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
I love this recipe!! I bake these for every occasion including Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas! They are so fun to decorate and the royal icing goes perfectly with them. Turns out great every single time!
It’s okay.. they definitely need icing
The first time I made these they came out perfect. The second time I made these the dough was so crumbly on me to the point where after rolling out an chilling after using cookie cutters the cookies just crumbled and cracked the dough was like impossible to work with what did I do wrong?
Hi Ashley! 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 will also come together as you roll it out. Thank you so much for making these cookies!
These were the best cookies ever!! they tasted so good. but they we kind of hard to roll out they kept on crumbling. should i have added water. and if so, hot or cold?
Hi Debrah! A crumbly dough can still be workable (don’t add water!)– try to bring it together with your hands. It will also come together as you roll it out. Make sure to spoon and level your flour when measuring in the future as well.
Always love your recipes and I’m excited to try this one! Will they still be okay if I omit almond extract or use vanilla instead? I don’t have any on hand. I did see your other recommendations but wanted to check. Thank you!
Hi Christine, you can simply omit the almond extract (keep the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract). Hope you enjoy these cookies!
Does my royal icing is going to be the same or is going to be different when I didn’t use meringue powder?
Hi Emma! You need meringue powder for our royal icing recipe. For a simple icing without meringue powder you can try easy icing instead!
I weighed the flour but still needed to add quite a bit more because it was soo sticky. I put it in the fridge to firm up a bit.
hese are HANDS DOWN the BEST sugar cookies I have ever tasted!! I have been making sugar cookies EVERY single year for Christmas since my grandma and I started baking them together when I was 6 (over 30 years ago)… It is a family tradition – and I rarely make the same recipe more than once. This recipe is IT!!! Thank you!! They taste amazing and stay soft forever! (well, not forever, my family devours them, but friends I have gifted have said well OVER a week air tight at room temp and as good as day one)! My only question is: does it work as a bar? I have never made sugar cookie bars – and honestly I am afraid to start – if they really are that easy – nothing will stop me from making them weekly! :0) This is my forever sugar cookie recipe now, so I figured if any recipe was going to be a good bar – maybe this one? Please let me know how you would suggest baking them in bar form. Thank you Sally!! I LOVE every recipe I have tried of yours!!
Hi Jenn, We are thrilled that you enjoyed these cookies so much! For a thicker sugar cookie bar we love this recipe (with or without the frosting): Sugar Cookie Bars.
Really great recipe! I’ve searched for a good recipe that would hold the cookie cutter shape and this is it! I used an intricate butterfly cutter and it didn’t spread at all in the oven Great flavour with the almond in there too. Thanks for sharing!
My favorite sugar cookie recipe! Makes cookies that are delicious and stay soft for many days.
Best sugar cookie dough that I have tried. Great instructions on decorating!!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe along with the royal icing.
I have shied away from making cut out cookies for years due to frustrating experiences…until I came across yours.
I have made 8 batches in the last week alone. The dough is so easy to put together and once the piping is done, the frosting just fills in like a dream!
I added the almond extract and altered the frosting a bit by adding 1/2 Tsp each of vanilla and almond extract. Perfection!
When I delivered 4 dozen shamrock cookies for the staff at the Memory Care facility that my Mom resides, they couldn’t believe I had baked them.
My daughter summed it up when I sent her a photo…Flawless:)
Thank you again for sharing a recipe that I plan to hand down to future generations.
Nance
Hi Nancy, thank you so much for taking the time to share such positive and kind feedback. We’re thrilled to hear you had success with this recipe and that it will be your new go-to. Happy baking (and decorating) to you!
Can these be rolled into a log and sliced rather than rolled out and cut?
Hi Sara, That should definitely work. You may want to chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes before attempting to roll into a log. It rolls out with a rolling pin just fine with some flour, but rolling into a tight log may require a bit of chilling before. After you roll it into a log, chill it for 2 hours before slicing and baking.
Hi, i love your receipes! Can you use caster sugar instead of granulated sugar, and would it be in the same quantity?
Hi Laura, thank you! You can use caster sugar– same amount.
OMG–you’re a baking genius! These cookies were absolutely perfect! Thanks for an awesome, go-to recipe!
really good recipe, great cookie and really crunchy. i definitely recommend this recipe for cookie loving people, and sooooooo delicious!!!!!!!!!
The first time I made it it turned out amazing the second time I made it it burned!!! I burned my cookies because I messed it up! They taste amazing still! BUT MAKE SURE U DI THE RECIPE RIGHT IT WILL BURN REALLY FAST
This is my third attempt in making it and I still can’t get it right! After mixing the flour into the wet ingredients it comes out so crumbly, nothing like play-do texture. Is there something I’m doing wrong, like too much flour?
Hi Kristina! The flour may have been over-measured. This is a slightly crumbly dough, but comes together when you roll it out. Make sure you spoon and level the flour instead of scooping (or weigh it). The more you work with the dough (re-rolling scraps) the more it comes together. Hope this helps!
Absolutely love this recipe. Do the cookies need to be thawed from freezing before shipping? Or can I pop them straight from the freezer into cello bags and then boxes?
Sorry if that’s a silly question!
Hi Lauren! We would thaw them first to prevent any moisture from collecting on the cookies while shipping.
Thank you for your reply, I had a feeling there was way too much flour but I measured it on a food scale to the T. I have a quick question, the recipe calls for 281 g but 281g equaled to roughly 1.19 cups for me. Am I doing this wrong? Sorry, novice baker over here!
I love the easiness of this recipe.
However, I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong. I followed the recipe completely, rolling the dough to 1/4 inch thick. I even used a rolling pin guide the 2nd time I made them. I am only getting 12 (4-inch) cookies per recipe! Using a 3 inch round, I get 18 cookies. Is anyone else having this problem?
Hi Tina, I’m having the same issue! I doubled the recipe and only ended up with 23 cookies. I used the 4″ Ann Clark shamrock cutter for St. Patrick’s day. They also took a bit longer to bake than the recipe said.
I’ve made these about 8 times now. Great flavour, hold their shape, nice and soft and last a long time! Although, I’d say defo only use 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, or they’ll be very almondy biscuits and no longer vanilla-tasting really! If you’re having trouble with the dough after it’s been in the fridge, try making the dough, rolling it out and cutting the shapes out THEN putting the shapes on trays in the fridge for 30 mins. I always do this because it works just as well and ofc the dough is easier to roll. Occasionally some shapes do not hold their exact shape (but they don’t spread too much that it’s significant!). In addition, if the dough is so crumbly after adding in the final ingredients in the mixer, you actually just need to use your hands and bring the dough together!
Thanks for a great recipe!
I made the horrid mistake of forgetting that I now would only use this recipe for my sugar cookies. no wonder I was so disappointed in that recipe; it’s not Sally’s!
This is a fantastic recipe, I love it!
Even after freezing they are great
When adding Lemon extract do you still add the vanilla as Well?
Hi Sonia, thrilled to hear you loved this recipe! Correct — we still use the vanilla extract when adding lemon extract as well.
This recipe is delicious. Rolling out the dough before chilling made the process so much easier and the cookies didn’t spread at all. How can I modify this to lemon flavored?
Hi Teri! So glad you love these cookies. See recipe note about lemon flavor.
Really love this recipe. Super easy to make. I changed out the butter for a coconut based substitute in order to make them non dairy and it worked really nicely. Son and Hubby loved the taste and softness.
This is now my favorite sugar cookie recipe! I started using this recipe this past Christmas , and now I bake them on any occasion AND I use Sally’s royal icing recipe to decorate them!! This is the best ever !!!!
I absolutely love this recipe and have shared it with so many people who have bought decorated sugar cookies from me! I get so many comments on how good their are. Around here we also love her chocolate version too. I could go on and on about cakes too if I can’t find a recipe I like I go to Sal
Is it possible to sub in GF flour to make these GF?
Hi Karen, we have not tested these cookies with GF flour but let us know if you do!
I just made them with GF flour! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour, instead of an all purpose, so they would stay soft and not get grainy. I honestly use that for a ton of gf versions of recipes.
I made sure both the butter and egg were room temp, but made no substitutions to the recipe other than the gf flour. Worked a treat!
Could I use lime extract instead of lemon?
Sure can! We recommend a teaspoon.
simply the best sugar cookie I’ve ever had !!!