Try these sugar cookies if you are looking for easy and delicious cut-out cookies! They are not too sweetlightly crispyand perfect for icing cookies.
Jump to:
- What Is Sugar Cookie?
- 5 Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
- Tips For The Ingredients
- How To Make Sugar Cookie Dough
- How to roll it out and bake sugar cookies.
- How To Store Them
- How To Ice Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- FAQ
- Watch How To Make It!
- Other Types of My Favorite Cut Out Cookies
- More Cookie Recipes
- Did you try the recipe?
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies
What Is Sugar Cookie?
Sugar cookie is made from buttersugareggfloursaltflavorings such as vanilla extractand often leavening agents such as baking powder.
Is it supposed to be crispy or soft?
It widely depends on the recipe. Some are crispy or crunchywhile others are soft or chewy. The texture preference varies from person to person. I personally love lightly crispy sugar cookieslike shortbread and butter cookies.
I don't know about youbut I hadn't met sugar cookie recipes that taste delicious for a while - Either it was too crunchy or too soft (and stale... which is just another issue beyond the recipe!). That is why I made the one for me that suits my liking:
5 Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
- Lightly crispy: Talking about cut-out cookiesI love the lightly crispy texture that delicately breaks in my mouthrather than a crunch. This cookie has that! It's got the character of shortbread cookies.
- Not too sweet: I wanted to ensure the cookies are not overly sweetas I developed this recipe specifically for royal icing cookies in mind.
- Simple ingredients: You can make it with six ingredients you may already have in your pantry!
- Easy steps: You can make the cookie dough in a few minutes and start rolling it out immediately. No complex steps!
- The dough does not spread too much in the oven: I made sure it can still retain its shape after baking.
Tips For The Ingredients
- Powdered sugar: It creates a more delicately crispy texturelike shortbread cookies. You can also use granulated sugar if you can not get it.
- Unsalted butter: Ensure it's softened at room temperature before usingso it blends well with other ingredients.
- Egg: A room-temperature egg blends better with butterbut I often use a cold eggand it still works fine!
- Vanilla extract: You can omit it if you prefer. You can also add other extractssuch as almond extract. Be careful not to add too muchas it causes the dough to spread too much in the oven.
- All-purpose flour: Use regular all-purpose flour.
- Salt: I used table salt.
How To Make Sugar Cookie Dough
Step 1. Beat powdered sugar and butter.
Beat them together with a paddle attachment until combined. You can whip for a few minutes if you prefer a slightly lighter texture.
Step 2. Add egg and vanilla extract.
Beat at medium-high speed until evenly combined. Scrape off the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even blending.
Aya's Quick Tip 💡
The egg looks separated initiallybut it will quickly come together!
Step 3. Add flour and salt.
Beat at low speed initially to prevent the flour from scatteringthen gradually increase the speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again and continue beating until everything is evenly mixed.
How to roll it out and bake sugar cookies.
Step 4. Roll it out.
Divide the dough in half. Sandwich each dough with parchment paper and roll it out into about a ¼-inch thickness.
Step 5. Chill it completely.
The dough is too soft to cut and transfer when it's soft at room temperature. Chill it in the fridge completely (1 hour -)
Step 6. Cut it with a cookie cutter.
Detach the parchment paper from the chilled dough and cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Collect leftover dough and repeat the process.
Aya's Quick Tip 💡
Do this while the dough is cold to get sharp edges.
Step 7. Chill the cut-out cookie dough.
Chill them in the refrigerator or freezer until they are completely chilled. This will help them maintain their shape slightly better in the oven.
Step 7. Bake them!
Bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F (176 °C) for 12-14 minutes until the edges are slightly golden brown. Adjust the timedepending on your preferred texture. Enjoy!
How To Store Them
Wrap the surface tightly with plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container.
You can store them:
- At room temperature: 5-7 days
- In the refrigerator: 1 week
- In the freezer: a few months
That being saidconsume within 1-2 days for the best taste!
How To Ice Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Use any of your favorite royal icing recipes to frost sugar cookies. I used my eggless royal icing recipe this time.
Leave the iced cookies at room temperature for 12-24 hours to allow the icing to fully set before packing. Once completely driedseal each cookie in a cookie bag or serve on a plate if you are consuming it right away.
FAQ
You can make about three dozen 2 ⅓-inches (6 cm) circle cookies.
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 4-5 daysor freeze for a few months.
Nodo not ice warm cookiesas the icing can spread too much or cause "butter bloom" on the surface of the iced cookies due to the melted butter emerging into the icing. Let it cool completelyor let it sit overnight before icing.
Yes! The cookie dough spread slightly less on a silicone mesh matthough the difference isn't huge. It also creates a beautiful mesh pattern on the bottom surfacewhich you can use as the top surface if you prefer.
Typicallya sugar cookie contains more flour and less butter than a butter cookie recipe, so it maintains its shape better in the ovenas the recipe is often used as a cut-out cookie.
Watch How To Make It!
Watch the video tutorial to learn how to make sugar cookies and gain a deep understanding of each step and technique!
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉
Other Types of My Favorite Cut Out Cookies
Here are a few of my favorite recipes for other cut-out cookies!
- Shortbread cookies - This is also my favorite cut-out cookie recipe! Compared to this sugar cookie recipeit's more buttery and lightly crispy. The dough also spreads slightly more.
- Butter cookies - I also love this recipeas it's perfectly buttery and crispy. It's also rich in flavor due to the addition of almond flour. It also spreads slightly more than this sugar cookie recipe.
- Gingerbread cookies - Make cut-out gingerbread man cookies for the Holiday season! It's lightly crispy outside and soft inside.
More Cookie Recipes
If you loved this sugar cookie recipetry other delicious cookie recipes!
Did you try the recipe?
Let me know your honest feedback in the comment section below! I'd love to know how you enjoyed it with friends & family for special occasions.
Thank you! - Aya
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
- Parchment paper
- Cookie cutter
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) Powdered sugar
- 226 g (1 cup) Unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 50 g (1 egg) Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 360 g (3 cups) All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Table salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder *Optional* You can add it with flour to achieve a slightly lighter texture.
NOTE: For best resultsmeasure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements (US customary units) are provided for your convenience.
Instructions
- Beat powdered sugar and butter: Beat them together with a paddle attachment until combined. You can whip for a few minutes if you prefer a slightly lighter texture.150 g Powdered sugar226 g Unsalted butter
- Add egg and vanilla extract: Beat at medium-high speed until evenly combined. The egg looks separated initiallybut will eventually come together. Scrape off the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even blending.50 g Egg1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- Add flour and salt: Beat at low speed initially to prevent the flour from scatteringthen gradually increase the speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again and continue beating until everything is evenly mixed.360 g All-purpose flour½ teaspoon Table salt1 teaspoon Baking powder
- Roll it out: Divide the dough in half. Sandwich each dough with parchment paper and roll it out into about a ¼-inch thickness.
- Chill it completely: The dough is too soft to cut and transfer when it's soft at room temperature. Chill it in the fridge completely (1 hour -)
- Cut it with a cookie cutter: Detach the parchment paper from the chilled dough and cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Collect leftover dough and repeat the process.
- Chill the cut out cookie dough: Chill them in the refrigerator or freezer until they are completely chilled. This will help them to maintain their shape in the oven slightly better.
- Bake them!: Bake them in the preheated oven at 350ºF (176ºC) for 12-14 minutes until the edges are slightly golden brown. Adjust the time to your preferred texture. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- At room temperature: 5-7 days
- In the refrigerator: 1 week
- In the freezer: a few months
