These sugar cookies come from my family recipe we’ve made for generations every holiday! They have a subtle sweet and vanilla flavor that goes perfectly with icing. Are you looking for other easy cookie recipes? You’ll love my Snickerdoodles, Buttery Spritz Cookies, and Gingerbread Cookies.
This Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe has been in my family for years. It is one of those cookie recipes that we pull out each year to make Christmas cookies for decorating. Just as Mama did with my sister and me when we were young, I let Sam choose his favorite cookie cutters for us to use when he was a young boy. Frosted with a quick sugar cookie icing and more sprinkles and decorations, these scrumptious cookies are a part of the holidays in our family. They are still a favorite tradition to bake each year to decorate, share, and enjoy!
Table of Contents
Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Taste and Texture. These cookies have a slightly sweet taste that is not overpowered by icing or decorations. Their texture is soft, yet they are sturdy enough for decorating.
Festive. The dough can be cut into any desired shape for holidays and celebrations and decorated as you wish. They are so much fun to make with kids!
Easy to Make Ahead. The sugar cookie dough is perfect to make ahead and keep chilled until ready to cut out the cookies for baking.
Tips for the Best Sugar Cookies!
- Follow the recipe closely. There are just a few simple ingredients in this sugar cookie dough, so they each play a role, making each important to use as directed.
- Also, follow the steps as directed – being careful not to overmix the dough.
- Don’t skip the step of putting the cookie sheet with the cut cookies on it in the freezer as directed before baking. It helps the cookies keep their festive shapes.
How to Make Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
This sugar cookie recipe has been tested over the decades and made hundreds of times. It is truly delicious and a great recipe to use for your cookie traditions. Here’s how you’ll make these scrumptious cookies:
Sugar Cookie Ingredients
For this cookie recipe, you’ll need the following simple ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
I recommend that the butter be softened, and the eggs be at room temperature for better mixing with the sugar and flour.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Make the Sugar Cookie Dough
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix into the butter mixture. Add in the vanilla.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture, making sure to mix until well combined without overmixing the dough.
- Divide the dough in half. If ready to bake, go ahead and roll and cut the dough for baking. If you are making ahead, wrap each half of the dough well with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Roll and Cut Out the Dough
- Roll the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut it with your favorite cookie cutters. If the dough sticks, you can lightly dust the rolling surface and rolling pin with confectioner’s sugar or flour. I prefer to use confectioner’s sugar as I find it doesn’t leave an aftertaste once the cookies are baked.
- Cut sugar cookies with preferred cookie cutters, working dough back together and rolling and cutting until all dough has been used and all the sugar cookies are placed onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake the Cookies
- Place the baking sheets full of cut-out sugar cookies into the freezer for 15 minutes to prevent the dough from spreading while baking. Don’t skip this step, as it helps the cookies hold their shape.
- Preheat oven to 350º F while the baking sheet is in the freezer.
- Transfer baking sheets straight from the freezer to the oven for baking. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.
Decorate the Sugar Cookies
While the sugar cookies are cooling, I mix up the easy cookie icing that my Mama always made when we were children. Then, the whole family has so much fun decorating them.
While we’ve always loved making these as part of our baking for Christmas cookies, it’s a great sugar cookie recipe to use anytime!
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
To store baked and decorated sugar cookies. Prepare the cookies as instructed, allow any decorative frosting to dry completely, and then store them in parchment-lined layers within an airtight container for up to a week.
To make ahead unbaked cookies. Make the sugar cookie dough, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. When ready to roll and bake, remove from the refrigerator and follow the recipe.
To freeze cookie dough. Make the sugar cookie dough, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and place it in a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to roll and bake, remove from the refrigerator and follow the recipe.
To freeze unbaked cookies. Place cut-out sugar cookies onto a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and place into the freezer until the unbaked cookies are firmly frozen (about 30 minutes). Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container, layering the unbaked frozen cookies between parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake from frozen, add about 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
To freeze baked cookies. Allow the baked sugar cookies to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container layering between parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, allow the cookies to reach room temperature and then decorate as you’d like.
Here’s my family’s cut-out sugar cookie recipe. I hope your family loves it as much as mine does! You might also like to try my Chewy Sugar Cookie Recipe. Between the two, you’ll be in sugar cookie bliss!
Related Recipes
Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- 2 teaspoons (9.4 g) vanilla extract
- 4 cups (480 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (2.6 g) kosher salt
- confectioner’s sugar , for rolling
Instructions
- Line baking sheet pans with parchment paper or baking mats.
- Cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Then, add in the vanilla extract.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and the salt in a large bowl. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture, making sure to mix well as combining and taking care not to over mix as it causes tough cookies.
- Dust countertop area lightly for rolling sugar cookie dough using confectioner’s sugar. Divide the sugar cookie dough in half and roll to desired thickness. Cut sugar cookies with preferred cookie cutters, working dough back together and rolling and cutting until all dough has been use and placed onto prepared baking sheets.
- Place your baking sheets into the freezer for 15 minutes to prevent the dough from spreading as much while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350º F as your sugar dough is in the freezer. Transfer baking sheets straight from the freezer to the oven for baking. Bake cookies until lightly golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating, if desired.
Notes
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
To store baked and decorated sugar cookies. Prepare the cookies as instructed, allow any decorative frosting to dry completely, and then store them in parchment-lined layers within an airtight container for up to a week. To make ahead unbaked cookies. Make the sugar cookie dough, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. When ready to roll and bake, remove from the refrigerator and follow the recipe. To freeze cookie dough. Make the sugar cookie dough, wrap it well with plastic wrap, and place it in a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to roll and bake, remove from the refrigerator and follow the recipe. To freeze unbaked cookies. Place cut-out sugar cookies onto a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and place into the freezer until the unbaked cookies are firmly frozen, about 30 minutes. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container layering the unbaked frozen cookies between parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake from frozen, add about 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time. To freeze baked cookies. Allow the baked sugar cookies to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container layering between parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, allow the cookies to reach room temperature and then decorate as you’d like.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2013.
Hello!
I ave made your chewy sugar cookies many times but wanted to make pumpkin shaped cookies for the kids tonight. With their help of course. I found this receipt that you use for cut out cookies. What is the difference taste wise. My family already lives the other recipe so I don’t want them to be confused.
Thank you.
These are delicious too, Nicole. I make both recipes – this one when I want to make shaped cookies. I hope you enjoy them too! Thanks! xo
hey, can I use coconut sugar instead of the regular? spelt flour instead of white flour?
I’ve not made the recipe with those substitutions, Roni. I hope you enjoy them if you give them a try! xo
Salted or unsalted butter for this? thank you.
You can use whichever you prefer, but I generally use salted.
My dough was crumbly as well and I tried really hard not to over mix it. Since it was crumbly, I just kind of kneaded it together until it formed a ball and it seems to be sticking well. I’m also chilling it a bit before I try to roll it out. Do I HAVE to line the cookie sheets with parchment? I don’t have any and I don’t feel like loading up the baby to run to the store…
I like using parchment for baking cookies, Liz, but if you don’t have it, you can grease your cookie sheets well. If you have a Silpat baking mat you can use that as well. I love parchment for the non-stick, easy cleanup and even browning it gives the cookies but you can make them without it if you do the things I mention above. Enjoy them! Thanks! xo
Hi Kady – I’m so sorry that happened.
I’ve never had a problem with this recipe crumbling. Not sure if this was the case when you made it, but if it is over mixed when the flour is added, it will crumble. Just mix until flour is just blended well.
Another possibility could be the density of the flour used. I always use White Lily flour which is lighter than other flours and results in a great texture for my baked goods.
Hope this helps. Thanks so much.
They were kind of dry tasting. Needed milk. 🙁 Also I didn’t know to decorate with sprinkles before baking I don’t like frosting. Lol.
Decorate before baking
do these cookies expand in the oven? or will they stay the same size? thanks!
Just from reading her recipe it states to put the cut cookies on the cookie sheet in the freezer before baking – this is so they don’t spread
I tried this recipe several times and its just amazing…taste wise and texture wise… I was wondering if i can store it in the freezer after baking in order for it to stay fresh? I am baking it 3 days ahead … or what do you suggest? Thanks
i love cookies like this and they are good
Those sugar cookies look soooo wonderful. Thank you for your great recipes.
Thank you so much, Bernadette. I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes!