This sugar cookie recipe makes the best soft cut out sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted! They bake up soft, hold their shape and are perfect for decorating with my easy cookie frosting and your favorite sprinkles.
Finally, Sugar Cookies That Taste as Good as They Look!
This recipe is everything I want in a sugar cookie recipe: these sugar cookies are simple to make, don’t spread in the oven and, best of all, they taste amazing. These cookies are sweet, buttery and so soft they practically melt in your mouth. I frost them with a simple buttercream frosting that’s easy to work with and perfect for decorating.
My secret to making the best sugar cookies is to use two teaspoons of vanilla extract plus a bit of almond extract in the cookie dough. This combination makes the cookies taste incredible. I also use just enough flour to make the cut-out cookies hold their shape in the oven without becoming dry or dense. These cookies are perfect for baking with kids or gifting to neighbors, teachers and friends!
You’ll Need Just a Few Simple Ingredients
Everything you’ll need for this recipe is a basic baking ingredient. Here are a few notes and tips about key ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour: It’s very important that you measure the flour accurately. The correct amount of flour impacts both the texture and shape of the baked cookies. See my tips below for more details.
- Baking Powder & Salt
- Butter: I use unsalted butter. If using salted butter, reduce the added salt in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon. Let the butter soften to room temperature before beginning, but don’t let it get too warm; it should still be slightly cool.
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg: You’ll need one large egg.
- Vanilla & Almond Extract: Almond extract is optional, but I think it gives these cookies such amazing flavor.
- For the Cookie Frosting: You’ll need butter, powdered sugar, whole milk (or heavy cream), vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Find the printable recipe with ingredient amounts below.
How to Make Sugar Cookies
Make the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then mix in the egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed.
Chill the dough for at least 2-3 hours, or up to 24 hours: Divide the dough into two parts, shape each half into a rough ball, then flatten it out to about 1-inch thickness and wrap in plastic wrap, then refrigerate.
Cut out cookie shapes and chill again: Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to ¼-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into your desired shapes. Place 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets. Refrigerate the cut-out cookies for 30 minutes before baking.
Bake cookies at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, until just set. Then let the cookies cool completely before frosting and decorating. You’ll find my full directions for how to make the frosting in the recipe card below.
Tips for the Best Sugar Cookies:
My house has felt like a cookie factory the past few weeks! I’ve made batch after batch of these sugar cookies to make sure the recipe was just perfect before sharing it with you. With these tips, I’m confident you’ll have delicious, beautiful results when you try this recipe in your own kitchen.
- Chill the dough before and after rolling. Chilling the dough for at least two hours before rolling helps it to roll out easily. Chilling the cut out cookies on the baking sheets for 30 minutes before baking helps them to hold their shape in the oven, with no spreading.
- Measure the flour correctly. For the best results, weigh the flour using a kitchen scale and the weight measurements provided in the recipe. This gives you the most accurate measurement. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, fluff the flour in your canister, lightly spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off. Scooping directly with the measuring cup will pack in too much flour.
- Cut them thick. I roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness for soft, thick cookies.
- Don’t over-bake these cookies! Take them out of the oven when they’re just set so that the cookies stay soft.
- Bake similarly-sized cookies on the same baking sheet so that they finish baking at the same time. If some of your cut-outs are much smaller than others, the small ones will bake faster.
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
I don’t get too fancy with my cookie decorating (you won’t find any royal icing here), but the cookies still turn out so cute (and much tastier!). My cookie frosting recipe is a soft buttercream that’s sweet and easy to spread on the cookies. When decorating, it’s best to add sprinkles or other small candies to each cookie right after frosting to make sure the decorations will stick before the frosting starts to set.
The frosting will harden after the cookies sit at room temperature for a few hours, or you can speed up the process by putting them in the refrigerator. Once the frosting is set, the cookies will be stackable, but still delicate.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
Here are a few more of my favorite cookie recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies: My favorite recipe that I’ve been making for years.
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies: This is my alternative to cut-out sugar cookies. At the holidays I like to roll the dough balls in festive sprinkles before baking.
- Biscotti: These twice baked cookies are crisp on the edges and perfect for dunking in coffee.
- Peanut Butter Cookies: Soft and chewy with rich peanut butter flavor.
- Snowball Cookies: These melt in your mouth cookies are rolled in powdered sugar after baking.
Made this recipe? I’d truly appreciate if you leave a comment and star rating below! Your review will help others who want to try this recipe. Thank you! 💛
Best Homemade Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 2 ¾ cups (330g) all-purpose flour, (see note)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature. Don't let it get too warm; it should still be slightly cool.
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract*
Cookie Frosting*
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar, (confectioners' sugar)
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- optional: gel food coloring
- optional: sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
To Make Cookie Dough:
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.2 ¾ cups (330g) all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and granulated sugar until creamy. Add the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract*
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap. Divide the dough into two parts on the plastic wrap, shape each part into a rough ball, then flatten into 1-inch thick disk. Wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or up to 24 hours).
To Cut Out and Bake Cookies:
- Working with one part of the dough at a time, on a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to ¼-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into your desired shapes. Place 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets. Chill the cut-out cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for 8-10 minutes, until just set. Do not overbake. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
To Make Frosting and Decorate Cookies:
- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter until soft and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar in two parts, beating on low and then medium speed until incorporated. (It will look dry at first; don't worry it will come together and get creamy.)½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
- Add the whole milk, vanilla and salt and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in food coloring if desired.1 tablespoon whole milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of salt
- Spread frosting on the cooled cookies. Add sprinkles to each cookie one by one right after frosting, since the frosting will start to harden soon after spreading. The frosting will harden more as the cookies sit at room temperature. It will take a few hours until the cookies will be stackable. To speed up the process, you can put the frosted cookies in the refrigerator.
Notes
- To get the most accurate measurement of flour, use a kitchen scale and the weight measurements provided. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the fluff, spoon and level method: Fluff the flour in your container, lightly spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off. Scooping flour directly with the measuring cup will pack in too much flour, which will make the cookies less soft and more dense.
- Almond extract is optional, but I think it gives these cookies such amazing flavor.
- The cookie frosting recipe makes enough frosting for a medium layer of frosting on each cookie. If you want thick frosting layer, double the frosting recipe.
- To Store: Frosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Unfrosted cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. This is a great option if you’d like to bake the cookies ahead and then frost them later.
- Nutrition information is an estimate and will depend on the size of the cookies and how much frosting is used on each one.
