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
These cookies worked out nice not that sugary.
What happens if you don’t chill the dough flat or if you don’t chill it that long? Does it affect anything
Hi Haf, we’re so glad you enjoyed the cookies! Chilling is a necessary step to ensure the cookies do not over spread and lose their shape in the oven. We recommend chilling the dough flat, as it can be a little difficult to roll out the already chilled dough.
Just wondering if/how to make these without the egg? This is my go-to recipe, but now want to make them for a friend’s baby shower (egg allergy!)
Hi Jenna! We haven’t tested these cookies with an egg substitute, but there are many out there you could try. Please report back with your results if you try something! You could also try making these shortbread cookies, which are egg free and have a similar flavor.
I’m thinking of replacing granulated sugar with raw sugar. How would that effect the recipe?
Hi Amy, we have not tested these cookies with raw sugar, but the overall taste, texture, and structure will likely be quite different. The raw sugar will not cream together with the butter in the same way as granulated sugar. For best results, we recommend sticking with granulated sugar here, or using a recipe that has been specifically developed to use raw sugar. Let us know if you give these a try!
I experimented with a finer grain raw sugar, and it tasted great. The texture didn’t seem too far off from a sugar cookie with granulated sugar. Thank you for sharing your expertise and wisdom.
Hi Sally, if I make these with a 3cm cookie cutter. How long will they need in the oven? Do I use same oven temperature? Thank you for your recipes they are always enjoyable to bake and eat 🙂
Hi Jess, Keep an eye on the cookies and take them out when they are lightly browned around the edges. You can keep the same oven temperature.
I’ve been making your recipe for quite a while now (years) for personal use. They’re not a sugary sweet cookie, which I love. They definitely have a more buttery/vanilla flavour and it pairs so well with Queens brand (Australia if that helps) fondant icing. Over of the last fortnight I’ve taken to replacing a 1/4C of the flour with almond flour/smooth almond meal in addition to adding the almond extract. They’re so good. They won’t hold shape as well as the usual recipe does, but my kids have been putting M&Ms or dark choc chips into the tops before we bake, so crisp edges aren’t important. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
These cookies don’t really taste like anything. I followed the recipe and was hoping for a sweet tasting sugar cookie (hence the name) and am sad with how poorly these came out. I measure everything exactly and I bake them for the appropriate time. That has nothing to do with the lack of flavor. I feel like I wasted food and resources making these.
Hi No, sugar cookies typically taste like buttery sugar with hints of vanilla. Did you use the almond extract? It will undoubtedly add more flavor.
Are these considered completely nut/tree-nut free?
I love this recipe, but adding an extra egg helped a lot. The first batch came out dry. So I did the 2nd batch and added the second egg and the dough felt much better.
So happy I came across your website!
I’m starting a sugar cookie business and just love your recipe.
I made the 1st test batch on Tuesday. They were about half of 1/4 inch – perfect, almost like a snap cookie.
Last night I used the left over dough, this time making it 1/4 inch thick. Oh my soul, delish!
One thing happend, it looked like they had bubbles on the top. What did I do wrong?
Hope you can help!
Hi Andrea, We find this happens with cookie cutter cookies when you over-beat the cookie dough after you add the egg. Only mix the wet ingredients until the egg has combined. Then once you add the dry ingredients, mix to combine. Do not over-mix. You could also try reducing the baking powder, too. Though over-mixing is likely the issue. Hope that helps!
This cookie shows up on Sally’s private group quite a bit. I’m not sure why. This cookie is very flavorless and somewhat dry. I used buttercream frosting and that saved the cookies. It was a good dough to work with. I was only able to get 17 cookies from this recipe. Maybe my cutters were bigger.
Hi Karen! If your cookies were dry, could they have been over-baked? Also make sure to spoon and level your flour when measuring (or use a kitchen scale). Thank you for giving this recipe a try.
I tried this recipe, and was disappointed. They are not soft at all, very hard and crunchy. I tried cooking less time, and did not help.
Hi Sheri, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Did you roll your dough a bit thinner? Thinner cookies will come out crunchier. Be sure to also spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure your flour. Otherwise, you could risk over measuring the flour, which will dry out the cookies and make them crunchier. Hope this helps and thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Hi! Can this recipe be doubled. I am going to make multiple batches for a Halloween cookie decorating party. These are always a hit!
Hi Jen, as long as your mixer can handle the volume, this recipe doubles well. Have a happy cookie decorating party!
Have u ever made cookies with almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Hi Patricia, you can often swap peanut butter for almond butter in recipes like peanut butter cookies, although the taste and texture will be different. If you’re interested, here are all our recipes that use almond butter, including many cookie recipes!
I really wanted to love this recipe, it was quick and easy and looked promising. However I found the dough absolutely awful to work with, I added flour to make it less sticky but it was useless. I’ve rolled up what I could salvage into a ball and put back in the fridge and will leave it for 24hrs and hope that helps
I was so excited to try these cookies, however, I was extremely disappointed. I followed every step, and still, the cookies were dry and tasteless. The royal icing recipe was perfect. I will use a different cookie recipe next time.
Hi M, thanks so much for giving this recipe a try. If they were dry, it’s possible they were overbaked a bit and/or the flour was over measured. Be sure to spoon and level or use a kitchen scale when measuring flour, to ensure just enough so that the dough doesn’t dry out. Thank you again for trying these!
I loved the flavor of this recipe! I found it a little dry, so I’m going to try it with less flour. I just hope the cookies keep their shape.
Hi Amy, we’re glad you enjoyed them! How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can dry them out. Over baking (even just a minute or two!) can dry them out as well. Hope these tips help for next time!
Interested to give this recipe a go! Would it be possible to cut the shapes and then refrigerate, or is it essential to refrigerate first and then cut? Just wondering if after the first chilling experience if you cut after the chilling, if you need to re-chill before baking the second batch made from the re-rolled scraps.
You can refrigerate the dough before rolling it out, but it’s much harder to roll the dough once it’s been chilled. It will take a bit of arm muscle!
I made a batch using 1/2 tsp of almond extract, but couldn’t taste it at all. In my second batch, I used 1 & 1/2 tsp of almond extract, and the flavor really popped! I would recommend this increased amount to get that fresh bakery cookie taste.
I love this recipe, and have made it many times! I am going to make for goodie bags for my daughter’s 2nd birthday – can I double the recipe? Thanks!!
I’ve made this recipe before and it’s just perfect. Great taste and texture.
I want to make some this week for a Halloween party and was wondering if this dough can be colored easily, or if working the color in would affect the texture. I have good quality gel colors if that makes a difference?
Hi Christina, Yes, absolutely. We always recommend using gel food coloring for vibrant colors that won’t change the texture of the dough.
Pretty underwhelmed actually with these cookies. The flavor was nice but I found them to be too crumbly and not very soft or chewy. They remind me of shortbread rather than a sugar cookie.
What is the best way to add only sanding sugar (no frosting) to sugar cookies? Right before baking? After baking and cooled? Something else? Thank you!
Hi Patti, It’s best to add the colored sugar before baking. If you are making them round (drop cookies), you may enjoy these Christmas Cookie Sparkles.
Love this cookie recipe! I have become addicted to making a decorating them. The taste is so much better with the almond extract, but I can’t eat it, I am allergic to it. I wanted to try a different extract or flavor but am not sure how. I have Orange extract but I think that would be too strong. Any other ideas? Can I get maple or molasses or something? My husband says they taste very plain with just the vanilla.
Hi Rachel, see my recipe Note. You can add a variety of flavors and extracts. I particularly love them with 1/2 teaspoon peppermint or maple extract.
Great! Thank you! So many notes I should have seen them first! I love these! Crispy on the outside and perfect softness in the middle.
Hi Rachel. I just wanted to say you could use the almond emulsion from Lorann. It doesn’t actually contain any nuts and tastes pretty good. I use it because my daughter has a tree nut allergy.
Hiya – I need to make some gluten free Halloween biscuits. Do you think I could use this recipe and switch the flour for gluten free? Thank you!
Hi Fiona, we haven’t tested a gluten free version of this recipe, but some readers report success using a 1:1 gluten free flour blend. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
This is the only recipe I use for roll-out sugar cookies. I always get so many compliments on the texture and flavor of these cookies. We have tried them with buttercream frosting and royal icing, and they are both outstanding. I love how easy these cookies are to make.
This is my go to cookie recipe!! These cookies hold their shape so well! I always get compliments on how soft they are and how yummy they are. Love this recipe!
Hi! Is it possible to make these eggless?
Hi Jamie, eggs are an important addition to these cookies and we haven’t tried any substitutes. You may be interested in browsing our naturally egg-free recipes here. Hope you can find some to enjoy!
I tried 1/2 tsp of almond extract and it was too much. Will use 1/4 tsp next time and maybe an extra 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract. Great texture though. Will definitely use this recipe again!
Made these yesterday with plant-based butter and it worked great. Delicious as ever!
WOW! This cookie recipe is fantastic – and I’m so-so on sugar cookies (my 5-year-old was set on making Halloween cookies). We ate them right out of the oven warm without icing and were both speechless. We made a third for my husband, and we shamelessly contemplated devouring his. We did experience a very sticky dough and added two tablespoons of additional flour (thank you for the tip), and things were perfect from there. We also added a bit more flour when rolling out the dough between parchment paper sheets (also a smart tip). I’ve never prerolled dough and then cut it – brilliant! You end up with a perfect medium to cut out even very detailed shapes (and not lose a pumpkin stem) – and the cookies really hold their shape. The end product is a little snap when you bite the cookie, and everything else is soft, pillowy sugar-butter-vanilla-almond deliciousness. It’s not quite a shortbread cookie – but like a thin one, maybe… SO GOOD!
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, Ryane!
Me and my family loved them! I added some cinnamon and nutmeg, and it made it the perfect spiced cookie. !