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
reallybecame my favorite sugar cookie recipie
I love this recipe and use to not spread very much. But for some reason here recently they have been spreading terrible. I measure the flour correct and also let chill over night most times. Iv tried upping my oven temp bc I roll thick 3/8 and I also tried to add extra flour and am still having troubles. Any other recommendations to stop the spreading?
Hi BobbiJo, to keep the dough from spreading, it’s very important to use proper room temperature butter and to keep the dough cold when working with it. Refrigerating the dough before baking will help the cookies hold their shape as well.
While I loved this recipe, it tastes much more like a shortbread.
Hi Bobbi Jo,
I found that adding 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch to the recipe kept the cookies from spreading. They turned out quite perfect!
Just made these cookies for a bridal shower at work. I’ve made many sugar cookies over the years and this was by far the best recipe, great tasting, perfect light crunch, soft inside, perfect smooth surface for decorating. This will be my go to recipe from now on. I followed the recipe and rolled out the dough before chilling it, I’ve never done this before and it worked great. I used good quality vanilla and added almond extract. Received compliments from coworkers.
This recipe is dangerously perfect. Amazing as is, and amazing as a base for other flavors. Today I added 2 teaspoons lemon extract and 2 tablespoons poppy seeds for a lemon poppy cookie!
I am a chef. And I am constantly disappointed with online recipes. Saying things like these “cookies” are fantastic. And despite following those recipes perfectly… it comes out like gritty wet sand. These cookies are the only ones I’ll ever be using from now on for royal icing… I have tried many many many recipes. This recipe is a relief! It’s forfeits, and so easy to change the flavors. ! If need cookies, these are it! Thank you for creating it
I love this recipe. I have someone requesting I use vegan butter. Any recommendations for this?
Hi Deb, we haven’t tried this recipe with vegan butter, but we’d love to know if you give anything a try.
Hi Sally! I’m new to baking and I decided to start with this recipe! The cookies are delicious.
Q. I want to to substitute the flour for Almond Flour, are there any measurement adjustments to the recipe for that?
Thank you!
Hi Vivienne, we’re so glad you enjoyed these sugar cookies! We haven’t tested these cookies with almond flour — it has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and would require quite a bit of adjustment to the other ingredients. If you decide to do any experimenting, we’d love to know how it goes!
This is a great recipe to use! So versatile to make your own flavors of yummy sugar cookies. But can you use this recipe as is and replace the all purpose flour with gluten free and it work just as well?
Hi Lynn, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give anything a try!
So… it worked great! I used King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour and you couldn’t really tell a difference with the dough. The cookies did the same as is if I was using all purpose flour. Now, the dough didn’t get gummy after a few times of having to re-roll to make more cookie cuts but it all worked out and even tasted great. Although I could tell the difference but it was still yummy.
I am :
* 60 years old
* a guy
* first time making cookies
Great, I already have three strikes !!
I have two questions before I take on this job:
1- I will be using an intricate cookie cutter (a very good one of a microscope). How thick will the dough need to be?
2- Do you have a recipe for red and black (company colors) icing?
I will report back when I have completed the assignment.
Hi Mike, we recommend rolling this dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Here’s our recipe for royal icing that can be colored using gel food coloring to reach your desired colors. Let us know how they go!
Can this be used for building a house?
Hi Vian, you sure can. If it’s helpful, you can use this dough along with our gingerbread house tutorial — you will want to at least 1.5x the sugar cookie dough to ensure you have enough to work with.
About how many 3-4″ heart shaped cookies would one batch make? TIA!
Hi Michele! This recipe yields about 24 3-4 inch cookies.
Hi, is there any way that I could make these sweeter? Thank you.
Hello! Could I use a cookie stamp after cutting out my shapes? Thank you!
Hi Mariah, Yes! If you stamp the cookie dough, chill the stamped cookie dough shapes right before baking– they’ll definitely hold their shape. We suggest chilling the shaped cookies for 1 hour prior to baking. We’ve used this recipe to make stamped cookies before and they came out beautifully!
A-MAZ-ING. I get nothing but comments on how great my cookies are! The almond flavor seals the deal.!!
I think this is the best sugar cookie I have made yet…easy and comes out perfect every time! I can always count on your information to be successful
First time ever leaving a review for a recipe, but this one is soooo good I had to!! I had never made homemade sugar cookies until 2020 when everything shut down…including the school that I taught at. With my extra time I decided it would be a great time to try. Surfing the web I was so fortunate to find this one. One batch and I vowed that I will NEVER use box mix again!! This recipe makes the absolute best cut out cookies around…Easter, Halloween, Christmas any season or reason. I added the optional almond extract which bumped up the flavor. My husband and son say they are the best ever…even better than his Mom’s/Grandma’s, but I don’t tell her. If in doubt give it a try. One taste and it will be your only sugar cookie recipe too!!
Thank you so much for your kind review! We’re so thrilled you love this sugar cookie recipe.
Can you use salted butter instead?
Hi Kristen, If using salted butter you can reduce the added salt in the cookie dough from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/8 teaspoon. Happy baking!
This was my first time trying to make these cookies. I used margarine instead of butter. The problem i ran into is my dough was brittle as it wanted to crack and break apart while rolling. The finished product was a little on the dry side which could be 1 of 2 things: my egg and margarine were from the fridge when i started and possibly too much flour. Im going to try to do this again and let the margarine sit on the table overnight and maybe add extra margarine to see if it comes out more moist. Baking is fun because its always trial and error. It wasnt really a fail they are still good, but think i could make it a bit better by following the butter guidelines. Should of read that the day before.
Family and friends love these delicious cookies! Plus they are fairly easy and fun to make! I have made them many times and always perfect! So happy I came across this recipe a couple of years ago.
I have made the recipe as is for both Christmas and Valentine’s day for my coworkers, I’m thinking of adding lemon extract for Easter but not sure if I need to decrease the vanilla extract.
Hi Renee! You can add 1 tsp lemon extract without any other changes. Enjoy!
Can you double this recipe?
Yes!
When our 6 yr old grand daughter stays over….THIS is the cookie recipe we make! It’s perfect in every way! Easy to make, tastes amazing, and the recipe makes enough to share, but not too many that we are overloaded with cookies! We’ve done them as Xmas shapes, hearts for Valentine’s Day and now egg shapes for Easter! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
These are the best, but is it possible to add a bit less baking powder? Mine are still spreading a bit.
Hi Reese, Make sure you’re starting with room temperature butter – it’s much cooler than most think and can have a big impact on cookies spreading. Here’s more on room temperature butter. The best tip is to make sure your dough is cold going in the oven, if it’s getting warm while cutting out the shapes, just place your cut out cookies back in the refrigerator before baking. We don’t recommend reducing the baking powder any.
I was woefully disappointed in this recipe. I am a dedicated Sally fan and have tried many, many of the recipes. This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to leave a comment because I was so disappointed. I thought this tasted more like a shortbread and not a sugar cookie. It wasn’t sweet at all, in my opinion. For a not very sweet cookie it was alright, I guess.
Same feeling. I followed recipe and these cookies taste blah. So disappointing with out come, my kids won’t eat them
I’d agree with this, it was nice enough to eat, but very much like eating shortbread. I might try additng chocolate to it rather than icing as it doesn’t taste like a sugar cookie to me.
I’m going to try to make these for my daughter’s rehearsal dinner. Wish me luck! Haha
This icing is dull. There is no shine to it. It also tastes bad. I made a beautiful batch of cookies that tasted delicious. I used your recipe and they were the best tasting cookies I’ve ever made until I use this icing. Yes, I flavoriit with vanilla. Very disappointing!!
Thanks for the sugar cookie recipe and icing recipe. My cookies were a hit and were enjoyed by all! I have never been to successful with sugar cookies and icing until now with these tips. Much appreciated!
Can you freeze the dough
Hi Suzy, absolutely. Dough can be frozen for up to three months. See recipe notes for more details.
I never cared for sugar cookies but my kids and grandchildren love them, so, i tried these. Wow! The BEST sugar cookie I’ve ever tried, they’re great. I’ve made them several times, sometimes adding some grated lemon rind, and they’re always wonderful, especially with SALLY’S royal icing.
Hey sally
Is it okay if I used Vanilla Suger instead of the extract
Hi Linda, vanilla sugar would be wonderful in these cookies, but we still recommend using vanilla extract as well. Hope you enjoy them!
I gave my grandson a container of these cookies. He was so excited to get his very own cookies. He immediately took one out and when he was finished he looked up at me and said “gramma that was sooo good! Thank you!” He is 5. Great recipe Sally ♡♡