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
Hey, I wanted to bake these for Valentine’s Day and was going to make the dough today. Do you think I should go ahead and bake them today, then freeze/refrigerate them until Valentine’s Day or should I freeze/refrigerate the dough and bake them on Sunday/Monday?
Hi Linda, we only recommend refrigerating the dough for up to two days, so it would be best to freeze the baked cookies or the dough until you are ready to bake and decorate (following the thawing instructions in the recipe Notes). You could bake them and refrigerate them until Monday, but just keep in mind that will reduce the amount of time after they’re decorated that they will be fresh. Hope this helps!
Can I use red food colouring in the dough to make them red for valentines day?
P.S I love all your recipes and I’m sure this one will not seize to impress!
Yes, absolutely. We always recommend using gel food coloring for vibrant colors that won’t change the texture of the dough.
Can I leave the salt out of the recipe if I do not have unsalted butter?
Hi Paula, if using salted butter you can reduce the added salt in the cookie dough from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/8 teaspoon. Happy baking!
I have always struggled with cut out sugar cookies. Rolling out the dough was a nightmare!! Your recipe has changed all that for me! The cookies are so good and chilling the dough first has been a game changer.
I’ve seen where some bakers use a projector when decorating sugar cookies but I don’t have any idea about how to decide which one is a good choice. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Kim, we’re so glad this recipe is a hit for you! We’ve never tested using a projector for decorating sugar cookies but it seems SO clever and we would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! The piping bags are key if you’re making your own icing, thanks for the links!
This was my first time baking Sugar Cookies and everyone loved them. Said they were the best they have had. I contribute to you by sharing your recipe and adding special tips to follow. The only thing I did differently was adding coconut extract in place of the almond.
This is my go-to for rave reviews on cookies!
I substituted raw sugar for white which gives the cookies a delightful surprising “crunch”.
Exchanging white flour in favor of unbleached lends density and satisfying structure to the cookies.
I attest to incorporating 1/2 tsp almond extract; coupled with unbleached flour, provides an initial & mild “florality” at first bite. Additionally, the marriage of extracts presents a bouquet reminiscent of an Italian bakery.
I have tried many recipes and this one is my all time favourite. Super helpful tips.
5 stars because this IS a delicious cookie. But I have a question on decorating/baking?
I’ve seen photos of a smaller cookie baked on top of a larger base cookie, but never can I find instructions on how long to cook and at what temp. What I do know, is that they are cooked as ‘one’ cookie, not separately and then added. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Thanks for any help.
Hi Barb, I’m so glad to read that you love this sugar cookie recipe. I’ve never tried baking one shaped cookie on top of the other, so I can’t give any advice. I’ve “glued” two baked cookies together using icing though. But I know that’s not what you’re looking for. Feel free to test it out with this recipe and let me know how it goes!
This recipe turned out some delicious cookies! It was my first attempt at sugar cookies which I decorated with royal icing- following your recipe and instructions for that also. Everyone was so impressed with the results and I now have another great addition to my gift-baking repertoire!
I was hesitant to add the almond essence as I don’t generally like the taste of that, however the half teaspoon combined with the vanilla was absolutely brilliant!
Thanks again Sally…just awesome!
Hi! Would this turn out if I added some mini choc chips to the dough?
Thanks!
Hi Mo, You can definitely add mini chocolate chips to this dough before rolling it out. (Do not use regular size as they are too large.) We recommend beating in 3/4 cup after you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. You may need to use a little arm muscle (or very sturdy cookie cutters) to cut through the mini chips. Keep that in mind when shaping. Enjoy!
Could I add jimmies to these to make them funfetti cut out cookies?
Absolutely! We recommend beating in 3/4 cup after you mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Enjoy!
This recipe is perfect for using cookie cutters. They are very tasty. I get compliments every time I make them. They are soft and great for using royal icing or buttercream frosting. I highly recommend them.
This are amazing cookies!!! My family beg me to make these all the time because they love the recipe – I use it for chocolate chip cookies. Thank you so much 😀
This dough is so workable and velvety!!! They’re still in the oven but I’m that confident in the recipe.
hi sally!! i’d like to convert these to snickerdoodle, you suggested mixing 1tsp of cinnamon… i’m also going to sprinkle coarse sugar over the top. is the 1tsp cinnamon enough to get that snickerdoodle taste or should i add more? ty 😉
Hi Sonny, you could try adding the 1 tsp of cinnamon into the dough and then adding a bit on the tops of the cookies with your coarse sugar. Then feel free to adjust more/less for future batches. Let us know how it goes!
Love this recipe! Just wondering if butter can be substituted for coconut oil? Can you use other types of flour with this recipe?
Hi Fedilyn, you could try creaming solid coconut oil for this recipe. We’re unsure how well the dough will roll out. We’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour and recommend sticking with that for best results. Some readers have reported success using a 1:1 gluten free all-purpose flour, but we haven’t tried it ourselves. Let us know if you do!
Loved this cookie. Texture was perfect! Will be my go to!
This is my most requested cookies! I’m a gluten free baker and this recipe is perfect with my gf flour. I have found that I can’t freeze the dough before baking and then thaw and bake. It does change the texture/consistency of my gf dough. I’m sure it’s something related to that and not the recipe! They are amazing baked and then frozen as well. Keep the great recipes coming!!
Any chance you have the nutritional info for this recipe anywhere?
Hi Christina, we’re so glad these cookies are a favorite for you! 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://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Hi! I love this recipe. I’ve made is several times over the years! Quick question, what do you recon is the shelf life of these? I have the idea to send them to someone via parcel mail but I anticipate that they will only receive it about 1.5-2 weeks later. Will they still be good if stored correctly?
While they are just fine for up to 2 weeks, they taste better when they’re a bit fresher. Can you speed up that delivery? If not, they should be just fine.
I absolutely love this recipe❤️ !!! I have made these and the chocolate sugar cookies numerous times. Always with the royal icing, no need to ever find a different recipe!! They are always in high demand with friends and family. If you want a fun flavor combo add some lemon extract/juice to the royal icing and top it with shredded coconut, absolutely delicious with the flavor and texture of the cookie itself. I always check your site first when trying new recipes!! The steps, photos, and videos are a tremendous help! Thank you so much for all that you do!!!
I have made this recipe probably 50 times and I absolutely love it! It’s not too sweet so when you add a royal icing it makes it just perfect.
Followed this recipe exactly and they turned out perfect!
What am I missing ? How do you follow a recipe exactly when there’s no measurements or time? I read through and watched the YouTube and it’s just ingredients list.
Do you see the gray recipe card above this comments section? At the top of the page you can click the blue “jump to recipe” button as well. Happy baking!
I have a question, I have used your easy icing recipe. I used dipping method they dried nice and smooth like they are suppose to. I put in freezer (only in for a few days) They have white spots in frosting from freezing. I had the same thing happen twice. It doesn’t go away after thawed. Do you know what would be causing the icing to turn leave the white in spots? Thanks
Hi Jean, that can happen sometimes with cookie icing. We find it doesn’t happen as much if we replace some of the water with milk. If you try them again and want to freeze the iced cookies, you can replace half of the water in the icing with milk. Hope this helps for next time!
okay, thank you I will try that the next time I make a batch. Jean
Amazing recipe! I doubled the butter the first time I made it. I had it in my head as 1.5 cups.. oops. Of course they didn’t hold shape well, but if you want a super buttery cookie make sure the dough is super chilled before baking. This time (with the correct amount of butter) they look amazing and taste great! I do find that some of the ones made with the scraps are a bit too dry. How do I re-roll the scraps without them becoming too dry? Thanks!
Made these to decorate as Christmas Wreath cookies and they were a hit. The cookies are not too sweet and have a nice texture as they are soft enough for everyone, even older folks who normally can’t eat anything with any kind of crunch at all. The only issue I had was that I broke a couple when I tried to move them onto a wire rack for cooling, but I left the others to cool on the cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes and then I could move them without breakage. Thanks for sharing this great cookie recipe!
I adored this recipe! I tried others, this is so much better! This will be my go to!
Hi! These look great! Can I just double or triple the ingredients directly?
Hi Amanda, yes you can. Tripling can easily overwhelm your mixer though. I usually double it with no problem. (Just double every ingredient.)
I absolutely LOVE this recipe!! I have at least made them 6 times! They turn out so well! And my friends and family LOVES them! ❤️
This recipe js amazing, always get compliments when I make them. I have just 1 question, this recipe was kinda given to me first without sources and Im pretty sure it came without eggs (managed to find it due to the very specific measures). I did it again when I found your pageand I didnt use an egg… just noticed it uses it. Is the egg extremely necessary? Just asking, dont want to disrespect such a versatile and amazing recipe
Hi Diego, If you liked it without an egg, that’s fine! We also have these shortbread cookies, which are egg free and have a similar flavor.
These are my new cut out cookie recipe! They turned out delicious and perfect! I decorated them with royal icing.
I make 4 recipes at once in my KitchenAid stand mixer, if that helps anyone. I love this recipe. Thank you!
Hi! I’ve been using your recipes for 7 years now in Palestine! From food to desserts and I always get so many compliments! Your detailed descriptions are so helpful. You are my go to! I am going to try these out today for my sons birthday party. Seems delish!!