The Best Roll-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe That Holds Its Shape (And Tastes Amazing!)
The perfect cut-out cookie recipe! It holds its shape beautifully and tastes SO good. These cookies are less sweet so they’re perfect for decorating with royal icing or buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (but not melty)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Once it’s all combined, set it aside.
- Add your softened (but not too soft) butter to the mixer along with the sugar. Mix together until creamed. Tip: don’t overdo it with the creaming! Over-creaming can make your cookies spread more, and we want them to keep their shape. Just cream until it’s fluffy and lighter in color.
- Add in the room-temp egg and the extracts. Mix until fully combined and scrape the bowl as needed.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to your butter mixture, mixing slowly until it all comes together.
- Roll out the dough. Dust surface lightly with powdered sugar or flour, or even better, between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. My favorite rolling pin is adjustable, and I go with 5/16” for my favorite thickness but you can also go thinner!
- Pop the rolled-out dough into the fridge for about an hour. Chilling helps keep the cookies from spreading too much.
- Time to cut out the shapes! Cut them out close together to get the most out of your dough. Once cut, put the shapes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a perforated baking mat, and put them back into the fridge (or even better, the freezer) while the oven preheats. Combine the scraps and re-roll the dough and repeat the steps. Try not to roll out the dough more than 3 times because it changes the texture of the cookies.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes, or until they lose that shiny look on top. Be careful not to let them brown too much.
- Once baked, use a fondant smoother (or spatula) to gently press the tops of the cookies if any air bubbles have surfaced.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled, they’re ready for decorating (or eating)!
Storage: Store the cookies in an airtight container to keep them fresh up to 5 days. In my video, I recommended using a plastic nordic ware pan lid to keep the cookies fresh, but after using it for a few months, I prefer using a regular tupperware that locks tighter.
Freezing: You can wrap the dough up in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to a month. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months.
Enjoy! And if you need a royal icing recipe, mine is here. Happy Baking!