P R IN T O P T IO N S

Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

★★★★★
4.7 from 750 reviews

Author: Sally Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 45 minutes (includes cooling) Yield: 24 3-4 inch cookies

With crisp edges, thick centers, and room for lots of decorating icing, I know you’ll love these
soft sugar cookies as much as I do. The number of cookies this recipe yields depends on the
size of the cookie cutter you use. If you’d like to make dozens of cookies for a large crowd,
double the recipe.

Ingredients
2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling
and work surface
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*

FOR DECORATING

Royal Icing or Easy Glaze Icing (royal icing is pictured)

Assorted sprinkles

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Instructions
1 Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2 In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the
butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2
minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until
combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat
again as needed to combine.
3 Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be
a bit soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
4 Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured
parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin,
roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too
sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
5 Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top.
(This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or
aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
6 Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment
paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If
it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it—see me do this in the
video below. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough
and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough. (Note: It doesn’t
seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
7 Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly
browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway
through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to
a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
8 Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing or easy cookie icing. Feel free to tint either
icing with gel food coloring. See post above for recommended decorating tools. No need to
cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. If it’s helpful, decorate the
cookies directly on a baking sheet so you can stick the entire baking sheet in the
refrigerator to help speed up the icing setting.
9 Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set,
these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for
about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and
refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Notes
1 Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait
for the icing to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a
freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can
also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough
through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap
each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to
room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill rolled
out dough in the refrigerator for 45 minutes – 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
2 Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Baking
Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Wooden Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling
Pin | Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter | Americolor Soft Gel Paste Color Kit | Piping Bags
(Disposable or Reusable) | Couplers | Wilton Tip #4 | Squeeze Bottle
3 Room Temperature: Room temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your
butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room
temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
4 Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the
ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try
using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract.
Or add 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon. If using lemon extract, you can
also add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.
5 Icing: Use royal icing or my easy cookie icing. See post above to read about the
differences.
6 Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie
baking tools.

Find it online: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-sugar-cookies/

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