlin

      The recipe only calls for 1/8th of a teaspoon

      Mine may taste a tad salty too as I accidentally put extra salt in it (in my defence, I forgot to check if my butter was unsalted or salted

      If you use salted butter, you don’t need the salt called for in the recipe itself

  6. Jennifer

    Tried your recipes this weekend for the Super Bowl.  Cookies turned out great.  One batch with salted butter and no added salt and one batch with unsalted butter.  Both excellent!  What I really enjoyed was that the cookies didn’t spread!!  

  7. Nicole

    Great cookies! I made these tonight for a decorating party tomorrow and easily got 6 dozen 2-2.5″ cookies. I loved that I didn’t need to chill them and they taste wonderful!

    1. Kelly

      Fabulous recipe! Thanks so much! I made the icing too and love it.  Think I used a little too much water so will use a little less next time but I’m so pleased to have a reliable recipe and look forward to trying your other recipes 🙂






  8. Barbara

    Hi..I want to thank you for sharing your recipie..I am so not a cookie baker..but your way was soooo simple..my only challenge now is the decorating piece. Thanks again!

  9. Jeannie

    Do you really add 1-1/2 tsp baking powder? Does that much make the cookies spread or puff up? I’m new to your site but enjoying reading. Thanks for the recipes and baking tips.

  10. Tanisha

    I’ve tried a few different sugar cookie recipes this month…this is by far the easiest/quickest…my favorite part? No dough chilling! That always keeps me from making cutout sugar cookies, and now I have a go-to recipe! Soft, yummy and sturdy, so great for decorating! Thanks for sharing, and Merry Christmas!

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      It’s all purpose flour. I haven’t tried whole wheat flour, but am quite certain it would not work in this recipe.

      1. Jade

        Just made these for a birthday party yesterday. They were perfect. Followed the recipe, even learned from that picture in article about what that attachment for my kitchenaid mixer was used for. They rolled out easily. Didn’t raise when baked- they stayed pretty close to what I rolled out, and then didn’t burn or crisp. I cooked mine 7 min and pulled them out and let cool. They are very vanilla-ey in a goid way. And soft and chewy. Everyone loved them at the party and the next day, my sister had taken a few plain ones home without icing, said, “Those sugar cookies were perfect Jade.” I agree. I think it’s in the methodology because I have made other sugar cookies many years in a row but never creamed the butter and sugar for 4 minutes until this one. But there must be science happening because these were perfect. <3 Also, everyone in my family loves your vanilla cake recipe that I’ve been making now for birthday parties and I just made the mini cheesecakes and they turned out great too! And now these sugar cookies! I can’t wait to try other recipes on this site!






Lindsay
About Lindsay

I’m the baker, recipe developer and photographer behind Life, Love and Sugar. I love sharing trusted recipes with helpful tips to give you great results.

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29