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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 โ thereโs 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!
Decorating sugar cookies was a holiday tradition for my family growing up. My mom is not a baker but every Christmas sheโd get things ready to make Christmas cookies with my brother and I. These caramel clusters were made very year, along with cutout sugar cookies. Weโd 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 Iโd get more use out of them now. I used those cookie cutters for these cookies. ๐
I also used the same recipe weโd use โ 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! Iโm not going to lie, they spread juuuusssst a tad. Itโs really more that they rise a bit. I considered making them a touch thicker so they didnโt 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 isnโt much and as you continue to work with the dough and re-roll it, more flour mixes in and by the time youโre done, thereโs 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 โ especially the flour โ really do need to be correct to ensure your cookies turn out correctly. Too much flour and youโll have some hard cookies. Too little and theyโll spread too much.
To help with that potential problem, Iโve included weight measurements for those who have a scale. It really is more accurate.
If youโre 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 isnโt densely packed but is loose.
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 youโll mix in the egg and vanilla, then the dry ingredients. Itโs a very simple and straightforward recipe as far as the ingredients and method.
The dough will actually be quite thick, even a little crumbly at first. If it doesnโt 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 isnโt required. You can start rolling our cookies as soon as itโs ready.
Shape Your Cut Out Cookies
Sprinkle a little flour onto your surface (I used our countertops). Grab some of the dough โ I start with about 1/3 of the dough โ and roll it out. If you find your rolling pin sticks to the dough, sprinkle a touch of flour onto it. Youโll want the dough to be 1/8 to a 1/4 inch thick after being rolled out.
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 didnโt 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.
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, youโll 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 itโll be easier to move them once theyโve cooled a bit.
Decorate Your Sugar Cookies
Once the cookies are completely cool, itโs time to ice them with royal icing. Itโs 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 sheโs had! A big compliment. ๐
If youโre wanting to decorate your cookies with royal icing when theyโre ready, check out my post on how to make, color and pipe with royal icing. Thereโs even a video!
- 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
- Silicone baking mat
- Scale, for weighing ingredients
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
Watch How To Make Them
Print
- 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
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies, then transfer to cookie sheet. (If you want to be completely sure that they donโt spread even a little, put them on parchment paper and freeze them for 7-8 minutes before baking them.)
- Bake cookies 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven just before they start to brown on the edges.
- 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 isnโt dry is to measure them by weight. If you donโt 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. Donโt 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 donโt have to transfer them and move them around after cutting. Iโve started doing this, and also putting parchment paper over the cookie dough when I roll it out so Iโm not flouring the dough several times or the rolling pin.
If youโd 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!
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Hi Lindsay, I want to tell you how great your cookie recipe is. Not just did I enjoy your cookie I loved the way you explained every detail of how to make it. Thank you I will definitely keep trying all of your recipes.
The cookies tasted so good! Everyone loves them. My dough was crumbly at first, but I added a small amount of milk and formed the perfect dough. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed them!
OMG! This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!
They are a little moist and a little crunchy! PERFECT COOKIE! Ty so much for sharing this! I did add 1 Tbls. of milk and 2 Tbls. of additional butter. I am also high altitude for anyone who needs that adjustment. I love these cookies and this will be my go-to for sugar cookies from now on! TY TY TY!
Can I substitute coconut palm sugar for the white sugar in this recipe? Thanks!
I havenโt ever worked with that kind of sugar before, so I canโt say.
So I did this recipe exact and my dough was crumbly? I used 1 stick of butter and it was way to dry and crumbly and then I added another stick and formed to doughโฆbut now itโs way too buttery
Yes, I imagine a whole other stick of butter probably was too much. My guess is that you over measured your flour a bit. With cookies like these, even a little bit can make a difference. We are trying to get a thick dough that wonโt spread, without having too much flour. Next time, I would recommend adding a teaspoon of milk to help it all come together.
You could also try this cutout cookie recipe, which you may find a little more forgiving.
How to measure flour accurately
Trinity mine was totally crumbs as well but I was certain that I measured correctly so I dumped the crumb mixture out on the counter and with my hands just started working it and it came together perfectly! I was pretty worried when I saw how dry and crumbly it was but they turned out great!
How far ahead can these cookies be baked and still taste fresh?
If you go ahead and add icing on top, they will stay fresh for at least a week. The icing insulates them pretty well and keeps them soft. You could also try these cutout cookies. You can bake them thicker so they may stay softer for a touch longer.
How well do the iced cookies freeze .
The problem with icing them before freezing them is that the colors in the icing can bleed when they thaw and moisture hits them. I would recommend freezing un-iced.
Sugar cookies are always too soft and plain. The texture of these was great, slightly chewy and firm, but not hard.
So glad you enjoyed them!
This dough was probably the worst dough ever. I feel bad writing this but I followed followed the recipe and it turned into sand.
So something came up and I wasnt able to bake the cookies directly after mixing the ingredients so I stored them in the refrigerator for approx. 7-8 hours but now they are rock hard, do I need them to get to room temperature before rling the dough? Help, I dont want to start over.
I would let it come to room temperature and then roll the cookies. They should be just fine.
This recipe was super easy to use, my cookies turned out pretty good. I have a electric stove so I ended up baking these for 12-14 min. About 1/4โณ thick..they do spread a little.. I added 1tsp of pumpkin pie spice to the flour mixture and the flavor was perfect.. I used all measuring cups and spoons for this recipe and turned out pretty good.. for an ADHDer it was perfect!!
Iโm so glad you enjoyed them!
This is my new go to recipe! So glad I found it. Delicious. ๐๐ป
So glad you enjoyed them!
A recipe that is EASY and DELICIOUS! Finally! ๐
This recipe is ridiculous. I have tried it twice. First to the exact qty of the I ingredients and it came out crumbly. Second to the comments and it was better but still not doughy enough to roll for cookies. Donโt waste your time.
Thank you- I have found my new sugar cookie recipe! I made 1 batch with vegan butter for my allergy kiddo & another as written. Both turned out great. I put each tray in the freezer while the previous one baked & had no spreading.
So easy and delicious, rolled out perfectly after I formed it in my hands! My new go-to sugar cookie recipe. Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed them!
If I roll them a bit thicker will that result in a softer cookie? I prefer soft/chewy cookies to crunchy but I still want to do a rolled/cookie cutter cookie. I donโt really plan on using royal icing, maybe some colored sugar before baking.
These have a tendency to spread more if rolled too thick. I might recommend my new cutout sugar cookie that can be rolled thicker.
The problem with the recipe is if you follow the measurements with measuring cups, youll end up with sandy flour and it wonโt work. But if follow with a scale, youโll be okay. I used just UNDER 2 cups of flour for this recipe when I used my scale.