{The Best} Sugar Cookies
You’ll love these crisp sugar cookies, rolled out and cut with your favorite cookie cutters, and decorated to look fancy. They’ll soon become a Christmas tradition in your family!
I make these sugar cookies every year. Pretty much since I was born.
Okay, so now that I look closer, maybe those are gingerbread cookies. What’s going on here, mom? I guess I’ll just have to say that I’ve made these every year for as long as I can remember. In the picture above, I’ve obviously consumed too much sugar to be thinking straight. (Can you guess which one I am?!)
I look forward to beginning the fun tradition of frosting and decorating cookies with my kids. Right now, we’ll save the frosting for when my daughter is old enough to enjoy decorating cookies. These cookies are almost as good with just a sprinkling of colored sugar.
Enjoy a freshly made cookie with homemade hot chocolate or a cup of coffee.
About these sugar cookies
This sugar cookie recipe is somewhat uniquely flavored with two extracts, vanilla and lemon. The lemon extract adds a layer of flavor that’s truly delicious, not overpowering at all, but just a subtle hint of lemon that pairs well with the nutmeg. The combination of vanilla, lemon, and nutmeg is what will make your cookies stand apart from other less flavorful sugar cookies.
The dough for these cookies needs to be chilled before rolling it out and cutting it. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Chill it at least 30 minutes or overnight if you can. When you’re ready to roll, leave one half in the fridge so it stays nice and cold.
Sprinkle your counter or cutting surface liberally with flour before rolling the dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, too. The thinner you roll it out, the crisper the cookie will be. 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.
Bake until the bottoms are lightly golden. Don’t let the tops get brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating the cookies.
If you prefer not to frost the cookies, you’ll love this easy method of decorating the cookies. Simply brush the unbaked cookies lightly with milk, sprinkle with colored sugar, and bake as directed in the recipe. Easy, sparkly, and festive!
This was always mom’s back-up when we got tired of frosting cookies. Slightly less sweet than the frosted variation and the unique flavors of the cookie really come through.
Make it your own/Variations
- If you prefer, substitute a different flavor extract for the lemon. Almond extract would be great.
- Want a filled sugar cookie? Try Peppermint Sugar Cookie Sandwiches with Chocolate Ganache Filling for a wonderful treat.
- Like chocolate? Try Peppermint Chocolate Sugar Cookies.
- Prefer soft cookies? You’ll love these Peppermint Lofthouse Cookies.
Make Ahead and Storage
The cookie dough can be refrigerated up to one week, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in a plastic bag. It can also be frozen for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Baked cookies can be stored on the counter or in a cool spot for up to two weeks in a tightly sealed container.
More classic cookies
Looking for more classic cookie recipes, like the kind you’d find in mom’s recipe box? Try:
{The Best} Sugar Cookies
You'll love these crisp sugar cookies, rolled out and cut with your favorite cookie cutters, and decorated to look fancy. They'll soon become a Christmas tradition in your family!
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I use freshly grated)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- Milk and colored sugar, if desired (see note)
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla extract and lemon extract, and beat until combined. Add milk and flour mixture alternately, mixing after each addition, until combined.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.
- To bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll dough out on a well floured board or counter. For crisp cookies, roll to about ⅛ inch and for softer cookies, roll to about ¼ inch. Cut desired shapes with floured cookie cutter. Transfer to cookie sheet, leaving at least one inch between cookies.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from cookie sheet and cool completely on wire rack.
- Decorate as desired (see note).
Notes
- 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.
- The colder the dough, the easier it is to roll out. I usually divide the dough in half and leave half in the fridge while I cut out the other half.
- Yield depends on the size of the cookie cutters you choose. Nutrition is calculated on a yield of 5 dozen, 2 cookies per serving.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 2 cookiesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 127Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 92mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 0gSugar: 14gProtein: 2g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
27 Comments on “{The Best} Sugar Cookies”
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!
Thanks for the lovely comment yesterday. Your face in that photo is priceless, fantastic!
The cookies look amazing! Love the picture of you when you were a kid! So cute! Happy holidays.
I love a versitle cookie recipe!
that pic is so cute! haha!
Love the cutie patootey picture!
That first picture is so cute! You two look like you’re having a great time! :D
I love these old photos!
All great photos. And I have an, um, not fake but hmm what do we call them? Fake and artificial seems to say they are not real and mine is. I’ve had it 23 years and still love it and in Denver where it is so dry? I love that my tree is not just a pile of dead needles around the base the week before Christmas too!
baking with your kids is the best time in my opinion. we love sugar cookies!
Believe it or not I don’t LOVE my sugar cookie recipe. So I am very, very happy to have a nutmeg and lemon variation to try. I also don’t add milk to my dough this cookie is very intriguing to me even though it is a fairly straightforward sugar cookie. I love all of your variations. I agree with hubby. Chocolate chip cookies are the bomb and nothing compares. Your little cutie always makes me smile big time.BTW…having so much problems with my WWF app on my iPhone. Are you? That’s why I haven’t played a word in ages.
Yes! I thought it was just my phone. It’s been awful, always freezing up. Let me know if you try the cookies :)
Love this post–cute pics!
I almost couldn’t pull myself away from the first picture. Hilarious!! And your daughter is a cutie pie. :) So fun.
Love the pictures especially the first one! Great cookies.
OMG, you are the cutest person ever!! I love that pic.
Great photos and great biscuits! Happy christmas
I really like the Oreo stuffed variation!
Sugar cookies are the best. We decorate hundreds each year and donate them to local shelters and food pantries.
What a great thing to do, Lydia!
Great ideas, I’ve baked sugar cookies with my mom every year since I was a kid too. Great memories.
Cute picture, cute cookies, and cute kid! We do a fake tree too. SOOO much easier, especially when you have kids. My husband and I did a real tree once, early in our marriage, and I think that was enough to last us for a while!
Aw… That’s such an adorable picture! The sugar cookies do sound perfect! :)