With crisp edgesthick centersand room for lots of decorating icingI know you’ll love these soft cut-out sugar cookies. Use your favorite cookie cutters and try my classic royal icing.
Originally published on my website in 2014this recipe is a massive fan favorite. You’ll also find the recipe in my New York Times best-selling cookbookSally’s Baking 101.
This is my flagship recipe for cut-out sugar cookies. I’ve made them at least 38577 times (imagine all the butter)so I figured it’s time to share new recipe tipsa video tutorialand more helpful information.
Why You’ll Love These Sugar Cookies
- Softthick centers with slightly crisp edges
- Irresistible buttery vanilla flavor
- Leave plain or flavor with extras like maplecinnamonand more
- Hold their shape
- Flat surface for decorating
- Stay soft for days
- Freeze beautifully
Sugar Cookies Video Tutorial
Overview: How to Make Sugar Cookies with Icing
- Make cookie dough. You only need 7 or 8 ingredients. With so few ingredientsit’s important that you follow the recipe closely. Creamed butter and sugar provide the base of the cookie dough. Flour and egg give the cookies structureand vanilla extract adds flavor. I almost always add a touch of almond extract for additional flavor and highly recommend that you try it too! Baking powder adds liftand salt balances the sweet. So many *little ingredients* doing *big jobs* to create a perfect cookie. By the wayI also have a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies!
- Divide in two pieces. Smaller sections of dough are easier to roll out.
- Roll out cookie dough. Roll it out to 1/4 inch thick. If you have difficulty rolling out dough evenlytry this adjustable rolling pin. Speaking from experience—it’s incredibly handy!
- Chill rolled-out cookie dough. Without chillingthese cookie cutter sugar cookies won’t hold their shapes. Chill the rolled-out cookie dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Cut into shapes. If you need suggestions for cookie cuttersI love Ann Clark brand. (Not sponsoredjust a genuine fan!) Some of my favorites include this heart setdog bonesnowflakesnowmanleafand a pumpkin. I also use and recommend these heart cookie cutters.
- Bake & cool. Depending on sizethe cookies take about 11–12 minutes.
- Decorate. See my suggested icings below. I also have a tutorial on how to decorate sugar cookies with even more helpful decorating tips.
Have a little flour nearby when you’re rolling out the cookie dough. Keep your work surfacehandsand rolling pin lightly floured. This is a relatively soft dough.
The Trick Is the Order of Steps
Notice how I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it in the refrigerator? That’s my trick and you can see me doing it in the video tutorial in this post.
Let me explain why I do this. Just like when you’re making chocolate chip cookiesto prevent the cookies from over-spreadingthe cookie dough must chill in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough right after you prepare itthen chill the rolled-out dough. (At this point the dough is too soft to cut into shapes.) If you chill the cookie dough and then try to roll it outit will be too cold and difficult to work with.
I also divide the dough in half before rolling it outand highly recommend you do the same. Smaller sections of dough are simply more manageable.
Another trick! Roll out the cookie dough directly on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. (Parchment paper will slide around on your counterso I always place a piece of parchment paper on top of a silicone baking mat to roll the dough without slippage.)
Pick up the sheet of parchment with the rolled-out dough on toptransfer it to a baking sheetand place it in the refrigerator. You don’t need to make room for two baking sheets in your refrigerator—simply stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of each otherwith the parchment paper in between.
How Thick Do I Roll Sugar Cookies?
These sugar cookies remain soft because they’re rolled out pretty thick. Roll out the cookie dough to about 1/4 inch thick or just under 1/4 inch thick. Yesthis is on the thicker side and yesthis produces extra thick and soft cookies. If rolling out cookie dough doesn’t sound appealingtry my drop sugar cookies instead.
Sugar Cookie Icing
I have 3 sugar cookie icing recipesand you can choose whichever works best for you.
- Favorite Royal Icing: This royal icing is my preferred sugar cookie icing because it’s easy to usedries within a couple of hoursand doesn’t taste like hardened cement. (It’s on the softer side!) I make it with meringue powder. Meringue powder takes the place of raw egg whiteswhich is found in traditional royal icing recipes. It eliminates the need for fresh eggsbut still provides the same consistency. You can find meringue powder in some baking aislesmost craft stores with a baking sectionand online. The 8-ounce tub always lasts me a good while. The trickiest part is landing on the perfect royal icing consistencybut I provide a video in the royal icing recipe to help you.
- Easy Cookie Icing: This easy cookie icing is ideal for beginners. It’s easier to make than royal icing because you don’t need an electric mixer and the consistency won’t really make or break the outcome. Howeverit doesn’t provide the same sharp detail that royal icing decorations do. It also takes a good 24 hours to dry.
- Buttercream: This cookie decorating buttercream is also excellent for beginners. You can tint it any color you likeflavor itand spread it on with a knife or use piping tips. It soft-sets after a few hoursmeaning you can carefully stack the cookies for storage.
The pictured heart-shaped cookies are decorated with my royal icing using Wilton piping tip #4. If you’re not into piping tipsyou can simply dunk the tops of the cookies into the icinglike we do with these mini animal cracker cookies. 🙂
Sugar Cookie Tips & Tools
Before I leave you with the recipelet me suggest some useful sugar cookie tools. These are the exact products I use and trust in my own kitchen:
- Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer)
- Baking Sheets
- Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets
- Rolling Pin or this Adjustable Rolling Pin
- Food Coloring: Liquid food coloring can alter the consistency of the icingso I recommend gel food coloring. For the pictured cookiesI used a few drops of dusty rose and 1 drop of sky blue. This Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit is great to have if you do a lot of decorating and want to have a variety of colors on hand.
- Piping Tips/Squeeze Bottle: If you’re using royal icingI recommend Wilton piping tip #4 for outlining and flooding. This is a wonderful basic piping tip to have in your collection. If you’re using my easy glaze icingI recommend using a squeeze bottle.
- Piping Bag: If you’re using royal icing and a piping tipyou need a disposable piping bag or reusable piping bag.
- Couplers: Couplers are handy if you have multiple colors of icing and only 1 tipand need to move the tip to the other bags of icing.
- Cookie Cutters: I like this heart-shaped cookie cutterbut you can use any shape you desire!
For even more recommendationssee this complete list of my favorite cookie decorating supplies.
Here’s What You Can Do With This Dough
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
- Striped Fudge Cookie Sandwiches
- Snowman Cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Stained Glass Window Cookies
- Valentine’s Day Cookies
- Maple Cinnamon Cut-Out Cookies
- St. Patrick’s Day Cookies
- Easter Cookies
- Fireworks Cookies
- Watermelon Sugar Cookies
And if you’re craving sugar cookies with a little extra tangtry my cream cheese cut-out cookies with Nutella glaze.
Print
Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (including chilling)
- Yield: 24 3-4 inch cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With crisp edgesthick centersand room for lots of decorating icingI know you’ll love these soft sugar cookies as much as I do. The number of cookies this recipe yields depends on the size of the cookie cutter you use. If you’d like to make dozens of cookies for a large crowddouble the recipe. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbookSally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large eggat room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optionalbut makes the flavor outstanding)*
For Decorating
- Royal IcingEasy Glaze Icingor Cookie Buttercream (royal icing is pictured)
- Assorted sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium bowlwhisk the flourbaking powderand salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachmentbeat the butter and sugar together on high speed until the mixture is light and creamyabout 3 minutes. Add the eggvanillaand almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combinedabout 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. The dough should be soft. If it seems too soft and sticky for rollingbeat in 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough in half. Place each portion on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pinroll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a bit more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shapeas long as it is evenly 1/4 inch thick.
- Lightly dust one of the rolled-out dough portions with flour. (This prevents sticking.) Place the second rolled-out dough portionstill on the parchment paperon top of the first. Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Carefully remove the top piece of dough from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottomrun your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cuttercut the dough into shapes. Gather the scrapsrerolland continue cutting until all the dough is used. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of doughbut you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you reroll.) Repeat with the second piece of dough. Arrange the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 11–12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are very lightly browned and set. If your oven has hot spotsrotate the baking sheets halfway through bake time. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutesthen transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icingeasy cookie icingor cookie decorating buttercream. Feel free to tint any of the icings with gel food coloring. See post above for recommended decorating tools. No need to cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. If it’s helpfuldecorate the cookies directly on a baking sheet so you can place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help speed up the icing setting.
- Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has setthese cookies are great for gifting or shipping. Store plain or iced cookies covered tightly at room temperature for up to 5 days. For longer storagecover and refrigerate for up to 10 days. If decorated with cookie buttercreamcover and store decorated cookies at room temperature for up to 1 dayor in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-safe container. To thawthaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough (before rolling it out) for up to 3 months. Prepare the dough through step 2divide in halfflatten each half into a disc (like we do with pie crust)wrap each disc in plastic wrapplace both wrapped discs in a freezer-safe containerand freeze. Thaw the wrapped discs in the refrigerator overnightthen bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4then chill the rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Wooden Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin | Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter | Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Piping Bags (Disposable or Reusable) | Couplers | Wilton Tip #4 | Squeeze Bottle
- Room Temperature: Room-temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too stickyyour butter may have been too soft. Room-temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room-temperature egg is preferred so that it mixes quickly and evenly into the cookie dough.
- Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/4 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For more flavoruse 1/2 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extracttry using 1 teaspoon of maple extractcoconut extractlemon extractor peppermint extract. Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. If using lemon extractyou can also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
- Icing: Use royal icingeasy cookie icingor cookie decorating buttercream. See post above to read about the differences.
- Can I Double the Recipe? Yes. Double all of the ingredients and divide the dough into 3 or 4 portions in step 3.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
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