Julie Clark
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Cut Out Sugar Cookies
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Tips on how to make the best cut out sugar cookies. Buttery and lightly sweet, this cookie dough holds its shape when you bake it. Perfect for Christmas cookies and other holiday shapes. If you love sugar cookies, see all of our recipes here.
Cut Out Sugar Cookies Recipe
Cut out sugar cookies aren’t just for Christmas. Yes, rolled cookies are fun at Christmas time with the stocking, tree and bell shapes, but they can be just as festive in the spring with flowers, sunshines and bird shapes. This is the best sugar cookie recipe we’ve found. I’ve been making it for years because it is so easy. Only 6 ingredients. A simple, lightly sweet buttery flavor. The cookies remind me of shortbread and I could eat a whole tray of them without any frosting. Although we know that frosting the cookies is often the part we have most fun with!
How to Make Sugar Cookies
- The first step in making sugar cookies is to gather the ingredients. Flour, salt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and butter. These are all staples you probably have in your pantry. The butter should be stick butter, not tub butter…and not margarine! Use 100% real butter sticks. Be sure the butter is completely at room temperature so that it mixes in well. I would let the butter sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours before mixing the cookies. And if you have to soften it in the microwave, be sure not to melt it.
- Mix the ingredients together using a stand mixer or hand mixer. This will help ensure the ingredients get mixed completely.
- The next step can go one of two ways. You can chill then dough, then roll it, or you can roll the dough, then chill it. A key step to perfect cookies is to chill the dough and the dough will be much easier to roll before you chill it. Rolling the dough first is by far the easiest way to do it. Divide the dough in two balls, roll each out, then stack the dough sheets with parchment paper or wax paper between and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- If you need to chill the dough before rolling, gather the dough into a ball and flatten it slightly into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Use your favorite shapes to cut the cookies and place them on a non-stick baking sheet. Bake them for about 12 minutes, but watch them closely. You don’t want them to brown at all. This will ensure you cookies stay nice and soft!
- Move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Cut Out Cookies that Hold Their Shape
There are three important things to remember in order to get sugar cookies to hold their shape.
- Use real butter. No substitutes! I usually use salted butter because that’s what I keep on hand. For even better results, use a high fat European butter.
- Be sure that you’ve mixed the ingredients fully. If there are pockets of butter, you’ll find them to melt during baking and cause the cookies to spread. Make sure the butter is softened and mix the dough really well.
- Refrigerate the dough. It’s sometimes a pain to wait for dough to chill, but it greatly helps sugar cookies keep their shape.
Freeze Sugar Cookies
This cookie recipe freezes really well. You can make these cookies up to a month in advance, wrap the cookies well and freeze them. Be sure to place parchment paper between the cookie layers. The cookies are soft and may stick together if you don’t.
Allow the cookies to defrost completely before you unwrap them. Doing this will help the moisture to stay in the cookies and not become dry.
Read all about how to freeze cookie dough here.
Sugar Cookie Icing
This cookie recipe holds several different types of frosting really well. They make a great base for fancier, royal icing cookies. If you need a royal icing recipe, try this one. We’ve used it before and it works well!
If you want something simpler, you can use a powdered sugar frosting like we used here. You can thin this recipe as much as you’d like and spoon it on gently to spread it. The color stays vibrant and the frosting stays soft.
If you’re looking for a fluffy sugar cookie frosting, try our vanilla buttercream recipe. You can pipe this in swirls on the cookies or use a knife to spread it and then top with sprinkles.
Other Sugar Cookie Recipes
Other Sugar Cookie Recipes- Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
- Refrigerated Sugar Cookies
- Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Bakery Style Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Tools to Make Sugar Cookies
- Silpat: For all of your non-stick, cookie-making needs. This is in the top 3 must-have kitchen tools. I don’t know what I’d do without them!
- Baking Sheet: I like to use flat baking sheets for easy removing baked goods easily.
- Pastry Mat: This silicone mat keeps your cupboard clean and makes rolling out pastries so easy.
- Cookie Plate Set: Display your homemade cookies in style. Everyone thinks this cookie plate is so cute!
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Tips on how to make the best cut out sugar cookies. Buttery and lightly sweet, this cookie dough holds its shape when you bake it. Perfect for Christmas cookies and other holiday shapes.
Servings 36
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Total Time 37 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter* (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt with a wire whisk.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed until mixed well.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour mixture.
- Mix just until combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Divide the dough in half, gently flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.**
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 3/8" thick. Use cookie cutters and cut as many shapes as possible, re-rolling the dough scraps and cutting again.
- Place the shapes on a non-stick baking sheet.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, pulling the cookies out just before they start to brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes, then transfer them to a flat surface to cool.
- Once the cookies are cooled, decorate as desired.
Video
Notes
*The butter should be stick butter, not tub butter...and not margarine! Use 100% real butter sticks. And make sure the butter is at room temperature, not fully softened or melted at all. The butter should just give slightly when you press into the stick of butter.
*The amount of cookies you get will greatly depend on how thick you roll the dough and how large your cookie cutter is. I'd say you'll get anywhere from 3-5 dozen cookies with this recipe depending on those factors.
**Looking for an easier way to roll the dough? Roll out the dough before you refrigerate it. Stack the rolled out sheets with wax paper or parchment paper between them. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, then cut into shapes.
***The calories shown are based on the recipe making 36 cookies, with 1 serving being 1 unfrosted cookie. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 20mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.7mg
I had great luck with this recipe. I didn’t use a rolling pin. I only used my hands to flatten the dough. When that warms the dough, I stick it back in the fridge a minute to cool it again before cutting out the shapes. The fam loved these cookies, esp with almond flavored icing (from another recipe). Thanks!!
My 13 year old daughter made these all by herself and they were the best. We are now throwing out our prior sugar cookie recipe and using this one going forward. She divided the dough into tow balls and refrigerated just like you indicated and had no problems.
Wonderful recipe! I followed the instructions to the letter. I didn’t even have time to ice them as the family ate them right out of the oven! I’ll definitely be making these again. Thanks!!
This is the perfect Christmas cookie recipe! They cookies are delicious yet sturdy enough to decorate. Perfect!
I have been looking for a long time for a traditional sugar cookie that does not take cream of tartar and this one was perfect. We did the regular cut-out cookies and put sprinkles on them before we baked them and they turned out beautifully. We’re not much for icing on our cookies in our family.
I dont know what the naysayers are talking about when they complain the dough is “too sticky.” The dough is just fine! It didnt stick any more than other refrigerated sugar cookie doughs I’ve used in the past. If they allowed it to become warm while working with it, or they over mixed it when incorporating the flour (which the recipe warns you not to do), then perhaps they were faced with a stick issue. But this is a great, super easy, recipe that turns out a tasty cookie!
Yesterday I made these cookies and followed the recipe and they turned out so good , all my friends loved them.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! The cookies are cooling so then we can decorate them. They are perfect, not overly sweet! Our rolled cookie recipe from now on.
Our family tradition making cut-out cookies this one will be the recipe I make every year they were the best tasting cut-out cookies we have ever made. We did not do the flattening with parchment paper, we divided into 2 balls wrapped in plastic, we made the dough the day before and stored in the fridge. Took the dough out about 1.5 hours before we started cutting them out. Very easy dough to work with!! You can make them too thin be careful of that. LOVED!!!! They were so good without any frosting but you have to decorate in this… Read more »
I know leavening agents (baking powder and baking soda) can cause the cookies to spread. Is that why you don’t have it listed as an ingredient?
Can I make the dough ahead of time and leave it in the fridge?
WHAT A MESS!! I followed the recipe exactly. I flattened each half into disks before chilling them for two hours, rolled them between two pieces of parchment paper and everything stuck to both sides! Tried patting them flat, stuck to my hands! Finally I used a cookie scooper made them into balls and flatten them with my fingers. Baked them and they tasted like the mess they looked like. Threw the cookies away, the recipe away and the rest of the batter!!
I have unsalted butter, as that’s what I stocked up on for Christmas baking. How much extra salt should I add to make up for that?
Hi. I was just about to try these! Your recipe says 1 1/2 CUPS of butter, but the video shows 1 1/2 STICKS. Which is it???
Worst cookie I’ve ever made…dough stayed super sticky! Left dough in deep freezer for an hour and a half and the cookie cutters stuck to dough, hands stuck and couldnt roll the dough out. Followed recipe actually.. Not sure what happened
Hi! First off, thank you so much for this recipe! The dough holds its shape so well AND is delicious! My question is, is it okay to keep in the refrigerator for about a week? Or do I need to freeze at that point?