Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: You’ll love these crisp sugar cookies cut into festive holiday shapes. These cut out sugar cookies are sturdy enough for little fingers to decorate, and the recipe makes a big batch of cookies.
How long it takes: 15 minutes to make the dough, plus chilling time, and 7 minutes per batch to bake
Equipment you’ll need: mixer, mixing bowl, cookie sheet, rolling pin, cookie cutters
Servings: makes 5 dozen, depending on the size
A holiday Tradition
Every year, right before Christmas, we have our big cookie decorating day — and honestly, it’s one of my favorite parts of the season. My mom still uses the same cookie cutters my sister and I grew up with (my favorite is the Christmas tree!), and now it’s our kids (and their cousins!) taking over the decorating table.
Things get a little wild — okay, a lot wild — with frosting tubes and sprinkles everywhere, but that’s part of the fun. There’s laughter, friendly competition, and of course, plenty of cookies to eat along the way.
We always enjoy the fruit of our labor immediately, along with homemade hot chocolate, a cinnamon dolce latte, or a cup of coffee.
What makes them special:
- Perfect for decorating (or not): Go all out with frosting and sprinkles, or keep it simple with a dusting of colored sugar (similar to cream cheese spritz cookies).
- Delicious flavor, even without frosting: Subtly spiced with nutmeg and brightened with lemon and vanilla for a sugar cookie that actually tastes amazing and not like cardboard.
- Make-ahead friendly: You can chill the dough for up to two days, or bake the cookies in advance; they stay fresh for days.
- Makes a big batch: One batch of cookie dough will yield around 60 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. There will be plenty of cookies for everyone to try their hand at decorating.
Enjoy the throwback photo of my sister and me! I’m the messy one, obviously.
Ingredient Notes
A few notes on ingredients and substitutions, but scroll down for the full recipe and the measurements!
- All-Purpose Flour: Just regular flour is all you need. I have not tested this recipe with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour; I always use unbleached all-purpose flour. You’ll need four cups of flour, plus more for rolling out the cookies. Be sure to measure the flour accurately (see the tip below).
- Butter: Butter gives the cookies a rich flavor. Use unsalted butter for baking and make sure it’s softened (at room temperature). Do not use shortening or margarine.
- Milk: Just a bit of milk helps moisten the dough. You can use pretty much any type of milk.
- Flavoring: I use both vanilla extract and lemon extract to provide a delicate and delicious flavor. Nutmeg, either freshly grated or ground, rounds out the flavor profile of your cookies.
- Cookie Cutters: Have fun with various cookie cutters or make them all circles using a biscuit cutter. Remember that sugar cookies don’t have to be reserved for Christmas. You can buy cookie cutters for almost any occasion.
- Icing, Colored Sugar, and Sprinkles: The sky is the limit!
How to Measure Flour
Although it’s tempting to simply use your measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the bag or storage container, you will end up with too much flour and your cookies will turn out hard and dry. It’s best to use a spoon or flour scoop to lightly fill the measuring cup. Be sure to use a dry measure cup, not one that’s meant for liquids. Level the top of the measuring cup off using a flat edge, such as a table knife. Don’t shake or tap the cup to level the flour because that will compact it.
How to Make Cut Out Sugar Cookies
This is an overview with a few extra tips! Scroll down for the full printable recipe.
Mix the dry ingredients. You’ll need two mixing bowls: one large bowl and one smaller bowl. Use the smaller bowl first. Measure four cups of flour into the bowl, then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg. Whisk the dry ingredients together and set the bowl aside.
Beat butter and sugar. In the large bowl, combine the sugar and butter. Use a mixer to blend the two ingredients together until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs and extracts, mixing well.
Combine to make dough. Measure out the milk and set it aside. Add the flour and milk alternately, mixing after each addition until combined. I usually add about a third of the flour at a time. It goes something like this: one-third of the flour, one-half of the milk, one-third of the flour, half of the milk, then the remaining one-third of the flour. It’s not exact, just eyeball it and dump it in, mixing well after each addition.
Mix well. If your hand mixer is struggling, just stir the dough by hand when it gets too stiff for your mixer to handle. If you have a stand mixer, it should have enough power to get the job done.
Chill. Divide the dough in half and form it into two large disks. Wrap it well in plastic wrap or put it into a couple of airtight containers. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least a half hour. I prefer to chill it overnight or even a couple of days in advance.
Roll out the dough. When you’re ready to roll, remove one of the dough disks from the refrigerator. Sprinkle your counter or cutting surface liberally with flour before rolling the dough with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, too, or flip it over a few times as you roll. Keep the flour handy because you’ll need to keep the surface (both top and bottom) of the dough well-floured. The dough will be quite firm, especially at first. The dough should be between an ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. The thinner you roll the dough, the crisper the cookie will be.
Cut into shapes. Use cookie cutters of your choice, cutting as close to each other as you can. You can re-roll the scraps until all the dough is used up. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet with a little room in between. They do spread a bit especially as the dough warms up.
Bake. Bake until the bottoms are lightly golden. For the prettiest cookies, don’t let the tops get brown. Over-baked sugar cookies tend to get harder, too.
Cool. Let the sugar cookies cool briefly on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating the cookies with your favorite icing, sprinkles, etc.
Tips for Success
Chill the cookie dough. Allow extra time for the dough to chill. Chilled dough rolls out more easily. It needs to be chilled at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight, before rolling it out and cutting it. When you’re ready to roll, leave one half in the fridge so it stays cold. If you find that the dough is too hard to roll when you take it out of the refrigerator, let it set a few minutes to warm up a little.
Keep the cookie dough as cold as possible. Warm dough tends to spread on the cookie sheets so that the cut-out shapes aren’t as crisply defined. Use at least 2 cookie sheets, and allow them to cool down as much as possible in between batches before arranging the cut-outs on them to bake. If I get ahead with cutting out the cookies, I put the dough cut-outs in the refrigerator until I’m ready to bake them.
Re-roll scraps. This sugar cookie dough is pretty forgiving. You can re-roll your scraps (the pieces left between the cut-out shapes) until all the dough is used up. Use plenty of flour to roll the dough so it doesn’t get sticky.
Easy (no) decorating tip. If you prefer not to frost the cookies, you’ll love this easy method of decorating the cut out sugar cookies. Simply brush the unbaked cookies lightly with milk, sprinkle with colored sugar, and bake as directed in the recipe. This method is easy, sparkly, and festive! The sparkling cookies are slightly less sweet than frosted cookies and the unique flavors of the cookie really shine.
Recipe Variations
- Change the flavor. If you prefer, substitute almond extract for the lemon extract. You could also use 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla and skip the lemon. If you’re not a fan of nutmeg, substitute cinnamon or simply omit the spice.
- Cookies for any special occasion. You can buy cookie cutters for any holiday or occasion, and sugar cookies are always a treat. It’s fun to make Easter cookies (Easter eggs, bunnies, flowers) with pastel decorations or Valentine’s Day cookies with hearts decorated with red and pink icing. Make a special birthday treat with cookie cutters that reflect the birthday person’s interests.
- More sugar cookie recipes: Try peppermint sandwich cookies filled with chocolate ganache filling or chocolate sugar cookies. If you prefer soft cookies, try copycat Lofthouse cookies.
Cookie dough (make ahead): The cookie dough can be refrigerated up to one week, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in a plastic bag or container. It can also be frozen for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Bake as directed.
Baked cookies: Baked cut out sugar cookies can be stored on the counter or in a cool spot for up to two weeks in a tightly sealed container. They freeze well and will keep for a month in the freezer.
More Cookie Recipes
Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (or freshly grated)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (at room temperature)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer but a hand mixer will work too. Add eggs, vanilla extract and lemon extract, and beat until combined.1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, 2 cups granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- Add a third of the flour to the butter mixture and half of the milk. Mix until combined, then repeat: another third of the flour, and half of the milk, mix until combined, then mix in the remaining flour. If you are using a hand mixer, you may have to do this by hand if the dough gets too stiff for your mixer.¼ cup milk
- Divide dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.
- To bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll one half of one disk of dough out on a well-floured board or counter, using a floured rolling pin. Keep the remaining dough refrigerated. For crisp cookies, roll to about ⅛ inch and for softer cookies, roll to about ¼ inch.
- Cut desired shapes with floured cookie cutter, re-rolling the scraps as you go. Transfer the cut out cookees to a cookie sheet, leaving at least one inch between cookies. The colder the dough is, the less the cookies will spread, keeping their crisp cut-out shape (see tip below).
- Bake for 6 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Cool slightly until firm, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating or storing.
- Decorate as desired (see note).
Notes
- Yield: This makes a big batch of cookies and the yield will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutters you use. On average, I get about 5 dozen cookies.
- Easy decorating option: If you prefer not to frost cookies, make them sparkle with sugar. Before baking, lightly brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with your choice of colored sugar. White sugar is pretty, too.
- Pro tip: I usually divide the dough disks in half, rolling one half and refrigerating the other half. If the dough seems to be getting sticky, chill it a little longer. Additionally, when the dough is cold, the cookies don’t spread as much, keeping a crisp cut-out shape. Avoid putting the cut-out cookies on a warm baking sheet because that will cause them to spread more. It’s best to use at least two cookie sheets so one can cool off while the other one is in the oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Love old pics from childhood. Merry Christmas!!
Can’t wait to try these… my favorite recipes are the ones with family history/meaning behind them. PS ~ Your sweet girl is precious! Merry Christmas!!!
Yes, I think they are the sugar cookies because yes, we made them every year. I’m not a huge fan of gingerbread cookies. Maybe that batch got a little too browned (gasp!)Nothing that lots of decoration wouldn’t fix.
To give credit where it’s due, that recipe is Aunt Sharon’s. Not sure where she got it.
This is pretty much a no fail sugar cookie. Just use lots of flour to roll them out and keep things cold. If your cookie sheets are too warm (from the previous batch of cookies) your cookie will spread out too much and lose its nice design.
Beautiful cookies. I rolled out tons of sugar cookies one year and swore I would never do it again. So now I cheat and buy the precut cookies in a huge box at GFS so we can get right to the best part-decorating!