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
Hi Sally! I’ve used this recipe countless amounts of times, and it’s a big hit with all of my family and friends. The first time I used this recipe, was for a party and they made more than enough cookies, and it swept everyone off their feet. I’ve used it hundreds of times after that, because they’re so simple, yet delicious!
This recipe is delicious! If i wanted to roll the dough 3/8 of an inch thick, how many additional minutes should I add to the baking time? Thanks for your help!
Not much
Maybe 2 minutes. Depends on your oven. You could test a couple to see.
Hi, about how long does it take total to make these cookies?
About 4 hours including chilling baking and cooling.
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!