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 experience—it’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 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 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 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 refrigerator—simply 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 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.
- 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. 🙂
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
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 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 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 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 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 11–12 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 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 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 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
These were so easy to make and are delicious. First batch I only did 1/4 tsp of almond oil, but second batch I did 1/2 tsp. The almond oil really adds to the flavor. The cookies have kept soft for several days now. Looking forward to seeing how they taste after being frozen. Thanks so much! This will be my go-to recipe now.
Could you flavor this recipe? I wanted to make these for St Pattys day, maybe with mint or some type of stout or something like that. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
Definitely, See recipe notes for flavor ideas! You may love these mint chocolate checkerboard cookies as well.
I make cookies to sell, and this recipe is by far the best recipe I have ever tried! It stays formed and soft for several days! Most recipes are only soft for a day. And the taste is delicious!
How many days a head of time can you make these cookies with royal icing? Thanks for the easy step by step guide. I’m excited to try!
I am going to make these cookies for Easter. First time making Royal icing
Royal icing – how long does the icing keep . 2. Wondering how hard the icing gets.
Is it suitable for younger children
Hi Gail! This Royal Icing blog post will should have all the information you need. Happy baking!
does this recipe spread while baking? Im having issues with that. I cut my cookies out, place them in fridge for at least 1 hour an bake an they spread..
Hey! I made my dough and put it in the fridge over night, then cut out the shapes and put them in the fridge during the school day – about 8 hours. There was no spread!
Stick them in the freezer for 10 mins before baking!
These were amazing!
One quick question – can I add a little salt to the mixture to add to the flavour, or would you advise not to?
Actually, while I’m here, I made these into little sugar cookie sandwiches and they were so tasty – I used a buttercream and raspberry jam icing between the cookies – do you think this is the right type of icing, or would you recommend another?
Thanks so much! x
Hi Yani, we find the 1/4 teaspoon called for to be just enough, but if you’d like to experiment, you certainly can. We’d recommend adding 1/4 teaspoon at a time and adjusting to your liking. That buttercream sounds amazing for cookie sandwiches! We’d recommend a buttercream for sandwiches like you mention, but if simply decorating the top, we recommend Royal Icing or our Easy Glaze Icing. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
Best cookies EVER! I did weigh my flour- first time ever doing this. I chilled the dough for 4 days (not intentional) and they still were AWESOME! Just used sprinkles…. YUM!
The cookies are good, but didn’t taste like sugar cookies. Everyone assumed they were shortbread and my daughter says they remind her of her Trefoils from her girl scout days. The icing recipe worked perfect. I used it to outline and flood with no issues.
My friend and I made sugar cookies using this recipe today, and they turned out amazing! Very tasty.
I have never been a fan of sugar cookies until I tried this recipe! These are sooo good! I used the almond extract and the vanilla. Mmmmm, soooo good! The perfect texture and taste! Thank you!!
These cookies are SO. GOOD. I’ve been using them for awhile and they’ve become my go-to recipe! Question: can this recipe be doubled for a bigger batch? Or is it best to make two regular batches? Thanks again for this great recipe!
Hi Sarah, absolutely! You can double this recipe — we do all the time. Glad this recipe is your go-to!
I wish I could post a photo here of how lovely these cookies turned out! The cookie itself turned out beautifully in regards to taste and presentation. I did add the suggested almond extract to the dough, as well as to the royal icing recipe that’s linked. I’ve shared these cookies with coworkers, friends and family members and they all agree that these cookies taste like they’ve come from a bakery – I’ve sent everyone to this website. Thank you Sally!
Definitely go for the larger amount of almond extract! These taste and smell wonderful and are easy to make. I went for the glaze rather than the royal icing, and they were a hit.
This recipe is a keeper! We pulled back to 8 minutes for a softer cookie, and opted for the 1/2 tps of almond extract. Yum and yum! I was wondering if I can freeze the remaining dough?
Best sugar cookies I’ve ever made. I’m a frosting addict and these tasted amazing even without frosting! So that goes to tell you how amazing they were 🙂
I made these cookies yesterday and honestly think they taste more like shortbread than sugar cookies. I’d also say they are not quite as soft as I would’ve liked and did seem just a tad dry. If I made again, I would tweak slightly I think. I also made the royal icing recipe using meringue powder and was pleased with how that turned out, just had to add a little more powdered sugar.
I was about to comment the same. They are good, but everyone thought they were shortbread, not sugar cookies.
These cookies are fantastic! I loved the almond taste! I ran out of vanilla so I used an equivalent amount of maple syrup and it was just fine. The dough was a little crumbly, I spooned and leveled with dry ingredient measuring cups and not a scale, but i was still able to roll it out. I used a convection oven and increased the baking time to about 14 min for a sheet of 8 cookies. The cookies came out with the perfect texture and flavor, and mild enough sweetness for my kids to decorate with a bunch of things (melted chocolate, cookie icing, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc). Thanks for the step by step instructions. I’m a novice at baking so it’s always a miracle to me when things come out the way they are supposed to!
I made this cookies today and they were delicious! I wish I added a full teaspoon of almond extract, but otherwise, it was a great recipe and the dough was the perfect consistency for rolling.
Excellent recipe. I made these today for Valentine’s Day so my kids could decorate them. I followed the recipe exactly and used 1/4 teaspoon of the almond extract as well. They kept their shape perfectly, they are nice and soft, and have a great flavor. This is going to be my new go to cut out cookie recipe.
This recipe and procedure is awesome. I made cookies for all of the neighbors. They were all asking for the recipe. They are soft, not dry, not crumbly, moist and very flavorful. Definitely like the almond extract in them! So good!
My husband takes a big loud sigh after he bites into them.
I have tried very many sugar cookie recipes in my life. Some of them turn out to be too sweet. Some just never roll out properly. This recipe is the best! Follow the directions. Don’t leave out the chill process and you will have the best sugar cookies ever. Thank you so much Sally!
This is my new go-to sugar cookie recipe with the accompanying icing. Super easy to work with and the cookies held their shape beautifully. We thought the taste after iced was great. The dough looks crumbly in the mixer but once it was turned out and I worked it together with my hands it was a great consistency for rolling. Followed recipe as written and will definitely make these again and again!
Used this recipe for Valentine’s, they came out beautifully and tasty!
This is a good recipe!
very tasty! not dry
So good, so easy to make, and the tip on rolling out the dough before chilling is sensational. I’m taking that one to other recipes! I wanted something a bit off the beaten path on the flavoring, so I added some high quality orange extract and 1/4 tsp of freshly ground cardamom. Some of these will wind up with a dusting of freeze dried raspberries on the frosting, for an uncommonly tasty sugar cookie. Thanks for the fantastic recipe and the method!
These came out great! I wanted to make them pink but had no red dye so I substituted 2 tablespoons of strawberry jello mix & followed the rest of the recipe and they were AMAZING!
try it out!
I agree! The best sugar cookies! Even without icing.
No flavor, worst cookies I’ve ever made. Tried these on a whim and wish I’d stuck with my tried and true recipes.
Just made these cookies — they taste and smell absolutely delicious and are exactly as described. Dough was NOT crumbly like some others have said. Was apprehensive about rolling it out and then chilling it — nervous it might dry out in fridge overnight. But it did not. It worked wonderfully and was great having the first roll-out complete when I got it out of the fridge this morning. Just READ the directions and listen to Sally; she knows what she’s doing! Her recipes are always spot on. 🙂
I love this sugar cookie recipe. I used it for my Valentine’s Day cookies this year and they came out perfect. Sally does it again! Thank you! 🙂
Love this recipe but I kinda wanted to make it my own a little bit so added A teaspoon of Orange liquour n its amazing