These cut out sugar cookies are soft, tender cookies made with dough that doesn't spread when baked! They're topped with a simple vanilla glaze that's easy to color and decorate for any season.
Heather's recipe summary
Flavor/texture: Lightly sweetened vanilla cookies topped sweet vanilla glaze and sprinkles. They're soft, tender, and hold their shape beautifully when baked.
Easy to customize: While popular for Christmas, these cookies can be customized with any cookie cutter shape to fit the season.
Yield: About 32 cookies
Similar to: Maple Cut Out Cookies
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter - Unsalted butter can be substituted with salted butter (cut the listed salt in half).
- Vanilla - Vanilla extract can be substituted with other extracts like maple, lemon, or peppermint for a different flavor. Cut the measurement in half for strong flavors like peppermint.
- Milk - I used whole milk, but any milk (like skim or almond milk) will work here.
- Food coloring - Adding color to your icing is optional. I recommend a high quality gel food coloring for bright, vibrant colors. I use AmeriColor Soft Gel Food Paste (Amazon), but any gel or liquid food coloring will work in this recipe.
How to make cut out sugar cookies
- Use a hand mixer to beat sugar and wet ingredients together until creamed and fluffy.
- Whisk dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- Divide dough in half, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate.
- Roll out onto a flour-dusted countertop and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
- Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until set on top and barely golden around the edges.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before icing.
- Decorate with icing, and add sprinkles while the icing is wet.
- Allow to set completely before storing.
Tips and tricks
Handle dough as little as possible - Try not to handle the dough too much with your hands. This warms up the dough faster and causes spreading in the oven.
Chill cut cookies before baking - Whether you have issues with cookies spreading or not, I highly recommend chilling your dough for a second time before baking. Place the entire baking sheet into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before baking.
Cool before icing - Allow your baked cookies to cool completely before adding decorations. Warm cookies can cause icing to slide off and melt.
Add less icing than you think you'll need - This icing is thin and you'll only need maybe ½ teaspoon per cookie. Add less than you think you'll need and carefully spread to the edges using a butter knife, offset spatula, or the back of a spoon. Extra icing will run off the edges.
Frequently asked questions
No, these cookies turn out soft and tender throughout. This is due to the proportions of flour/egg/butter as well as the addition of two eggs that help keep the cookies soft.
Here are a few common reasons why your cut out cookies are spreading in the oven and how to prevent this from happening:
- You've greased your baking sheet instead of using parchment. Adding grease to a baking sheet will cause any cookie (not just cut out cookies) to spread more than they should. This recipe calls for lining a baking sheet with parchment instead of using grease.
- Your dough is too warm. If your dough has spent a long time out of the refrigerator or you've handled it too much, it will spread more in the oven. To prevent this, chill your baking sheet with cut out cookies in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking.
- Don't place dough on a hot baking sheet. Instead, use two baking sheets and rotate them out, or allow your baking sheet to cool before loading it up with more cookies.
Too much flour will cause your dough to be dry, crumbly, and tough. If your dough is too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix to incorporate. The most accurate way to measure flour is with a kitchen scale (this is what I do and what I recommend to others). If you don't have a scale, spoon your flour into a measuring cup, then level off with a knife. When scooping directly from a bin with a measuring cup, this compacts the flour into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to your recipe.
If every recipe you've tried isn't turning out, it may be a matter of the ingredients you're using, the environment, or your technique. It's important to follow the recipe instructions and ingredients exactly without substitutions or variations. I find that most often when a reader has issues with a recipe and they've "followed the recipe to a T", they're making substitutions in the ingredients without realizing that affects the recipe. The ingredient list is made with a purpose and baking is an exact science. Substitutions can't be made without expecting a change in results.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cutout cookies
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup (148 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all purpose flour, *measured properly
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Icing
- 1 cup (113 g) confectioner's sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- gel food coloring, optional
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or stand mixer), cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift (or whisk) together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Shape dough into two round discs and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove one disc of dough at a time from the refrigerator.
- Dust counter top, rolling pin, and top of dough with flour. Roll dough out to ¼" thickness, dusting with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using cookie cutters, cut into various shapes and place onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies for about 8-9 minutes, or until cookies just begin to lightly brown around edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Icing
- In a bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, using a whisk if needed to remove clumps. Icing should be smooth and shiny.
- Optionally, divide icing between bowls and add gel food coloring to achieve desired colors.
- Using a small spatula, the back of a spoon, or a butter knife, gently coat each cookie with a thin layer of icing. You'll need very little (maybe ½ teaspoon) for each cookie, depending on size and shape.
- Optionally, add sprinkles while icing is wet.
- Allow cookies to dry for several hours before stacking and/or storing.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * How to measure flour properly: Use a kitchen scale to measure flour for accurate results every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Storage: Cut out sugar cookies will keep for 5 to 7 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help keep cookies fresh, place a slice of bread in the cookie container and replace when it dries out.
- Freezing: Cookies can be frozen for up to three months. To thaw, place on the countertop to bring to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- To prevent spreading: Use parchment, not grease. Chill your dough before rolling out. Chill dough a second time on the baking sheet just before baking. Don't place dough on a hot baking sheet.
- Food coloring: Gel and liquid food coloring both work in this recipe.
I had so much fun creating this recipe! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as I do. If you have a question, check out the post above, which is packed with information about the recipe. Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment and a star rating to share your feedback!