Learn how to make perfect cut-out sugar cookies that are both crunchy and chewy, and hold their shape perfectly after baking. They are super easy to make at home and are great when decorated with royal icing or other frosting, perfect for occasions from Christmas to birthdays.
Jump to:
- Why you'll love these cookies
- More Sugar Cookie Recipes
- Ingredients you need for this recipe
- Materials Needed
- How to make the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe with Powdered Sugar
- Cream butter and sugar
- How to decorate cookies
- Storage and freezing
- Tips for perfect cut-out cookies
- Recipe variations
- FAQS - Frequently Asked Questions
- Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Why you'll love these cookies
Cut-out sugar cookies are delightful treats that you can easily shape into various fun designs using cookie cutters. These rolled sugar cookies are known for their soft and chewy texture, making them a favorite for both baking and decorating.
You can decorate these cookies with royal icing or frostings, making them perfect for all sorts of occasions like Christmas cookies or birthdays. Plus, you can flavor them with a wide variety of tastes to suit any preference.
These chewy sugar cookies are super easy to make, maintain their shapes beautifully, and stay flat after baking, making them perfect for both beginners and experienced bakers alike.
- Easy Recipe: Ideal for both beginners and experienced bakers, my easy sugar cookie recipe classic is straightforward and foolproof.
- Melting Texture: Achieve the perfect balance of not too dry and not too hard, with a delicious buttery flavor.
- Versatile Flavoring: Easily adaptable to a variety of flavors, catering to all taste preferences.
- Fun to Shape: The dough is perfect for cutting into any shape with cookie cutters, from traditional to whimsical designs.
- Maintains Shape: With my tips, these cookies retain sharp, flat shapes even after baking.
- Perfect for Any Occasion: Ideal to make Christmas sugar cookies, for birthdays, weddings, or baby showers, these cookies are a versatile treat for any celebration.
More Sugar Cookie Recipes
Ingredients you need for this recipe
*Scroll down the page to see quantities and complete instructions to make this sugar cookie recipe in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Butter - unsalted butter, with a higher fat content with at least 80% fat content and well softened.
- Powdered Sugar - Essential for a smooth texture, you can also use white granulated sugar or brown sugar, but the texture won't be as smooth.
- Egg - At room temperature.
- Vanilla - Pure liquid vanilla extract to flavor the cookies, you can also add other extracts, such as almond extract.
- Flour - White wheat all-purpose flour is best for shortbread cookies.
- Salt - Fine, to enhance the flavor.
- Baking Powder - Optionally, a bit of baking powder for a softer texture.
Materials Needed
How to make the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe with Powdered Sugar
Cream butter and sugar
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the softened butter with the powdered sugar and mix at medium speed with an electric hand mixer for 1-2 minutes until you get a smooth and creamy batter.
- Then add the egg and vanilla and mix again to incorporate them.
Add dry ingredients
- Add the flour mixture, flour, salt, and baking powder (optional), and mix again with the mixer at low speed just enough to get a crumbly texture.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and gather up the cookie dough by hand to form a smooth ball.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to 1 hour to rest.
Cut shapes
- Take the sugar cookie dough out of the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper using a rolling pin to a thickness of about 3 mm.
- Place the rolled-out dough sheet in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes to firm its texture.
- Use cookie cutters by pressing down on the rolled and chilled cookie dough to make clean, sharp cuts.
Bake cookies
- Place cut-out sugar cookie pieces of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or on silicone mats spacing them about 5 cm apart.
- Put the prepared baking sheet with the cut-out sugar cookies back in the freezer for about 15 to 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 170°C (about 340°F) and bake cookies for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until they are lightly golden brown around the edges but still soft in the center.
- Let them cool slightly on the sheet pan before moving them to a wire rack or a flat plate to let them cool completely.
- Decorate your baked cookies with royal icing or my other decoration ideas listed below.
How to decorate cookies
Here are some ideas for frosting and other decorations to decorate sugar cookies :
- Royal Icing: Use my easy royal icing made just from icing sugar (confectioners sugar) and water (no meringue powder) to create detailed and colorful patterns with a piping bag. You can tint it with gel food coloring for more variety like in these iced Christmas cookies.
- Sugar Paste: Decorate with a layer of sugar paste or marzipan for specific themes like holidays or birthdays.
- Sprinkles and Pearls: Add sprinkles, sugared pearls, or edible glitter for a festive and shiny touch.
- Melted Chocolate: Dip the cookies in melted chocolate or use it to draw patterns.
- Powdered Sugar: A simple dusting of powdered sugar can give an elegant and straightforward touch.
- Sugar Decorations: Use theme-specific sugar decorations, like little trees for Christmas or hearts for Valentine's Day.
- Lemon Glaze: A lemon glaze can add a delicious tangy touch and a shiny appearance.
- Buttercream frosting: Use a simple whipped buttercream recipe to decorate the tops of your cookies.
- Cream cheese frosting: My buttercream cream cheese frosting recipe is perfect for decorating cookies.
Storage and freezing
At Room Temperature: Store sugar cookies completely cooled for up to a week at room temperature in an airtight container, stacked on top of each other.
In the Freezer: Freeze sugar cookies when they are completely cooled for up to 3 months in a storage box or plastic bags.
How to freeze raw cookies? To freeze raw cookie dough, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer-safe bag. For shaped raw cut-out cookies, arrange them on a baking sheet, freeze until solid, and then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container.
Tips for perfect cut-out cookies
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Use room temperature eggs and good quality butter at room temperature for the perfect sugar cookie dough texture.
- Handle the dough Carefully: Don't overwork the cookie dough, especially after adding dry ingredients, to prevent it from becoming elastic which could result in misshapen cookies.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cookie dough before rolling and cutting it out, which helps to maintain the shape of the cookies during baking.
- Uniform Thickness: Ensure the cookie dough is rolled out evenly for consistent baking.
- Use Sharp Cookie Cutters: Sharp cookie cutters ensure clean, crisp edges.
- Freeze the Cut-Outs: Place the cut-out sugar cookie dough in the freezer for at least 20 minutes before baking and get the best results.
- Baking tip: The cookies are done when they start to turn golden around the edges but remain fragile and soft in the center. They will firm up as they cool.
Recipe variations
- Spiced sugar cookies: Add cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and cloves for a warm, spicy flavor, perfect for festive occasions like Gingerbread Christmas cookies.
- Lemon or Orange sugar cookies: Incorporate lemon or orange zest into the dough for a tangy touch.
- Chocolate cut-out sugar cookies: Add unsweetened cocoa powder to the dough for a chocolatey twist.
- Nut sugar cookies: Mix in finely chopped nuts like hazelnuts, almonds, or pecans for extra crunch.
- Lavender sugar cookies: For a delicate floral flavor, add a few finely ground dried lavender flowers.
- Matcha Green Tea cookies: Incorporate matcha green tea powder for a unique color and flavor.
- Coffee sugar cookies: Add a packet of instant coffee to give a coffee flavor.
- Filled sugar cookies: After baking, sandwich two biscuits together with jam, salted butter caramel, or melted chocolate.
FAQS - Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my cut-out cookie dough crumbly?
Your cut-out cookie dough might be crumbly because it lacks enough moisture, possibly due to too much flour or not enough butter.
What does powdered sugar do in baking cookies?
In baking cookies, powdered sugar creates a tender texture and a fine crumb, and it dissolves more easily than granulated sugar, ensuring a smoother dough.
How to prevent sugar cookies from spreading and hold their shapes?
To prevent sugar cookies from spreading, use an electronic scale for precise ingredient measurements, avoid overworking the dough to prevent shrinkage, and freeze the cookie dough pieces before baking.
Did you make this recipe?
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PrintCut Out Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 25 cookies
Description
Perfect Homemade Cut-Out Sugar Cookies Recipe with Vanilla Flavor (yields about twenty cookies)
Ingredients
- 100 g (½ cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 80 g (⅔ cup) Powdered Sugar
- 1 Egg - room temperature
- ½ tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 200 g (1 ½ cups) Flour - all-purpose
- 1 pinch Salt
- ½ tsp of Baking Powder - optional
Instructions
Cookie dough Preparation
- Place the softened butter with the powdered sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until the texture is creamy and smooth.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again to incorporate them into a smooth dough.
- Add the dry ingredients, flour, salt, and baking powder (optional), and beat again just until they are incorporated; stop mixing as soon as the mixture seems uniform.
- Gather the cookie dough with your hands to form a ball.
- Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Baking
- Roll out the sugar cookie dough on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 3 mm.
- Place the dough sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes before cutting out shapes with a cookie cutter.
- Place your cut-out dough pieces on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 5 cm apart.
- Put the tray with the cookie cutouts in the freezer for 15 minutes to 30 minutes until well frozen.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (about 340°F) and bake the frozen cookies for 8 - 10 minutes until they are lightly golden around the edges and still soft and fragile in the center.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
- Once completely cooled, decorate them with royal icing, sugar paste, melted chocolate or marzipan.
Notes
Storage: Up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temperature and up to 3 months in the freezer after or before cooking.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: cookies, biscuits, shortbread
- Cuisine: French
Sharon
Turned out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe.