These easy sugar cookies have crisp edges and soft middles. Cut out into shapes and decorated with icing, they're a delicious treat for any occasion.
Meet my best sugar cookie recipe! It’s an updated version of one I shared a few years ago, with streamlined steps, simple ingredients, and absolutely delicious results.
These cut out sugar cookies have crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor. Decorated with icing, candies, and/or sprinkles, they’re a festive treat for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or any occasion.
Heads up that this recipe requires chilling the dough, so plan to mix it up at least 2 hours before you roll out and bake the cookies. If you’d like to space out the steps of this recipe even more, you can freeze the cookies after baking. That way, they’ll stay fresh until whenever you’re ready to decorate. Let’s bake!
Sugar Cookies Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy sugar cookie recipe:
- All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Baking powder – It helps the cookies rise.
- Unsalted butter – You’ll need softened butter for this recipe. To soften it, let it sit at room temp for an hour before making the dough.
- Granulated sugar – For sweetness.
- An egg – It binds the cookie dough together and gives the cookies a soft texture.
- Vanilla extract and almond extract – For warm depth of flavor. If you don’t have almond extract on hand, feel free to replace it with an extra splash of vanilla.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Cut Out Sugar Cookies
You can find the complete sugar cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a step-by-step overview of how it goes:
Start by making the cookie dough. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts.
Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Tip: If you don’t have a stand mixer, make the dough with an electric hand mixer!
Next, chill the dough. Divide it in half, and form each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Don’t skip this step! Chilling the sugar cookie dough helps the cut outs hold their shape.
After the dough chills, roll it out. Place one disk on a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it out until it’s 1/4-inch thick.
- Tip: If the dough is too firm to roll out right away, let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes to soften.
Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes. Re-roll the scraps as necessary, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.
Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown, typically 9 to 11 minutes. The cookies will still seem underdone in the middle, but they will set up as they cool.
Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips
- Use parchment paper. It makes cleanup easy and helps the cookies bake evenly. I find that when I bake cookies directly on a baking sheet, they become too dark underneath.
- Bake one sheet at time. Temperatures can vary throughout an oven. For the most even bake, I recommend baking one sheet of cookies at a time on a rack in the center of the oven. You don’t want cookies on a low oven rack to burn before ones on the top rack are ready!
- The bake time may vary. It will depend on the size of your cut-outs. I find that 9 to 11 minutes is a good range for most sugar cookies, but if you have very small cookie cutters, start checking the cookies at 7 minutes. If you’re making large sugar cookies, they may need to bake for 12 or more.
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
My favorite part of making this sugar cookie recipe is decorating the cookies! Here are the two sugar cookie icings I like to use:
- Royal icing (pictured) – Made with meringue powder, this type of icing sets up with a firm texture, which makes it great for piping fine lines and flooding/filling in shapes. I’m sharing the recipe I use in the recipe notes below.
- A super simple sugar cookie icing – When I’m not planning to make intricate designs, I make a super simple sugar cookie icing with milk (any kind) and powdered sugar. I start with 1 tablespoon milk and 3/4 cup powdered sugar and add more of each as needed to create a thick drizzleable consistency. This icing takes longer to harden. Store cookies in a single layer until it sets up.
Feel free to add food coloring to either icing to make your desired colors. After adding icing, top off the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or colored sugar to make them look extra-festive.
How to Store Sugar Cookies
Store iced sugar cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Unfrosted cookies keep well at room temperature.
Can you freeze sugar cookies?
Yes! These sugar cookies freeze well. Seal them in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze them before or after decorating.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
If you love these soft sugar cookies, try one of these easy cookie recipes next:
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Easy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Royal icing, for decorating, optional (recipe in the notes below)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix to combine, then mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until combined. The dough will be soft.
- Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a ball, then flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until about ¼-inch thick. If the dough is too firm to roll right away, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes, then transfer the cut-outs to the prepared baking sheets, re-rolling the scraps as necessary.
- Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to turn golden brown. The cookies will seem underdone in the middle, but they will set up as they cool. The exact timing will depend on the size of your cookie cutters.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, decorate with royal icing or as desired.
- Makes about 30 cookies. Exact yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters.
Notes
Years ago, I was looking through my niece’s Sesame Street Encyclopedia set and ran across a recipe for “Cookie Monster’s Cookie Recipe”. It is a sugar cookie recipe but calls for margarine instead of butter. The cookies are so good and I have baked them for over 40 years now for Christmas and sometimes just because we want them at different times of the year. I can’t wait to try these cookies and see how my family likes them to compare against the ones I have made for years. 😀
Can I substitute gluten free flour?
These are amazing cookies. So easy and simple to make. The sea salt just makes these extra good and yummy! I love that they are not crazy sweet. I followed the recipe exactly as written and found these to be my new favorite cut out cookies.
I’m so glad you loved them!
Just made these today as my first attempt at sugar cookies in several years. Not bad! Could be a touch sweeter, but then again, I don’t usually frost or ice cookies, and I imagine that’s where most of the sweetness would come from.
Can these be made dairy free by using vegan butter. We are ok with the egg
Hi Holly, I haven’t had success with vegan cutouts (vegan butters have a tendency to make cookies go flat when baked). Here’s a vegan sugar cookie recipe that I love: https://dailycove.info/vegan-sugar-cookies/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Would these be any good to make a gingerbread house? We don’t really like gingerbread so looking for an alternative biscuit…
Could you put fondant on top of these cookies? Do you have a recipe for it?
Hi Salina, I’m sorry, I don’t have a recipe for it.
How many cookies does this make?
Hi Ashley, it makes about 3 dozen cookies, though the exact number will depend on the size and shape of your cookie cutters.
P.S. I forgot to add, I made the cookies with country crock plant butter instead of regular and they were spectacular.
I made these (Halloween style) with my daughter today! I wish I could add a picture, they turned out perfect. I even made the royal icing, and it turned out wonderfully for my first attempt. Next time I’ll try to make it thinner! The cookies are only lightly sweet which perfectly balances with the sweet frosting.
I use baking stones so mine baked closer to 12 min. Skipped the almond extract cause it’s not my favorite flavor. Thanks Jeanine!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I think that this recipe is so incredibly delicious! Thank you for using at home ingredients, to help make this recipe easier.
Can you make the cookies without cream of tartar?
yessir
Just made these and they turned out great. I only had vanilla (no almond or lemon). More buttery/like shortbread than expected but the recipe worked well. I made the dough the day before, then left on counter to soften before rolling. Made 30 cookies. Gonna ice them soon! I think the flavor will balance well (adding the sugary icing).
The vegan sugar cookie has egg, I thought vegans don’t eat eggs
This recipe isn’t labeled as vegan.
Is it possible to make one Vegan 🙂 My son has egg allergies but I wish I could replace the egg buy something else without the dought behind too friable.
you can try and do a flax egg
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed)
2 1/2 Tbsp water
Instructions
Add flaxseed meal and water to a dish and stir. Let rest for 5 minutes to thicken. Add to recipes in place of 1 egg (as original recipe is written).
It’s not an exact 1:1 substitution in every recipe because it doesn’t bind and stiffen during baking quite like an egg does. But I’ve found it to work incredibly well in pancakes, quick breads, brownies, muffins, cookies, and many other recipes.
this is satisfying
I would also like to know if the dough is freezable, how long it can stay in the freezer and how long to thaw before using. Thanks for your response!
Hi Stacy, I haven’t tried freezing the dough, so I’m not sure.
LOVED this cookie recipe! Made them with my son and we both enjoyed them a lot. Even making the frosting was easy and delicious. I am not a big fan of sugar cookies, with these were perfect – not overly sweet, buttery, crumbly. Thanks!
Is it ok if I leave the dough, wrapped in the fridge 24 hours or so? Won’t be able to bake tonight but hope they will be ok tomorrow
What can be used to replace the merengue powder?
Hi ML, I don’t have a substitution, it’s what makes this particular icing stiff. You could make a glaze from this recipe instead: https://dailycove.info/shortbread-cookies/%3C/a%3E or the (stickier) or frosting from this recipe: https://dailycove.info/vegan-sugar-cookies/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Corn syrup is what I use instead of meringue powder.
Now I need to look for our cookie stencils. This is a cool recipe.