Best Foolproof Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

This foolproof cut out sugar cookie recipe uses so many cool tricks to make PERFECT sugar cookies with any cookie cutter that are tasty and delicious to eat, too.

Prep time: PT5M

Cook time: PT20M

Total time: PT95M

Rating

4.89 stars (17 reviews)

Keywords

cookies, cut out cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces or 227 grams) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 ⅓ cups (15 ounces or 425 grams) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (7 ounces or 198 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cold large egg, straight from the fridge

Cuisine

American

Steps

Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla, then add the egg and dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 3 to 5 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low, add the egg, and beat until just incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Increase the mixer to medium-low and beat until the dough clumps around the paddle and/or sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.
Roll the dough between parchment paper. Tip the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper around the size of a half sheet pan and use your hands to shape it into a rough 6-inch disc. Place a second sheet of parchment over the dough, creating a parchment sandwich with the dough in the middle. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough between the parchment, working from left to right. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat every so often—doing so will prevent the dough from cracking as you roll it. If the parchment starts to wrinkle and leave creases in the cookie dough, pull the sheet loose and smooth it before rolling the dough more.Continue rotating and rolling until you have a rough oval about 13 inches wide, 18 inches long, and between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick.
Chill the dough. Transfer the slab of cookie dough, still in between the parchment, to a half sheet pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
Prep the chilled dough for stamping out the cookies. Remove the sheet pan of dough from the refrigerator. Use the overhanging parchment as handles to carefully lift the slab of dough off the sheet pan and onto the counter. Peel the top layer of parchment from the slab and use it to line the sheet pan once more.Line a second half sheet pan with parchment as well.
Stamp out cookies. Working quickly, use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes, placing the cookies at least 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. As you work, the dough should remain cool and firm to the touch. Place each sheet pan in the freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes before baking.
While the dough chills, preheat the oven. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350℉.
Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time (keeping the other pan in the refrigerator) for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies are set and feel firm to the touch. Repeat to bake the remaining cookies.
Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. If decorating the cookies, cool completely before frosting.The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Reviews

Alex on 2026-03-09 (5 stars):
After binging on cheap, store-bought cut-outs and feeling sick af, i need homemade. If i want to decorate these with colored decorative sugar crystals pr sprinkles, should i brush with an egg wash and sprinkle atop before baking or…?
Randy on 2025-03-17 (4 stars):
I was looking for a recipe I could use with cookie stamps for St. Patrick's Day and came across this one. In the end, the cookies are good and what I was expecting - next time, I might add a little flavoring, rather than just vanilla. However, after mixing all the ingredients, it was very dry and there wasn't enough cohesion in the dough. I added a 2nd egg and a little water (maybe 1/8 cup), which was enough to get the dough to hold together so it could be rolled.
Tina on 2024-12-11 (5 stars):
First time making these, turned out great! a perfect flat top , not too sweet cookie for icing. Great with out icing also! Since this was a trial run for me I followed directions exactly, though a question I have is:: Has anyone tried cutting them out and THEN chilling? to maybe make re-rolling leftover dough easier? or Would that be bad for butter reasons? thank you for the great recipe!
Julie on 2024-10-07 (5 stars):
This recipe is delicious! wow, thank you! However, I was frustrated by the cookie cutting itself. The dough was too hard for the cutter when I first took it out of the fridge, and once it was warm enough, the temperature window to cut without having the dough stick to the cutter was really narrow! It took several tries of cooling, warming, re-rolling, and cooling again. I also do not have a fancy mixer. Just a wooden spoon, so I needed to warm the butter before mixing. What helped a little was cooling the cutter for a few minutes. It's a 3D printed cutter (please follow link below), so this was a real challenge. https://www.portraitcutters.com/
Barbara on 2024-09-08 (5 stars):
Love this recipe Shaped cookies can be difficult when littles are helping. But this recipe worked great. Love that it's ready to use directly out of fridge. Helps so much with dough getting warm and spreading
kylie on 2024-07-16 (4 stars):
hi so the parchment paper was impossible for me since it slid all over my counter even when i tried to weigh down the corners…. how on earth did you roll dough without that happening???
Becca on 2023-11-15 (5 stars):
Hi! I tried your Best Foolproof Cut Out Sugar Cookie recipe and this is the FIRST sugar cookie recipe that I have tried that literally stayed completely to form. No puffiness to blur lines or anything! I am very satisfied. I have a question. While I love the cookies, my husband has a super sweet tooth and they aren't sweet enough. Can more sugar be added to this recipe without ruining it? P.S. I sent you an email about vanilla. I hope you checked it out. :)
CD on 2023-11-10 (5 stars):
Please proofread your instructions. The egg gets added in a couple different places. Otherwise, yum!
Julie VanZandt on 2023-11-10 (5 stars):
Thank you for these great tips. I appreciate the extra effort you went to to create perfect a perfect sugar cookie recipe. Let me know if you come up with a good recipe to ensure good cookie stencils :-). I've got several high quality cookie presses but it is often hard to see the stencil on the top after baking.
Kim on 2023-11-09 (5 stars):
Your "A Roll Out Sugar Cookie Recipe That Actually Has Your Back" recipe in Weeknight Baking is my absolute go-to. People always comment that my cookies taste as good as they look. It looks like this is the same or have you made any tweaks?