BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (2024)

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This easycutout sugar cookie recipeis the best! It makes soft cookies with lightly crisp edges. The perfect sugar cookie for decorating!

Sugar cookies are such versatile cookies – there’s one for every occasion! This recipe makes amazing sugar cookies for decorating. You can also try Brown Sugar Cookies and these for more ways to enjoy this classic cookie!

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (1)

Table of Contents

  • Sugar Cookies: A Classic Holiday Cookie Tradition!
  • Why I Love These Cut Out Sugar Cookies
  • How to Make Cutout Sugar Cookies for Decorating
  • Get the Recipe

Sugar Cookies: A Classic Holiday Cookie Tradition!

Decorating sugar cookies was a holiday tradition for my family growing up. My mom is not a baker but every Christmas she’d get things ready to make Christmas cookies with my brother and I. These caramel clusters were made very year, along with cutout sugar cookies. We’d actually ice the cookies with a traditional buttercream, but I decided to use royal icing this time around.

My mom actually gave me the cookie cutters we used to use a few years ago, figuring I’d get more use out of them now. I used those cookie cutters for these cookies. 🙂

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (2)

Why I Love These Cut Out Sugar Cookies

I also used the same recipe we’d use – with a few modifications. The original recipe actually spread quite a bit. Not really ideal for cutout cookies.

So I did some playing around with the recipe and got them just right! I’m not going to lie, they spread juuuusssst a tad. It’s really more that they rise a bit. I considered making them a touch thicker so they didn’t spread/rise at all, but honestly I love them just the way they are. Too thick and you end up with a less than appetizing, dry cookie. The spread really isn’t much and as you continue to work with the dough and re-roll it, more flour mixes in and by the time you’re done, there’s no spread at all. The cookies hold their shape great, even when they spread a tad.

You will want to make sure to accurately measure your ingredients for these cookies. The amounts of ingredients – especially the flour – really do need to be correct to ensure your cookies turn out correctly. Too much flour and you’ll have some hard cookies. Too little and they’ll spread too much.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (3)

To help with that potential problem, I’ve included weight measurements for those who have a scale. It really is more accurate.

If you’re using a scoop, just be sure not to pack in the flour. I pour my flour into a canister and then scoop it out of there, so it isn’t densely packed but is loose.

How to Make Cutout Sugar Cookies for Decorating

Make the Cookie Dough

To make the dough, start by creaming the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. You should notice the color of the mixture actually get lighter in color and it should get fluffy in texture. Then you’ll mix in the egg and vanilla, then the dry ingredients. It’s a very simple and straightforward recipe as far as the ingredients and method.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (4)
BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (5)

The dough will actually be quite thick, even a little crumbly at first. If it doesn’t completely come together with the mixer, use your spatula or hands to press it into a ball.

These Are No Chill Cutout Sugar Cookies

You can definitely refrigerate this cookie dough and make it a few days ahead if you want, but it isn’t required. You can start rolling our cookies as soon as it’s ready.

Shape Your Cut Out Cookies

Sprinkle a little flour onto your surface (I used our countertops). Grab some of the dough – I start with about 1/3 of the dough – and roll it out. If you find your rolling pin sticks to the dough, sprinkle a touch of flour onto it. You’ll want the dough to be 1/8 to a 1/4 inch thick after being rolled out.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (6)

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (7)

Cut out your cookies, making the most of the dough and squeezing in as many cookies as you can. My cookie cutters were fairly big, so I didn’t get quite as many cookies per roll out. Remove the excess dough and lift the cookies with a lightly floured spatula, then place them on a lined cookie sheet. I like to use my silicone baking mat, but parchment paper would work well too.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (8)
BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (9)

Bake the Cookies

The cookies bake for 7-9 minutes. You can wait until the edges are just starting to get golden, or remove them a touch sooner. The time might vary a bit between ovens, but 8 minutes was just right for me. Well baked, but not browned. I like mine a little softer.

Once you remove the cookies from the oven, you’ll want to let them sit for 4-5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. They will be fairly soft until they firm up a bit as they cool, so it’ll be easier to move them once they’ve cooled a bit.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (10)

Decorate Your Sugar Cookies

Once the cookies are completely cool, it’s time to ice them with royal icing. It’s really not as scary as it seems, it just takes a little time and you need the right tools. I liked these cutout sugar cookies best once I had the royal icing on them. The icing softens the cookie up a bit from the moisture and results in a seriously perfect decorated sugar cookie.

In fact, I took one with me to Chicago right after I made them so that my friend Julianne from Beyond Frosting could try one. She said it was the best royal icing cookie she’s had! A big compliment. 🙂

If you’re wanting to decorate your cookies with royal icing when they’re ready, check out my post on how to make, color and pipe with royal icing. There’s even a video!

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (11)

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”m3H58BpY” upload-date=”2019-10-25T16:41:03.000Z” name=”Cutout Sugar Cookies” description=”This easycutout sugar cookie recipeis the best! It makes soft cookies with lightly crisp edges. The perfect sugar cookie for decorating!”]
Read transcript

You might also like these cookie recipes:

Best Gingerbread Cookies (Soft and Chewy Cutouts)
Christmas Tree Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Coconut Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
No Bake Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons
Gingerbread Cookies with Eggnog Icing
Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

My favorite tools for making these cookies:
Silicone baking mat
Scale, for weighing ingredients
Parchment paper
Rolling pin

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BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (12)

Recipe

Cutout Sugar Cookies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 30 reviews

  • Author: Life, Love and Sugar
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 9 minutes
  • Total Time: 19 minutes
  • Yield: About 20 Large Cutout Cookies
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
Print

Description

This easycutout sugar cookie recipeis the best! It makes soft cookies with lightly crisp edges. The perfect sugar cookie for decorating!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup (207g) sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups (293g) all purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  3. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  4. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Dough will be very thick. You might need to use a spatula or your hands to help it all come together.
  5. On a lightly floured surface and using smaller amounts of dough at a time, roll out dough to about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch. IF you roll them out too thickly, they might spread a little bit. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. See my notes about rolling out the cookie dough below.
  6. Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies, then transfer to cookie sheet. (If you want to be completely sure that they don’t spread even a little, put them on parchment paper and freeze them for 7-8 minutes before baking them.)
  7. Bake cookies 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven just before they start to brown on the edges.
  8. Allow cookies to cool for 4-5 minutes, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Notes

The best way to measure the dry ingredients for this recipe to ensure your cookie dough isn’t dry is to measure them by weight. If you don’t have a scale though, be sure not to pack the flour into your measuring cup. I usually store my flour in a separate container from the bag I bought it in, then prior to measuring I use a spoon or other utensil to loosen the flour. I use a scoop to scoop out the flour, then level it with the flat side of a knife. Don’t tap the scoop to settle the flour or pack in the flour.

Rather than rolling the dough out onto a floured surface, you can also roll it out right onto parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, then you don’t have to transfer them and move them around after cutting. I’ve started doing this, and also putting parchment paper over the cookie dough when I roll it out so I’m not flouring the dough several times or the rolling pin.

If you’d like to use it, here is myroyal icing recipefor decorating the cookies.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cookie
  • Calories: 136
  • Sugar: 10.1 g
  • Sodium: 121.5 mg
  • Fat: 5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 21.1 g
  • Protein: 1.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 21.5 mg

Filed Under:

  • Christmas
  • Cookies
  • Fall and Holiday Favorites
  • Holidays
  • Recipes
  • Recipes with video
  • Sweets and Treats

Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links.

BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for Decorating - Easy Sugar Cookies! (2024)

FAQs

How thick should sugar cookies be for decorating? ›

The ideal thickness to roll out your sugar cookie dough is about 1/4"--that way, they'll be tough enough to be handled and decorated, but thin enough to stay a little crunchy.

Do you put decorative sugar on cookies before or after baking? ›

For this technique, you'll want to decorate your cookies before baking. We recommend using decorative sugar (also known as colored sanding sugar), Turbinado sugar (coarse golden sugar) or pearl sugar (coarse clear sugar). It all sounds super fancy but it's really very easy!

What is the easiest way to decorate sugar cookies? ›

Use Squeeze Bottles to Decorate Cookies with Icing

I find that squeeze bottles work just as well for decorating and are easier for us non-pro bakers to work with. Plus, they're easy to clean! My favorites are little eight-ounce squeeze bottles that you can find at Michael's and other craft stores.

How long to let sugar cookies cool before decorating? ›

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I like to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on baking sheets.

What is the best piping tip for sugar cookies? ›

The extra-large nozzles are typically used for buttercream cakes and cupcakes. If you are decorating the large floral cookies though, they are used as well. If you already have these down, a different kind is the Russian tips. They do have mini ones that are perfect piping tips for sugar cookies.

How do you display decorated sugar cookies? ›

My trick is to save the really pretty iced cookies and place them on the very top of your cookie board. That way, everyone will see those first and it makes for a killer display. You can also display these cookies at varying heights, placing some on a tray and some elevated up on some cake stands too!

How to attach icing to sugar cookies? ›

Attaching the icing

Lightly brush the icing with water. This will allow the icing to adhere to the biscuit. Carefully lay the icing onto the biscuit and use your finger to gently round out any rough edges.

Do you add sprinkles before or after baking? ›

If you want to add sprinkles to cookies, cupcakes, breads, or cakes before baking, that is totally and completely ok. Add sprinkles to the tops of these baked goods right before they go into the oven. Adding sprinkles to “wet” batter is the only way to get them to stick without an additional “glue” like frosting.

What do professionals use to decorate cookies? ›

With these in your arsenal, all you'll need to bring to the pastry kitchen is a little artistic sensibility.
  • Rolling pin with thickness rings. ...
  • Piping tips and couplers. ...
  • Piping bags. ...
  • Piping bag ties. ...
  • Scribe tool. ...
  • Gel food coloring. ...
  • Edible paint pens.
Aug 27, 2019

How do you dress up sugar cookies? ›

5 Ways to Get Fancy with Your Sugar Cookies
  1. Make a fancy thumbprint cookie. ...
  2. Turn them into sandwich cookies. ...
  3. Decorate with melted chocolate. ...
  4. Try different flavorings in the sugar cookie dough. ...
  5. Roll cookie dough logs in sparkly sugar.
May 1, 2019

How thick should cookie icing be? ›

I like to start off with a stiffer, thick consistency icing because it's easy from there to thin the icing out to a flood consistency just by continuing to add a little water. A thicker royal icing should be spreadable and easy to pipe. It reminds me of the consistency of toothpaste or very soft cream cheese.

What is the average size of a decorated cookie? ›

The average size of each cookie is 3 1/2 to 4 inches. These cookies make a great gift to ship to your special someone for a birthday, holiday, congratulations gift, holiday treat or thank you gift.

What consistency should a sugar cookie be? ›

The texture should be like Playdoh. Add a little flour or water if needed to get it to a soft, pliable consistency. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough onto a floured surface until 1/4-1/2 inch thick, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

What is the average thickness of a cookie? ›

The best thickness for sugar cookies can depend on personal preference and the desired texture. However, in general, a thickness of around 1/4 inch (6mm) is ideal for sugar cookies. This thickness allows the cookies to be firm enough to hold their shape while baking, but also remain tender and not too thick or doughy.

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