Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

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A cut out sugar cookie recipe for soft cookie that hold shape easily without chill time. Perfect for cookie plates during the crazy holiday season! Decorate with the easy icing in this recipe or use my favorite homemade buttercream. See the post below for more details and photos.

A cut out sugar cookie recipe for soft cookie that hold shape easily without chill time. Perfect for cookie plates during the crazy holiday season!
  • butter
  • sugar
  • egg
  • flour
  • baking powder
A cut out sugar cookie recipe for soft cookie that hold shape easily without chill time. Perfect for cookie plates during the crazy holiday season!

Dough Progression

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you would mistakenly think that this dough is too dry and crumbly. You might want to add water or milk to make it softer and more cohesive, but DON’T DO IT! Here’s how the dough is going to look as it mixes…

It’s going to be super crumbly for several minutes. Be patient and keep mixing it up!

This sugar cookie recipe is seriously so easy. You don't have to worry about spreading and no crazy chill time.

Eventually, the dough will come together and you’ll be able to roll it out.

A cut out sugar cookie recipe for soft cookie that hold shape easily without chill time. Perfect for cookie plates during the crazy holiday season!
A cut out sugar cookie recipe for soft cookie that hold shape easily without chill time. Perfect for cookie plates during the crazy holiday season!

Recipe Tips & Notes

  • GENTLY roll out the dough. I emphasize “gently,” because sugar cookie dough needs to be handled with a little TLC. It’s sort of like a pie crust, and it tends to crack or break if you’re too rough with it.
  • I used this squeeze bottle to decorate the cookies with a super easy icing. It spreads a lot, so just remember that a little goes a long way.
  • Baking times will vary depending on the size of the cookies. 4-5 inch cookies take about 9 minutes. 1-2 inch cookies will need about 7 minutes in the oven.
Now it’s time to GENTLY roll out the dough. I emphasize “gently,” because sugar cookie dough needs to be handled with a little TLC. It’s sort of like a pie crust, and it tends to crack or break if you’re too rough with it.
Now it’s time to GENTLY roll out the dough. I emphasize “gently,” because sugar cookie dough needs to be handled with a little TLC. It’s sort of like a pie crust, and it tends to crack or break if you’re too rough with it.

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Yield: approximately 2 dozen 4-inch cookies

A soft cut-out sugar cookie that holds it's shape easily without major chill time. Perfect for Christmas cookies!

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks (salted) butter, cold
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3-5 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • optional: gel food coloring

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until smooth.
  3. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the flour and baking powder until dough forms. Use your hands to form the dough into a disc.
  4. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 7-10 minutes (the bottoms should be brown, and the tops should look dry but not browned at all). Let cool completely before icing.

Icing

  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, and vanilla. Add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the icing consistency is slightly thicker than honey.
  2. Transfer icing to a piping bag or icing bottle to decorate the cookies. Let the icing dry overnight before packaging or storing.

Love Christmas Cookies? Me too!

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