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.
These are my favorite sugar cookies with icing. I shared the recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction several years ago and published them in my cookbook as well. 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 7-8 ingredients. With so little ingredients, it’s important that you follow the recipe closely. Creamed butter and sugar provide the base of the cookie dough. Egg is the cookie’s 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! Flour is an obvious addition, 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 make chocolate sugar cookies too!
- 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 or just under 1/4 inch thick. If you have difficulty evenly rolling out dough, try this adjustable rolling pin. Speaking from experience—it’s incredibly handy!
- Chill rolled out cookie dough. Without chilling, these cookie cutter sugar cookies won’t hold their shape. Chill the rolled out cookie dough for at least 1-2 hours and 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 12 minutes.
- Decorate. See my suggested icings below.
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? That’s my trick and you can see me doing it in the video tutorial above.
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.) Don’t chill the cookie dough and then try to roll it out because it will be too cold and difficult to work with. I 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. Pick it up, put it on a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for two baking sheets in your refrigerator, stack the pieces of rolled out dough on top of each other.
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 TWO 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 1-2 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 awhile. 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 don’t need an electric mixer and the consistency won’t really make or break the outcome. However, it doesn’t provide the same sharp detail that royal icing decorations do. It also takes a good 24 hours to dry.
The pictured hearts 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 I do with my mini animal cracker cookies. 🙂
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 you can see this full 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 Stars
- 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.
PrintSoft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 45 minutes (includes cooling)
- 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.
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 (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 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*
For Decorating
- Royal Icing or Easy Glaze Icing (royal icing is pictured)
- Assorted sprinkles
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. 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 completely smooth and creamy, about 2 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 up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use 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 doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it—see me do this in the video below. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing or easy cookie icing. Feel free to tint either icing 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 stick 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 for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled out dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes – 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 sticky, your butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
- Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 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 or my easy cookie icing. See post above to read about the differences.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Hi sally! I make these and love them, but the dough is super soft and hard to work with when transferring it to a pan to chill. Could it be that I’m over beating the wet ingredients? I have to add more flour than a tbs. I love all your recipes!
Hi Maddie! Are you rolling the dough out on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat? That way you don’t have to transfer the rolled out dough without support (see step 4). Also make sure you’re using proper room temperature butter. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
I think it’s my butter being too soft! Thank you!
This recipe is PERFECT! I absolutely love the almond extract. I followed the recipe as is, and used my scale to get exact measurements. The cookies are crunchy on the edges and nice and soft in the center. Pairs perfect with your royal icing recipe as well! Thank you for this recipe!!
Wow! The really are the best! Love the royal icing on top! Kids had a great time making them. Thanks for sharing
Hi do you have the calories for the serving size? Thank you!
Hi Britt, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Thank you!
One of the things I love about being a baker is that no matter your skill level, there is always something more to learn.
I hate rolling cold, hard dough. It never occurred to me to roll it before chilling …It works perfectly and I now have a new willingness to make sugar cookies!! Thank you!
Can you think of any reason why this method wouldn’t also work with pie dough, as long as the bits of butter were well-chilled?
Hi Lisa! We find that pie dough doesn’t get as stiff as cookie dough does. In our favorite homemade buttery flaky pie crust recipe, we flatten the pie dough into 1 inch thick disks before chilling. We find this to be the best way to do it, and fear the dough would be too soft to roll right away, but let us know if you try it!
Can you sub oil for the butter ?
Hi Michelle, unfortunately, we don’t recommend substituting the butter for oil here. You can’t cream oil with the sugar like you can with the butter. The dough will not hold up.
Hi Sally, these cookies are incredible and I’ve made several batches throughout the year! I just want to know how long they can be out or individually packaged before going bad.
Hi Kelly, Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature or individually packaged. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days. So glad to hear you love these sugar cookies!
Hello, I was wondering if I will be able to refrigerate the cookie dough for 3 days or would I just have to freeze it because it is longer than the stated time?
Hi Rachel, We don’t recommend refrigerating the dough for more than two days – best to follow freezing instructions instead!
How long do you cream the butter and sugar? How long do you mix the egg and flavoring into the creamed mixture? On the video, it looked like the mixture was still drippy after adding the egg and flavor. Thanks!
Hi Denise, you can cream the butter and sugar until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Then add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. It will be a big liquidy, but adding the dry ingredients in the next step will bring it to dough consistency!
Hi there from Australia
Can I substitute caster sugar 1:1 and can I use self raising flour instead of adding baking powder to plain flour?
Hi Chris! You should be fine to substitute caster sugar for granulated, but we don’t recommend using self rising flour in this recipe. It would take additional recipe testing to ensure accurate results.
I love these cookies – a big hit on numerous occasions! Is it possible to make these without eggs or some sort of egg substitute? I want to make these for my niece’s birthday, but she has an egg allergy. Thank you!
Hi Alex! We’ve never tested these cookies with an egg substitute but please let us know if you do!
Hey, I was wondering if it would be preferred to use the metric measurements instead of the cups? I usually use cups and have a good feel for them by now, but I recently purchased a scale that I can use. I only hesitate to do so because I’m not sure if the metric measurements on this recipe are only estimates and if the recipe was created with the intention of using cups (in which case cups would give the intended result). Thanks!
Hi Francine, We test our recipes with both – weighing your ingredients is always the most accurate for baking!
Amazing recipe… making it for the second time in 3 days on popular demand…my family loved it..just can’t stop with one…thanks a lot for your recipes Sally! You’re a ⭐
How many 3-4 inch cookie cuts would this make? Should I double it if I want around 15-20 cookies
Hi, this recipe looks great and I’ll be making it tomorrow. Is granulated sugar the fine white sugar (castor sugar) or the coarser, darker colored sugar (raw sugar)? Thank you
Hi Antoinette! It’s actually between the two. Caster sugar is granulated sugar ground up very fine. Granulated sugar will be sold as such. You don’t want the especially coarse, raw sugar either. Hope this is helpful!
Hi Sally! I tried rolling out the excess dough but all i got was cracked dough. What should i do?
Hi Kathia, How are you measuring your flour? Make sure to spoon and level to avoid packing too much flour into your measuring cups. A crumbly dough can still be workable – try to bring it together with your hands. It should also come together as you roll it out. Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try!
Try King Arthur flour, most flours are sprayed with bromide, a flame retardant, no different than what they spray on furniture and pajamas This can and will suck up the liquid ingredients, especially if there is too much flour. Try also pouring the flour instead of dipping into the bag.
Hi Sally, am I able to make these cookies crispy all the way instead of soft?
Hi Tessa, you can try baking the cookies for a minute or two longer (keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn) for a crispier cookie. You can also try rolling them thinner as well. Hope you enjoy them!
Hi Sally! I baked your sugar cookies and they are AMAZING!!!! Everybody loves them, and it’s really fun decorating.
I do have some requests though.
Could you post something on how to decorate cookies to look like Marvel themed stuff? Like spiderman’s mask, the infinity gauntlet, Loki’s scepter, thor’s hammer, etc.
would really appreciate it.
thanks!
I cut out my cookies and put in the freezer. Should I bake them frozen or thaw them first?
Hi Liz, you can bake them right from frozen — they may need an extra minute in the oven, but keep an eye on them. Enjoy!
Super easy – I just made these with my 3 year old and they are SO delicious! Perfect flavour and texture. That little bit of almond extract recommended really hits the spot! She loved decorating them once they cooled.
Hi, I plan on using this recipe for a 1year old birthday party. The customer wants 4 dozen cookies as well as other baked goods. If I make them ahead of time and freeze them, will it affect the taste at all? Also if I freeze them with the icing on it, will it cause the icing to crack or become discolored?
Thanks!!
Hi Christina! We’ve frozen these many times before and it doesn’t impact the taste. You can certainly freeze them with the icing as well. For extra protection, you can place a sheet of parchment paper between the cookies so the icing doesn’t get bumped or dented. Of course, be sure they’re fully dried before placing in the freezer, too!
Hi there B I just made this recipe and added more flour because the dough remained too sticky. Can I keep adding a tbsp of flour ? Did I mess it up by adding 3 more? It was very sticky and would be sticking to my fingers
Hi Amanda! Make sure your butter isn’t too warm. If so, the dough will be too sticky. You can add a little more flour so it’s easier to roll or you can chill the dough for 30 minutes before rolling out and chilling again.
Hi! Your cookies are gorgeous. Your recipe uses more egg to flour than the one I typically use, but I’m going to give yours a shot. I’m baking party favor cookies for the upcoming weekend and I’m trying to judge how much dough I need to make. I need 30 cookies. My cutter is approximately 3.5X3.5. Have you ever done the math to figure this out? An approximation is fine. I won’t hold you to an exact number!
Thanks so much
Hi Debra, we usually get about 20-24 4 inch cookies from this recipe. We would make 1.5x the recipe to ensure you have enough. We would love to hear how they go!
Thanks! I’ll keep you posted.
Trina, these cookies were amazing! The recipe I’ve always used did not one is concerned about spreading, I split the difference and used half the amount recommended. The dough was easy to work with, keeping it cold and rolling it out between sheets of parchment so that no extra flour was needed. They were perfect, a big hit at the party, and this will now be my go-to recipe. By the way, my cutter was bigger than I’d estimated. I got ten cookies to the batch, so needing 36, I quadrupled it. One can never have too many cookies or too many grandchildren!
We’re happy to hear that they turned out, Debra! Thank you for letting us know 🙂
Hi,
I’ve made these cookies a couple of times now and they’ve always worked out perfectly. So thank you for a great recipe.
Curious – do you know roughly how many calories would be in any one cookie?
Thank you!
Hi Cat, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Hi any tips on rolling out the dough…. my dough seems very sticky.
Make sure to use plenty of flour!
I also had this problem – made these today during a heat wave – the butter melts quickly in the heat so i worked quickly and chilled often. so after mixing, the dough was slightly warm, so I chilled the dough then rolled it out and cut the shapes without taking them out bc the dough would be too soft and the shape would get ruined, so i chilled it again in the freezer for ~10 minutes, then took the cut out cookies out of the dough, then froze it again for 10 minutes before baking. Took a long time to make 5 dozen but it was much easier this way!
I am planning to make these cookies for a bake sale this weekend. The proceeds of the sale will go to helping LGBTQ+ youth. I am very excited and after reading all the positive reviews others have left, I’m sure they will turn out great! Have a nice day.
I really liked these cookies. I used maple flavor… so good… my question is that I want to make these cookies a month or so before I need them… do I ice them before or after I freeze them?
Hi Mercedes, either way will work just fine. If you decide to ice them before freezing, wait for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw (either way), thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. So glad these were a hit for you!
Hi i love this recipe i have made a few batches now and they have turned out great.
I was just wondering could I use this to make a big cookie 1? Thankyou
Hi C, You can use this recipe for one large cookie! The bake time will be longer so just use your oven light to keep an eye on it and be sure to let it cool completely before trying to move it so that it doesn’t break. Hope it turns out well for you!
Which butter do I use there’s a lot of them but with different taste I just wanted to see which one was best
Hi Linda, you’ll want to make sure you’re using sticks of unsalted butter (not spreadable butter found in small containers). They typically come in packages of four sticks (2 cups) of butter and can be found with the other dairy products at your local grocery store. Hope this helps!
Hi Linda. Just a fellow baker chiming in here. I find that there is a difference in butters. I much prefer European butter for baking because it has a lower moisture content, and because it has a more distinct flavor. My fave is Kerrygold, but unless you get it on sale it’s kinda pricey. Other good ones are Plugra and President. Your local stores may have other brands as well. Just make sure you choose sweet (unsalted) butter. BTW, if you go with President, be sure to note that a bar is 7oz, not the 8oz that we usually expect to find. Good luck!
Can you use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar?