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
Same thing happened to me, all I had to do was add some water to make the dough a lot doughier, after that everything worked well
They turned out amazing for me!
I feel ya Stacy, I feel ya….
Merry Christmas
I’ve been making this recipe since you posted it a few years ago. I don’t know why I never commented before but it’s my go to recipe. This year my son wanted to help and he colored the dough green and we made cute Christmas trees with the royal icing. Making another double batch as I type this.
Has anyone tried freezing them once decorated? How were they after freezing?
Yes and no one could tell the difference. I suggest wrapping them in cling wrap before putting them in freezer bags. Then have them defrost all the way before opening them up
I’ve tried a looot of sugar cookie recipes and they’ve either been too sweet, too floury, or just too lackluster. These were amazingly good and the dough was easy to work with if you follow the instructions. They were the perfect amount of soft and crispy and held their shape really well. I think the almond extract is a must and really did make the cookies taste good on another level. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on!
Could I use shortening instead of butter? If so what ratio?
Thanks for all you do!!!
Hi Adam, You can use shortening in place of butter, though the taste will be different.
Thanks! Of course, but have a special request this holiday to make sugar cookies with shortening instead of butter.
Is it okay to use organic sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Roberta! I’m unsure of the exact organic sugar you’re using, but in my experience organic sugar can have larger granules which may not cream with the butter as well resulting in slightly crunchy cookies. But let us know if you try it!
The title says it all…this is truly the best sugar cookie. What a lucky find when I found this recipe. It has become a family favorite. Easy to make and makes awesome cut out cookies to decorate.
Hi, is there any change for high altitude?
Hi Jennifer, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I just did them yesterday with my family and it was fun we made stats and Christmas trees
I’m having a tough time. I’ve made the dough but instead of being sticky, it’s completely dry and crumbly. I could only pack it together into something resembling a dough ball by hand, and it’s impossible to roll out. I’m stuck. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Paige! Too much of your dry ingredients could dry out your cookies. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to use the “spoon & level” method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag with your measuring cup because you could end up with 50% more than you need (or you can weigh your ingredients!).
Hi Trina, thanks so much for answering! I definitely used the spoon and level method. So I’m stumped!
I was dreading making sugar cookies (too fussy too much work) this holiday but this recipe was everything that I was looking for. Liked that it was a smaller batch and video was great. I used all your tips and even threw in some pumpkin spice like suggested. I didn’t have the problem with the dough being wet. It was perfect and so easy to roll out with just a bit of flour and parchment paper. The rolling before chilling is a game changer tip! I loved the taste though I prefer my cookies on the less sugary side. The husband over baked them and even then they were good and reminded me of shortbread. I have tried so many of your recipes for many years, thank you so much!
Hi Sally, do I have to roll out the dough before put in the refrigerator, I don’t think it’s necessary but I want your opinion
Hi Ewa, after chilling, the dough will be quite hard to roll out. But you could let it come to room temperature, then continue with the recipe at step 4 (chilling the rolled out dough again) if you need to chill it before it’s rolled out. Enjoy!
It’s “not my Grandma’s sugar cookie recipe”, but it’s 1/4 the ingredients, half the work, and about 1/4 the cookies. So now that the kids are gone, it’s fine! We all have to make adjustments, and this is one I made. I would try other recipes on this site.
My family and I found these a bit flavorless, like a bland shortbread. I’d add more sugar next time, as I think that might be what was lacking. When I compared the ingredients with other recipes, most use more sugar and butter. The bigger issue was that we wanted to decorate these cookies but they came out of the oven and immediately hardened so that we couldn’t add sprinkles or other decorations. We ended up piping on some frosting and that worked well.
Fine flavor but extremely flowery and dry. I’ve had better… Sorry Sally
When other cut-out sugar cookie recipes leave you disappointed, this recipe won’t! This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe. They hold their shape, look great, and taste great! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
What if I do bake on 3rd day? I forgot.
Hi April, Was your dough covered in the refrigerator? If so, it should still be ok to bake the cookies.
My dough was perfect right after making it, but after I put it in the fridge overnight, it was hard as a rock. I even layered it with parchment paper and wrapped it in tin foil like a he recipe said to. What happened?? Maybe my fridge is too cold. Should I let it come down in temp before cutting and shaping?
Hi Angelica! If the dough is too cold to use cookie cutters with, letting it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes should fix that issue. But cold dough is the goal here – it will help the cookies hold their shape in the oven. Happy baking!
Horrid!! The cookies were wayyy to soft no matter how much flour i added did recipe exact and it just melted when baking! This always happens every time i use your recipes i won’t be using them again
This recipe turned out so perfectly after experiencing a total failure with a different recipe. The dough was easy to work with before and after chilling and the flavor was great. Thanks Sally!
I made these today. They turned out really well. I have a couple ideas…
I read the comments about someone’s motor getting hot.. I used a hand mixer, and when the dough was wanting to come together and the motor started to bog down, I turned it off and it came together beautifully just “gathering” it with a spatula.
I don’t know how you could roll this dough out after chilling without undoing all the time spent chilling. It is very stiff when cold, perfect for cutting cookies, but not for rolling out.
It isn’t easy to roll this dough out level if you’re not practiced at it. I gave up and folded the thin edges back in and rerolled on the scraps, chilled it again for 20 minutes and it came out much better.
This recipe only yields about 18 cookies, which is good for a new recipe, especially if you’re new to royal icing, like I am. It’s a REALLY good starter because it isn’t too intimidating, it’s just a few cookies
Tried every sugar cookie recipe out there and this is the best! Especially helpful to roll out before chilling.
Not got much flavor if it does not have frosting
My go to recipe. I like the 1/4″ rollout but I’ve started rolling them out to 5/16″ for clients…they love them!!
Hi! I’m very confused by the freezing time. It says “1-2 hours for 2 days”. Am I to wait 2 days before I can bake the cookies!?!
Hi Debby, you want to chill these in the refrigerator for as little as 1 hour, but no longer than 2 days. Enjoy!
Worked as well as the video. Wonderful taste and so easy to work with.
Sally:
I have been making these cookies for the past few years and every single time the come out perfect!! Thank you for the share!!
I want to make chocolate peppermint cookies this year. What are your recommendations??
Hi Jacqueline, So glad you love these sugar cookies. We love our Peppermint Frosted Chocolate Cookies and our Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprint cookies! Let us know if you try either of these!
These cookies are very flavorful and amazing. Not sure what I did wrong with my first batch, as the dough was dry. But my other 3 batches turned out much better. This is my first year making homemade sugar cookies. I will definitely be using this recipe for years to come. Next year, I will try your icing recipe.
I had the problem of them seeming too dry too, but it turns out I just had not mixed them enough. Another 2 minutes and they were perfect!!
I followed the recipe to the T except that maybe mine were just a hair thicker than 1/4”. The flavour was good, but once I bit in to the cookie, it was quite dry inside. And I don’t see how I would have over baked them because I took them out before they were even lightly golden on the edges. I don’t know what happened. ♀️
Hi Leah! How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
These cookies are fabulous !Thank you!