With crisp edges, thick centers, and room for lots of decorating icing, I 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 2014, this recipe is a massive fan favorite. You’ll also find the recipe in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’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 tips, a video tutorial, and more helpful information.
Why You’ll Love These Sugar Cookies
- Soft, thick centers with slightly crisp edges
- Irresistible buttery vanilla flavor
- Leave plain or flavor with extras like maple, cinnamon, and 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 ingredients, it’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 structure, and 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 lift, and salt balances the sweet. So many *little ingredients* doing *big jobs* to create a perfect cookie. By the way, I 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 evenly, try this adjustable rolling pin. Speaking from experienceโit’s incredibly handy!
- Chill rolled-out cookie dough. Without chilling, these 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 cutters, I love Ann Clark brand. (Not sponsored, just a genuine fan!) Some of my favorites include this heart set, dog bone, snowflake, snowman, leaf, and a pumpkin. I also use and recommend these heart cookie cutters.
- Bake & cool. Depending on size, the cookies take about 11โ12 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 surface, hands, and 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? Thatโs 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 cookies, to prevent the cookies from over-spreading, the cookie dough must chill in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough right after you prepare it, then 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 out, it will be too cold and difficult to work with.
I also divide the dough in half before rolling it out, and 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 counter, so 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 top, transfer it to a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. You don’t need to make room for two baking sheets in your refrigeratorโsimply stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of each other, with 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. Yes, this is on the thicker side and yes, this produces extra thick and soft cookies. If rolling out cookie dough doesn’t sound appealing, try my drop sugar cookies instead.
Sugar Cookie Icing
I have 3 sugar cookie icing recipes, and 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 use, dries within a couple of hours, and 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 whites, which is found in traditional royal icing recipes. It eliminates the need for fresh eggs, but still provides the same consistency. You can find meringue powder in some baking aisles, most craft stores with a baking section, and online. The 8-ounce tub always lasts me a good while. The trickiest part is landing on the perfect royal icing consistency, but 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 donโt need an electric mixer and the consistency won’t really make or break the outcome. However, it doesnโt 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 like, flavor it, and spread it on with a knife or use piping tips. It soft-sets after a few hours, meaning 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 tips, you can simply dunk the tops of the cookies into the icing, like we do with these mini animal cracker cookies. ๐
Sugar Cookie Tips & Tools
Before I leave you with the recipe, let 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 icing, so I recommend gel food coloring. For the pictured cookies, I 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 icing, I 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 icing, I recommend using a squeeze bottle.
- Piping Bag: If you’re using royal icing and a piping tip, you need a disposable piping bag or reusable piping bag.
- Couplers: Couplers are handy if you have multiple colors of icing and only 1 tip, and need to move the tip to the other bags of icing.
- Cookie Cutters: I like this heart-shaped cookie cutter, but you can use any shape you desire!
For even more recommendations, see 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 tang, try 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 edges, thick centers, and room for lots of decorating icing, I 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 crowd, double the recipe. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flourย (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 butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*
For Decorating
- Royal Icing, Easy Glaze Icing, or Cookie Buttercream (royal icing is pictured)
- Assorted sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until the mixture is light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 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 rolling, beat 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 pin, roll 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 shape, as 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 portion, still on the parchment paper, on top of the first. Cover the dough tightly andย refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). 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 bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Gather the scraps, reroll, and continue cutting until all the dough is used. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but 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 11โ12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are very lightly browned and set. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheets halfway through bake time. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing, easy cookie icing, or 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 helpful, decorate 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 set, these cookies are great for gifting or shipping. Store plain or iced cookies covered tightly at room temperature for up to 5 days. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days. If decorated with cookie buttercream, cover and store decorated cookies at room temperature for up to 1 day, or 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 thaw, thaw 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 2, divide in half, flatten each half into a disc (like we do with pie crust), wrap each disc in plastic wrap, place both wrapped discs in a freezer-safe container, and freeze. Thaw the wrapped discs in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill the rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Special Toolsย (affiliate links):ย Electric Mixer (Handheldย orย Stand Mixer) |ย Baking Sheetsย |ย Silicone Baking Matsย orย Parchment Paperย |ย Wooden Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pinย |ย Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutterย |ย Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Piping Bags (Disposableย orย Reusable) | Couplersย |ย Wilton Tip #4 | Squeeze Bottle
- Room Temperature: Room-temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your 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:ย I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/4 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For more flavor, use 1/2 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract. Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. If using lemon extract, you can also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
- Icing: Use royal icing, easy cookie icing, or 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally! I have used your recipe multiple times before for the fancy shofar cookies, but always fresh. They are always perfect too! So thank you!
But, I have a time crunch and I was wondering if you can bake and then freeze the cookies to be pulled out the day you need to decorate them? What are your thoughts?
Absolutely, Shawna. Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well for up to 3 months.
Hi, Can I make the dough and freeze it and bake another day with my children?
Hi Drew, Absolutely! See the freezing instructions in the recipe notes below the recipe.
Seems that my previous question disappeared.
Can this recipe be used for a sugar cookie base for cheesecake bars? Would there by any change to the recipe?
Hi Barbara! We would use our shortbread crust recipe from these lemon bars instead.
Can this recipe be times 3? Can I triple the ingredients measurements?
Hi Lynn, this recipe multiplies well, as long as your mixer can handle the volume.
Hi Sally,
I love your cake recipes and when I needed a reliable sugar cookie recipe I went straight to your website. I am making a lot of sugar cookies for a holiday charity so Iโll need 8 times what your recipe makes (180 cookies to be exact). Should I plan to just multiple each ingredient by 8 to get my ingredients accurate? Thank you so much for you help!
Hi Cassie, it should be fine to double the recipe, but we wouldn’t recommend multiplying further than that. With the added volume of ingredients, it will be easy to overwhelm your mixer. You could make 4 double batches to get your required yield. Hope this helps and that the cookies are a hit!
I make a lot of your recipies. Trying this one for my Christmas cookies this year. I found a royal icing mix at my grocery. Says it makes 2 cups. About how many cookies do you think that will ive? I know it depends on cookie size. Iโd just like an estimate. Thank you for great Recipies.
Hi Terri! Our easy cookie icing recipe makes 1.5 cups and is enough for icing 2 dozen cookies if that’s helpful!
Iโve made this recipe many many times over the years and itโs always delicious. I just wanted to leave a new comment for anyone wanting to bake egg free: I recently made this with Bobโs Red Mill egg replacer and it worked great! No other changes needed. Happy baking!
Hi Sally! Iโve made this recipe a couple times already and I really love the flavor! Just wondering, how can I make the cookies a little bit harder so they wonโt break easily?
Hi Eri, we’re so glad you love these cookies! You could roll the dough a bit thinner and bake for just a few minutes longer for a harder, crispier cookie.
If I use this recipe with cookie stamps, will the design details show after baking?
Hi Carol, This recipe should work with a cookie stamp, as weโve done something similar with snowflake stamped cookie cutters for our sugar plum fairy cupcakes. We recommend chilling the shaped cookies (after cutting them) in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes right before baking. This will help guarantee the stamps come out perfectly.
Do you think these would still turn out ok if I use Bobโs Red Mill Gluten free flour? Thanks!
Hi Alex, we havenโt tested a gluten-free version of this recipe, but some readers report success using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill without any other changes. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
Hello! Love this recipe. Do you think it would work with using a cookie stamp? Would the pattern hold? Thank you!
Hi Fiona, This recipe should work with a stamp/embosser, as weโve done something similar with snowflake โstampedโ cookie cutters for our sugar plum fairy cupcakes. We recommend chilling the shaped cookies (after cutting them) in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes right before baking. This will help guarantee the stamps come out perfectly.
Could I leave the dough in the fridge for more than 2 days? I was hoping to make it a Friday afternoon then bake them on a Monday afternoon. Would that mess up the recipe?
Hi Tennyson! Up to two days is best because of the eggs in the dough. We would freeze the dough if you would like to make it farther ahead of time.
trying to wrap rolled-out dough and “cover tightly” is not easy. it would be helpful if there were tips on how to do this. plastic wrap does not stick to parchment paper. shove the whole thing in a hefty bag? other options?
Hi Tanya! We place plastic wrap over the dough for its chill time. If you’re going to chill the dough for longer and need a more airtight solution, you can wrap the whole cookie pan, with dough on it, in plastic wrap.
I love this recipe and have been using it for years! Was wonderingโฆ have you used this recipe to put cookies on sticks in a bouquet? Iโm just wondering if they will be too soft or if it will work?
Hi Mariah! We have not tested using these cookies to make a cookie bouquet and are unsure if the cookies would hold up, since they are nice and soft- we would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
The cookies held up great for my cookie bouquet! I just made them a little thicker than normal and they were perfect!
I have been using this sugar cookie & royal icing recipe for years. Iโve somehow become โfamousโ for them with my friends and family.
I was asked โwhatโs the secretโ and my answer was โSallyโs baking addictionโ!
The directions are clear and easy to follow. Iโve never had a batch turn out less than perfect!
These are the best – I make them every year without fail for my sonโs birthday and always get lots of compliments!
Thank you! Baking with 2 toddlers needs an easy to handle cookie dough. Bonus: delicious, too
Made these twice. They came out perfect. My family’s new favorite.
Great Recipe!
I rolled the dough into two logs, refridgerated overnight and sliced into rounds in the morning. The kids loved them.
Hello- I am making 2 batches of these cookies for an event. If I make the dough plates on Thursday, let is sit in the fridge until Friday and bake.. then serve on Saturday is that fine? I can leave these cookies room temperature tightly wrapped until Saturday once baked and cooled?
Also, I want to decorate with fondant and sprinkles. Would these be stored in the fridge or room temperature?
Hi Naf! Yes, that should be just fine. Cookies decorated with fondant should be stored at room temperature in an air tight container. Hope they’re a hit!
I would like to make some Christmas biscuits which have an embossed design in the top. Will this dough recipe hold the embossed design or will it melt out.
Hi Katie, This recipe should work with a stamp/embosser, as weโve done something similar with snowflake โstampedโ cookie cutters for our sugar plum fairy cupcakes. We recommend chilling the shaped cookies (after cutting them) in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes right before baking. This will help guarantee the stamps come out perfectly.
Can I substitute the butter for margarine?
Hi Kaitlyn, we donโt recommend it. Margarine has a different makeup than butter. If you do want to use margarine, we recommend using a recipe that is specifically formulated to do so. Let us know if you give these cookies a try!
instead of salt can i use salted butter?
Hi Gabby, if using salted butter you can reduce the added salt in the cookie dough from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/8 teaspoon.
I followed the recipe but the dough seems to come out crumbly – any idea where I went wrong? How to fix?
Hi Jessica, ow did you measure the flour? Make sure to weigh it with a kitchen scale, or spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. A crumbly dough can still be workable, try to bring it together with your hands, and you could try adding a teaspoon of milk to the dough. It should also come together as you roll it out.
Been using this recipe for years. Every year I do a side by side test with an alternative recipe and this wins EVERY time.
I’m in the middle of the recipe, after putting the dough to fill, and it is still almost insanely sticky even after adding a bit more flour during mixing. I’m already quite disappointed.
Hi, Sally! Iโve been using this recipe for years, but Iโm now living at a place where I donโt have access to a mixer. Do you think Iโd still be able to do it without one?
Hi Giovanna, you can make the cookies by hand, it will just take a bit of arm muscle, especially to cream the butter and sugar!
If you wanted to top with different types of sprinkles instead of icing, at which point in the recipe would you add the sprinkles? I donโt want them rolled into the dough itself, just as a topping.
Hi Christina, you can top the cutout cookies with sprinkles right before baking. You may want to either (very!) lightly brush the tops of the cookies with water so that they stick, or gently press the sprinkles into the tops of the dough.
Can I add ube to this recipe and if so how much. Any other adjustments reqd … like to the vanilla or almond extracts?
Hi Lu! Adding ube to the recipe would take some adjusting, and we’re unsure what changes would need to be made, but let us know what you try! It may be best to search for an ube sugar cookie recipe instead.