Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
TASTE: Perfectly balanced sweetness with a hint of vanilla and almond, for that quintessential Christmas cookie flavor.
TEXTURE: These hold their shape perfectly while baking without getting too hard or crispy.
EASE: Super easy. This dough is a dream to work with.
PROS: Make-ahead friendly! See my tips for freezing the baked cookies below.
CONS: Cut-out cookies are a little time-consuming, but it’s totally worth the work when you see how pretty they look!
WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN? Every Christmas!
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Happy Holidays!! I’m so excited to share this recipe for Easy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Icing.
This simple sugar cookie dough is a joy to work with, it’s almost like rolling out Play-Doh. That’s because you roll the dough out first before chilling it. I find it’s SO much easier this way and makes it so you can have little ones join in on this festive baking project.
Best of all? These cookies are so delicious! They’re sweet without being cloying, and the vanilla extract and hint of almond really take the flavor over the top.
Free Cookie Customization Guide!
The science-based guide so you can bake perfect cookies every time!
They also hold their shape perfectly and don’t spread while baking.
I’ve also included my super-simple icing recipe to go along with it. It’s my easy alternative to royal icing for people who don’t like royal icing, or don’t want to deal with finding meringue powder or using raw egg whites.
However, if you prefer royal icing or even buttercream, feel free to use whatever you prefer!
If you want extra tips on making and decorating sugar cookies, I’ve added two of my YouTube videos below.
This truly is the perfect Christmas Sugar Cookie recipe! Just check out Maria’s review of this recipe just below:
Reader Love
This dough was perfect – easy to roll out and cut, and the cookies had the exact same shape coming out of the oven as they did going in. And most importantly the cookies were delicious 🙂 I also froze some of the baked cookies to bring out a few weeks later and they defrosted beautifully, you’d never know!
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I hope you love making these for many holiday seasons to come.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Tips for Perfect Sugar Cookies that Maintain Their Shapes:
- Measure your flour correctly – Make sure to weigh your flour for precision. If you add too much flour, your cookies may be hard and dry. If you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method instead.
- Make sure your butter isn’t too warm – If your butter is too warm, your cookies may spread, and we don’t want that here! About 67°F is perfect. Learn more about butter in baking here.
- Use fresh baking powder – Did you know that leavening agents can lose their effectiveness before the expiration date printed on the packaging? Learn more about Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda, and how to test for freshness, here.
- Chill your dough before baking – After rolling out the dough, we’ll chill it for about an hour to firm it up, and then cut out our shapes. You can then re-chill the dough, to prevent spreading and ensure your cookies maintain their shapes perfectly. If you encounter any issues with the cookies not keeping their shape, it’s likely because the dough wasn’t cold enough when it hit the oven – try freezing the shaped dough for about 15 minutes before baking.
Can I Make Drop Cookies with This Recipe?
This recipe was designed for cutting out shapes, but if you want drop-style cookies, give my super sugar-popular Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies a try instead.
Tools for Homemade Sugar Cookies:
- Baking pan – This is my favorite pan for cookies. Learn more about cookie pans here.
- Parchment paper – I love these pre-cut sheets.
- Cookie cutters – Any should work, but I prefer metal cutters for perfect shapes. This is a great Christmas set.
- Food coloring – I highly recommend using gel coloring. Here’s my favorite set.
- For decorating – A small squeeze bottle is my favorite, but a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip also works.
Alternative Sugar Cookie Flavors
Although my favorite sugar cookies are flavored with vanilla and almond extracts, feel free to use any other extracts you like, spices such as ground cinnamon, or orange zest or lemon zest instead.
Just note that other extracts can vary in potency, so you may need to experiment slightly with the amounts.
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
I’ve included detailed instructions in the recipe below for both flood icing and border icing. All you need for the easy icing is powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and food coloring (if using). Use a fork to beat all the ingredients in a bowl together.
Add a little more powdered sugar to thicken, and a tiny bit more water/milk to thin it out, as needed.
Check out my full Sugar Cookie Icing post for more tips on icing!
How to Decorate Cut-Out Cookies
These cookies are SO fun to decorate! Get the kids involved and get creative decorating with fun colors and cute sprinkles.
Check out my videos for some more detailed decorating tips:
Help! I Don’t Like Decorating Cookies
If you don’t like decorating or find it too time-consuming, I have a couple easy ideas for super simple decorating:
- Simply drizzle the icing across each baked, cooled cookie and top with holiday sprinkles.
- Thin your icing with a little additional milk and simply dip the entire top of the cookie in the icing. Garnish with cute sprinkles.
- Using the border icing recipe below, spread the icing across the top of each cookie using a small offset spatula.
- Use a cookie cutter that’s also a stamp, like these. That way, your cookies are already decorated, and you can serve them without icing! Be sure your cookies are very cold when they hit the oven, to maintain their shape and detail. Add a dusting of powdered sugar once baked and cooled, if preferred.
How to Store Sugar Cookies
These Sugar Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days. If you need to prep these cookies further in advance, check out the freezing instructions just below.
How to Freeze Sugar Cookies
These cookies freeze particularly well after baking. Freeze the baked, cooled Sugar Cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 month. I prefer a sturdy airtight container for freezing baked cookies, to protect the cookies from other items in your freezer and prevent the cookies from breaking. Defrost to room temperature before decorating or serving.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes:
- Loaded Peanut Butter Christmas Cookie Bars
- Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
Be sure to check out my Christmas Headquarters for ALL my holiday baking recipes!
Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 3 sticks (339 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 4 1/2 cups (572 grams) all-purpose flour,*
measured correctly - 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the border icing:
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar, sifted (plus more as needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
- Food coloring, if desired
For the flood icing:
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar, sifted (plus more as needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
- Food coloring, if desired
Instructions
Make the cookies:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until well-combined and smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until combined. Scrape the bowl down again. On low speed, slowly add in the flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Place one dough portion between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with the remaining portion of dough. Place the two sheets of dough on a baking sheet and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. You can also freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, rerolling any scraps and cutting more shapes. Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets.
- If the dough is at all warm, freeze for 15 minutes or until firm again before baking, to prevent spreading.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and beginning to brown. Be careful not to over-bake. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Baked un-iced sugar cookies can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
For the border icing:
- In a small bowl, use a fork to beat together all the ingredients except the food coloring. Mix in the food coloring, a few drops at a time, until colored to your liking. The mixture should be very thick but still pourable. Add more powdered sugar as needed.
- Transfer the border icing to a squeeze bottle using a funnel. You can also scoop into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip. Before you begin icing any cookies, take a few moments to practice on a piece of parchment paper to get the feel for the icing.
- Holding the bottle or bag tip directly over one corner of a cookie, begin tracing an outline of the cookie, squeezing gently and using both hands if needed to maintain consistent pressure. I prefer to allow a little slack in my icing line as I go. If you mess up, simply wipe the icing off and start again. Allow the icing to dry slightly before continuing with the flood icing.
For the flood icing:
- In a small bowl, use a fork to beat together all the ingredients except the food coloring. Mix in the food coloring, a few drops at a time, until colored to your liking. The mixture should still be pretty thick, but will drizzle more freely than the border icing. If needed, add an additional teaspoon of milk to loosen until the consistency is pourable. Pour the flood icing into a squeeze bottle or into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip.
- Prepare as many batches and colors of flood icing as you need to decorate your cookies.
- Begin filling the interior of the border drawn on each cookie with the flood icing, being careful not to add too much that it overflows the border icing. Use either the nose of the bottle or a small toothpick to push the icing evenly over the cookie and up against the corners.
- Leave the iced cookies to dry for 24 hours. The cookies are dry when the surface is completely smooth and resists smudging when touched. Store the dried cookies between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.
Recipe Notes
Border: 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon water
Flood: 1 ½ Tablespoons water
This post was published in 2018 and has been updated with additional recipe tips and information. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
These are the best sugar cookies ever! My husband and my brother both devour these cookies like they’re the last cookies they’ll ever get!
These are my go to cut out cookies. I have a friend and her family says these are the best they have ever had. I let the dough rest in the fridge for 24 hours. I won’t use another recipe for this type of cookie. Thank you.
These cookies take quite a while to make (prepare them ahead of time!), but they’re so fun, delicious and customisable! They’re always a treat during Christmas ^^
Great recipe, very easy to follow
The dough was really easy to roll and cut. The cookies were delicious!
So glad to hear that these cookies were tasty AND easy to make 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment!
Have made these twice now and perfect texture and flavour. This now replaces our traditional family Christmas cookies