The best, SOFT cut out sugar cookie I've ever made! Customizable for any occasion, these soft & thick cut out sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas, Valentines, and birthday cookies! I'll walk you through tips on how to roll out the dough to avoid spreading & sticking, as well as give you my favorite, easy frosting recipes.
Update: Be sure to watch my in-depth VIDEO tutorial below where I walk through the crucial steps in preventing your cookies from spreading. It's a longer form video, but one where I share it ALL!
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Over four years ago, I shared a post on my family's favorite cut out sugar cookies and by some miracle, that post went viral and continues to be the most popular recipe on the site. It uses powdered sugar, is soft, and has a delicious flavor to boot. But as time has gone on and I've tested TONS more sugar cookie recipes, I ended up concocting a new cut out sugar recipe that has become my new favorite.
The original recipe is still delicious and loved by many of you (so I didn't want to overwrite that one!), but I have found this one to spread even less, which allows us to get them really THICK.
- Original: All powdered sugar, more butter = a buttery, slightly flakey texture.
- This New Recipe: Granulated Sugar, Less Butter = a thicker, softer, more moist texture.
Before we dive into the recipe, I want to talk about what you can do to make a perfect cut out sugar cookie. Because believe it or not, there's more to it than just the recipe.
- Soft Butter: You need room temperature, softened butter. If you use butter that is too melted, your cookies will not roll out very well and will almost always spread in the oven.
- Properly Roll The Dough: Over kneading or rolling the dough will result in more spreading (because the heat of your hands will soften the butter as you roll.) Before starting, hop on over to my post on how to roll sugar cookies and read the tips (trust me, it will save you some frustration!).
- Roll Them Thick: I'm talking ⅜" to ½" thick.
- Do Not Overbake: You need to pull them out of the oven before you see any brown around the edges. I'll go into more detail on this below, but essentially, the trick to soft and moist cut out sugar cookies is to ever so slightly underbake them and allow them to finish baking on the hot baking sheet outside of the oven.
What You Need to Make Cut Out Sugar Cookies:
- Softened Butter, Granulated Sugar, Egg, Vanilla Extract & Almond Extract, Baking Powder, Salt, Flour
- Cookie Cutters
- Rolling Pin with Thickness Guides (read more about my favorite rolling pin here)
- Parchment Paper
- Frosting / Pairs well with:
- Easy Sugar Cookie Icing = Great for one-color designs
- Royal Icing = Great for intricate designs, where you want the icing to fully harden
- Buttercream Frosting = Great for spreading or piping swirls (for less fluffy frosting, don't whip as long)
Be sure to check out my Christmas Cookie Frosting Guide for my favorite recipe, food coloring tips, and piping tips! And for EASY decorating ideas, check out my 5 EASY Christmas Cookies for Kids!
Watch my video for tips & tricks!
How to Make Cut Out Sugar Cookies:
Step 1: Mix Dough
Follow instructions in recipe card below to mix dough. Be sure to measure your flour properly, as adding too much can result in dry cookies.
Once the dough is mixed, scrape down the sides of the bowl to form dough into a rough ball, then transfer to the piece of floured parchment paper. When poked with your finger, the dough should be a tiny bit sticky and still hold it shape (but it should not stick to your fingers).
Step 2: Prepare Surface & Dough
Sprinkle the ball of dough with about 1 teaspoon of flour then use your hands to gently knead the dough into a smooth ball. You should only do this for about 10 seconds, as overkneading the dough will cause the butter to soften too much and will cause spreading.
Once formed into a ball, use your hands to gently press the dough into a 2" thick disc. This will help flatten the dough so that when you use the rolling pin, the dough doesn't break apart.
Step 3: Set Rolling Pin to Correct Thickness
For fool-proof, thick cut out sugar cookies, I highly recommend using a rolling pin with thickness guides and setting it to a ⅜" or ½" thickness. This is the thickness I have found results in the softest sugar cookies.
The rolling pin I use only goes up to ⅜", so that's the thickness I use most frequently. If I'm really looking to impress for holiday cookie gifts, I will use the ½" guides from this set (these are also great to attach to your current rolling pin.)
Step 4: Roll Dough
Sprinkle a tiny bit of flour on top of the dough disc and coat the rolling pin in flour. Now that your dough is prepped, gently start rolling the pin over the dough, making sure you're not pressing down very hard at first.
The goal is to slowly "inch your way" to the correct thickness. This is where a rolling pin with rings or thickness guides comes in very handy, as it will allow for an even thickness throughout.
Step 5: Dip Cutter In Flour
Ever use cookie cutters and have the dough constantly get stuck inside of them? The fix to that is by dipping your cookie cutter in flour between each cut. To do this, scoop about ½ cup of flour on a plate or bowl and then dip the cookie cutter into it each time you cut.
Step 6: Immediately Cut Dough
As you're cutting the dough, you want to cut from the outside in (aka. don't start cutting from the center). The reason for this is that you want to get the most cookies out of each sheet of dough, as the less you re-roll the dough, the less the cookies will spread in the oven.
A big reason cookies will spread is because you kneaded and rolled out the dough too many times. Every time you do this, the butter in the dough gets warmer and will cause spreading. If you can manage to cut all your cookies in 2 roll-outs, that is ideal.
Be sure to check out my Christmas Cookie Frosting Guide for my favorite recipe, food coloring tips, and piping tips! And for EASY decorating ideas, check out my 5 EASY Christmas Cookies for Kids!
Along those lines, you also want to start cutting out the shapes immediately after rolling out. This is good for two reasons:
- If your house is warm/humid and you wait too long to roll out, the dough will soften, be harder to handle, and will be more likely to spread.
- If you wait too long to roll out, the dough can become dry causing the cookies to crumble when cutting and baking.
Tip: Want to make the dough ahead of time and roll out later? Learn all about How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough.
Step 7: Lift Dough With Offset Spatula
After cutting out the cookies, carefully pull away the excess dough and use an offset spatula to help lift the cut cookies up and onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. While you're lifting it up with the spatula, use your other hand to support the bottom of the cookie so that it doesn't break then gently slide it onto the baking sheet.
Tip: Unlike a regular spatula, offset spatulas are great because they are skinny and will allow your hand to get under the cookie to help guide it to the baking sheet.
Step 8: Bake
Once all your cookies are cut and onto the baking sheet, it's time to bake! Just like I mentioned before, you want to bake the cookies immediately after cutting so that they don't become soft and warm.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (8 for smaller cookies, 10 for larger cookies). Do not overbake. Cookies may look underdone at 11 minutes, but I recommend removing them from the oven before seeing any brown on the edges.
Once baked, remove from oven and place pan on a cooling rack. Do not remove cookies from hot pan. Let them rest on the hot pan for about 10 minutes to finish baking before removing from the pan.
Tip: If you're using the same baking sheet for all the cookies, you want to make sure it's not too hot as you place on the next batch. Because if you put dough on a hot baking sheet, it will start to melt down and cause the cookies so spread even before baking.)
Step 9: Allow To Cool Then Frost
Once the cookies are fully cooled, it's time to frost! Below are some of my favorite icings and frostings for sugar cookies.
Sugar Cookie Frosting Recipes:
- Easy Sugar Cookie Icing = Great for one-color designs
- Royal Icing = Great for intricate designs, where you want the icing to fully harden. If using royal icing, flip the cookies upside down on a paper towel for about 1 hour before applying icing. This will allow an excess oils to be soaked up, so that they don't interfere with the royal icing. This is a tip I learned from my friend Sweet Sugarbelle.
- Buttercream Frosting = Great for spreading or piping swirls
Halloween Decorating Idea! Making these for Halloween? Turn these into the easiest Halloween pumpkin cookies!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do you have to chill dough for sugar cookies?
I don't personally chill the dough when I use this recipe. I have found that if you work fast and don't knead and roll out the dough more than 2 times, then the cookies will hold their shape.
If you have rolled out the dough too many times and it looks soft and buttery, then I would recommend chilling the cut shapes on the baking tray for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Be sure to check out my Christmas Cookie Frosting Guide for my favorite recipe, food coloring tips, and piping tips! And for EASY decorating ideas, check out my 5 EASY Christmas Cookies for Kids!
Why do my sugar cookies spread and lose their shape?
There are several main reasons I have found that cause cookies to spread.
- You have kneaded and rolled out your dough too many times, leaving the butter melted and soft.
- You're using a recipe with too much leavening.
- Altitude. If you live in a high elevation, you may want to experiment with decreasing the leavener (baking powder or baking soda). When I lived in Utah, I often had issues with cookies spreading and had to cut back on the baking powder/baking soda.
Can you freeze homemade sugar cookie dough?
Yes you can! I wrote an entire post on How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough. In this, I go over how you can freeze the dough before or after you roll it out and cut it, as well as how you can freeze baked sugar cookies.
Can sugar cookie dough be refrigerated overnight?
Yes it can. If you're going to do this, I recommend pressing it into the disc (like Step 4 above), placing in a gallon-sized plastic bag, and laying it on a flat surface in the refrigerator. When you're ready to cut and bake, let the dough thaw to room temperature then roll out.
How thick should dough be for cookie cutters?
Like I mentioned above, I have found that a minimum of ⅜" thickness is the best when using cookie cutters.
This will not only give the cookies nice stability as you're cutting and lifting them off the countertop, but it will also result in softer baked cookies.
When I'm trying to impress, I will go as thick as ½" for super soft cookies but I don't recommend going any thicker than that or you will have a hard time getting the cookies to evenly bake through.
Can you roll out dough on parchment paper?
Absolutely! Like I showed above, I recommend cutting around 2 feet of parchment and then using masking or regular tape to adhere each corner to the counter. This will help the parchment from slipping around as you're rolling.
How do you keep cookie dough from sticking to the rolling pin?
Before rolling, you'll want to use your hands to evenly coat the rolling pin with flour. If your dough is sticky, you'll also want to sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the dough before rolling.
Use the photo guides in this post to see how much flour is necessary, as you don't want to use too much flour or your dough will become dry and crumbly.
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (nut allergy? you can substitute this with extra vanilla!)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 - 2¼ cups all-purpose flour *see note section below
Frosting
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. To prep for rolling, lay a piece of parchment on the counter and sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of flour.
- In a large bowl, cream together unsalted butter (¾ cup; i.e. 1½ sticks) and granulated sugar (¾ cup) on medium speed for 20-30 seconds.
- While mixer is still on medium speed, add in egg (1 large), vanilla extract (1½ teaspoons) and almond extract (½ teaspoon).
- Once mixed, add in baking powder (1 teaspoon), salt (½ teaspoon), and all-purpose flour (2 - 2¼ cups), ½ cup at a time, on low speed.
- Once mixture is combined and all the flour disappears, transfer dough to the piece of floured parchment paper. Press mixture into large ball so that it is all incorporated and any loose floury pieces are pressed in. Knead dough for 5-10 seconds until it becomes a smooth ball, then press into 2" thick disc (see photo guides above in post).Use a rolling pin to roll dough ⅜" to ½" thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out and transfer to a parchment baking sheet.
- Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Depending on size, cookies may look underdone at 10 minutes, but I recommend removing them from the oven before seeing any brown on the edges. If you've used a medium/large cutter and made them ½" thick, you may need to bake for a few extra minutes.
- Once baked, remove from oven and place pan on a cooling rack. Do not remove cookies from hot pan. Let them rest on the hot pan for 10-15 minutes to finish baking before removing from the pan.
- Once completely cooled, top with frosting. See notes section below for frosting ideas.
- Store in airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze for later.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Notes
- Flour amounts: Since the pandemic, some butter companies have added more palm oil to their butter resulting in changes to how cookies spread. While I still prefer 2 cups of flour for a super soft, slightly underbaked texture, I recommend using 2 ¼ cups if you are using intricate shapes and want the sharpest edges. They are a little more firm with more flour but still soft & delicious.
- Yield: Depending on size/thickness of cookies, you can typically get 12-24 cookies.
- Easy Sugar Cookie Icing = Great for one-color designs
- Royal Icing = Great for intricate designs, where you want the icing to fully harden.
- Buttercream Frosting = Great for spreading or piping swirls
Cesarina
Any suggestions for making a large quantity of cookies? For example if I need 1000 cookies for a function?
Melissa
My best advice (assuming you're using a home mixer & not a huge bakery one) would be to double the recipe and just keep making batches. I wouldn't do anything more than double at one time because a) it will be too much for a normal bowl/mixer and b) the ratios may start getting off. I don't have a ton advice on this since I've never done so many at once, but hopefully that helps a bit! Happy baking!
Kathy Thompson
Melissa when you lived in Utah what were the amounts you cut your baking soda and baking powder down to? I live in Utah! Thank You...
Melissa
Gosh, I don't remember exactly! For this recipe, I think I might have just cut the baking powder in half. In general (as I learned from a good friend!) soda = spreads, powder = puffs so when in doubt, cut back what's causing the issue!
Michele
Can you omit the almond extract? Thinking of possible nut allergy issues
Melissa
Yes you can! Just replace the almond extract with extra vanilla :)
J. Ray
I made this right at 1/2 inch a medium size cookie cutter and baked for close to 11 minutes and my oven usually cooks hot/quick but still they were under baked. I started to see browning on one cookie close to the over door but still I think they might be too raw to feed to kids. Next time I'll probably bake closer to 13-14 minutes and maybe roll a little thinner.
Melissa
Hey there! Different ovens definitely bake things differently and have hot spots that cause some to brown quicker than others. My best advice, especially if you're doing the 1/2" thick size is to just watch the oven every minute or so around the 10 minute mark and watch until the middles start to look less "wet" and the edges start to change. And even after taking out & letting cool for a few minutes, if you feel like they're not setting up/baked through, you can always pop them back in for a few extra minutes - I have to do that sometimes with the larger/thicker cookies!
Rose Martine
This recipe looks awesome!!! Since I don’t use grain flour, do you think almond or coconut flour would work well as a substitute? Thanks!
Melissa
Hi Rose! I don't think coconut flour would work well as a direct substitute here since it's pretty dense. Almond flour may be a little better but I don't think it's going to have the same texture & may be too soft and spread for this recipe. You might try my friend's recipe for something like this! https://fitfoodiefinds.com/video-how-to-make-healthy-holiday-sugar-cookies-grain-free-gluten-free
Paige
Perfect in every way! I've tried a few recipes that are bland and chalky. These have the perfect amount of sweetness to pair with an extra sweet royal icing and they held up to decorating beautifully.
Kristen
I made these and they look amazing. I rolled them out to 3/8” and used a 2.5” cookie cutter and I only got 11 cookies. Did I do something wrong?
Melissa
Hmmm that does seem like a small number! What shape was your cutter? Did you re-roll the dough after the first roll? 11 sounds like the number I'd get on the first roll, but you should get another 10-12 once you re-roll a few times!
Julie
This is the best roll-out sugar cookie I’ve ever made (and I’ve been baking for over 50 years). Your tips were invaluable. Taping down parchment paper to roll dough on is genius. I finally bought rings for my rolling pin and my cookies now look like they came from a bakery. Pulling them out of the oven before they browned, and letting sit on the sheet for 10 minutes gave perfectly cooked cookies. Can’t say enough good things about this recipe.
Melissa
I'm so glad you love them, Julie! Thanks SO much for taking the time to leave your feedback - nothing makes me happier than hearing how they turned out for you!
Syafiqah
Hi, would love to know after freezing cut out cookies, how long should I wait for it to fully thaw before baking. Or what indication should I look out for.
Melissa
Hi there! After taking out of the freezer, transfer the cookies to the baking sheet and let thaw until they're at room temperature (or about an hour).
I actually have a post all about freezing if you want to check it out! The method you would use is #2 in this article > https://www.designeatrepeat.com/freeze-sugar-cookie-dough/
Hope that helps!
Lynn
Just tried your cookie recipe and wow is the flavor amazing. I’ve been trying to find a great tasting sugar cookie recipe for a few month, and you’re takes the cake. I did have issues with spreading though. I’m not sure if I creamed my bitter and sugar too long and/or if I should have let it rest in the fridge for a while. So, next time I’ll let them the dough chill for an half hour.
Lastly, I’ve seen recipes say to add maybe 1/2 to a tablespoon spoon of cornstarch to your dough to help them not spread if your in a hurry. Would you recommend that...or is chilling my best bet? Thanks again for the tasty recipe.
Melissa
Hey Lynn! There's a few reasons that I find them to spread (it even happens to me when I try to rush them!).
1) The butter wasn't at room temperature; this is really important for no-spreading.
2) The butter & sugar was beat too long and got too "warm"; I recommend only creaming for about 20-30 seconds.
3) The dough was rolled out too many times and the butter got too warm; I really try to fit as many cookies into the first roll-out and only roll out the dough 2 (maybe 3) times. Every time the dough is re-rolled, the butter gets warm and starts to spread.
4) The oven temperature was off; this is probably the least likely scenario but I had this issue when I moved as I didn't realize my oven was baking 100 degrees off!
You could definitely try chilling them for about 30 minutes next time to be safe! Things like climate/altitude can also make recipes like this a little finicky.
Realized I just wrote a novel but hope that helps!
Melissa
Tina Thompson
Mine spread every single time and I have made them at least 50 times. I love the flavor so I haven't made changes. None of the items you mention are the issue. I am considering adding more flour. I did that one time and they no longer spread but I added too much so they were a bit too dry for my taste. I wish that there were gram measurements. Then these would be perfect.
Melissa
Where do you live? Do you use an oven thermometer to make sure the oven is hot enough? At this point, you may try finding a different recipe with grams that uses similar ratio/flavorings.
Tina Thompson
I figured it out! DO NOT use Kerrygold or any other european butter, it has way too much fat content for any sugar cookie recipe. Use american butter!!!! I tried about 10 recipes and they all spread......until I changed the butter. So it might help others that are having this issue.
Melissa
Hey Tina - thanks so much for reporting that! I never baked with the European butter but that definitely makes sense and will be helpful for others!
Jessica
I don't usually comment but this is so worth it. I was never really happy with my old recipe and now I have thrown it out! I've tested many different ones over the years and j have now made this recipe three times and it's been perfect Everytime! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Melissa
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, Jessica! I'm so glad you loved them & now have a new go-to sugar cookie recipe!!
Abigail
Do you reccomend freezing cookies after they are already made? Would a zip lock baggie be okay? Not sure if it will altar the taste.
I did a trial run and oh man are these cookies delicious!!
Melissa
So glad you love them! For freezing, a ziplock bag would probably be okay for a day or two but for any longer, I’d recommend wrapping them then putting in an airtight container. I’ve found that with a ziploc, they’ll start absorbing the freezer taste rather quickly (and also be more likely to break). If you scroll down on this post, I have some info on freezing! https://www.designeatrepeat.com/freeze-sugar-cookie-dough
Sonia
Love this recipe. I made decorated cookies for the first time and I think they came out pretty good. Thank you for great ideas and recipes. I'm taking part of the April Challenge. I also tagged you on my Instagram post💙🌻
Melissa
Have you ever left the BP out of the recipe? I've heard this will prevent spreading as well.
Melissa
I haven't personally done that but I've seen that on some recipes, too!
Camden
Excellent taste! Blue ribbon recipe!! ?
Melissa
Yay! So glad you loved them!
Naomi
Are these cookies crumbly? I am planning on entering an iced biscuit competition and I am wondering will these hold together or do they break easily?
Melissa
Hi there! The cookies aren’t crumbly but they are soft and moist so they’re not like a crunchy cookie that won’t break. They are meant to stand up with icing though, so they are durable enough to hold that without breaking.
Aisha
Hi! I’ve never made sugar cookies before and want to make a bunch for my sons first birthday. Would it be okay if i shaped and baked them one day and decorated them with royal icing the next day? Thanks!
Melissa
Yes, you can absolutely do that! I’d recommend storing them flat (with top-side down) in an airtight container with a paper towel between each layer. The paper towel will help remove some of the excess oils from the top of the cookie so that the royal icing dries better! (As the oils can sometimes interact with the icing.) Let me know if any other questions pop up - happy baking!
Poornima
Any substitute for egg?
Melissa
Hi there! I haven't tried this yet with an egg substitute (plan to soon!), but you may try checking out this recipe! https://www.verywellfit.com/egg-free-sugar-cookies-1324093
Jen
Made these for a ski trip and everyone LOVED them!!
LaChelle
I made these today for V day and they were absolutely perfect! Barely any spread at all, and they were SO soft and tender. I'm also in Utah and I actually used 1/2 tsp baking powder instead of 1 tsp, and it was just right. Thank you so much! :)
Melissa
Ahh I'm so glad to hear you loved them!! And thanks so much for leaving that note on baking powder - that is super helpful to hear what worked for you! Since you're in Utah and know about Swig, you need to make these next! It's essentially the same base recipe but made EXTRA thick with some tasty buttercream. I miss the real Swig now that I moved away!
https://www.designeatrepeat.com/almost-swig-sugar-cookie-recipe-thick-soft-sugar-cookies/
Meaghan
I’m curious if you still have the measurements that you used while you lived in UT. It would be greatly appreciated, so I don’t have to experiment! Thank you for the wonderful tutorial, I can’t wait to get started! Love from Logan, UT!
Melissa
Hi! I’d usually did about 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and use the Clabber Girl brand. That would usually do the trick, although sugar cookies were still a little unpredictable when I lived there. But worse case scenario, they spread a bit but still taste good! ;)
Lacy
Sooo! Good
Claire
Absolutely love this recipe!! Quick and easy and they came out delicious every time