The Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies

You’ll love making this sugar cookie recipe for Christmas – easy to whip up, no dough chilling, perfect for cut outs and so soft and delicious!

This is one of my favorite Christmas cookies to make with my kids – the dough is so easy to put together and doesn’t require any chilling.

I actually use almost the same dough for my Pinwheel Cookies and for my Candy Cane Cookies – it’s just so simple and fun to make!

Here, we roll it out and make cut out sugar cookies, later we decorate them with a simple powdered sugar icing and all the sprinkles we can find.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Butter: I recommend using real butter here. If you have to use margarine for any kind of reason, please use stick margarine and NOT a spread.
• Vanilla: Feel free to use almond extract in place of the vanilla. Or use both, if you like!

How to make Sugar Cookies

1. Start by creaming the butter and sugar together until light an fluffy.

2. Add the egg and the vanilla extract, then beat just until combined. You don’t want to overmix the egg, or your cookies may come out tough!

3. Now, turn out the dough to your work surface and push it together a few times to let it come together. You do not want to knead the dough or work it much, but you’ll want it to come together into a smooth dough you can roll out.

4. Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. I recommend you work in batches here to make the rolling more manageable.

Cut out your cookies and transfer them to lined baking sheets.

5. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, until lightly golden. Cool them on the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating!

Recipe tips

• Don’t overwork the dough: I already noted this in the instructions above, but it’s really crucial not to overwork cookie dough. You want it to be well combined and smooth to roll out, but don’t knead it like bread dough or mix it for too long. This will develop the gluten in the flour and turn out tough cookies.
• For rolling: Make sure you don’t roll the cookies too thin, or they won’t be soft. If you prefer, you can dust your work surface with powdered sugar instead of flour.
• !! If it takes a long time to cut out the cookies !! If it’s taking you a relatively long time to cut out the cookies (it does for me with the kids), place the cut out cookies on the baking sheet in the fridge (or outdoors if it’s cold where you are) for 5-10 minutes before baking.
• To decorate: I keep sugar cookie decorating simple – cutting them out is tiring enough. I just whip up a thick powdered sugar icing (2-3 cups powdered sugar with 2-4 tablespoons half and half or lemon juice do the trick; exact amounts you need depend on how much icing you like on each cookie). Then the kids cover them in sprinkles. So easy, and a lot of fun for all involved – even mom 😉

Freezer instructions

To freeze raw cookie dough:

Tightly wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap, then label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months) before freezing.

When ready to bake, remove the cookie dough from the freezer and thaw in the fridge overnight (I recommend placing it on a plate to catch any water drips). Once thawed, roll out and bake as directed in the recipe.

To freeze baked cookies:

 Freeze the cookies undecorated! Place them in a freezer-friendly container, separating layers with sheets of baking parchment. Label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months) before freezing.

To defrost, remove the cookies from the container and place them on a wire rack on the counter for a few hours, or until defrosted.

Storage Instructions

Sugar cookies keep well for about a week in an airtight container on the counter. Undecorated cookies stay fresh for a little longer than decorated ones in my experience.

We love these as a little after school treat during the holiday season with a mug of homemade hot chocolate or hot apple cider.

Nothing better than living the sparkly magic of Christmas every single day during December, if you ask me – and that’s why these have been dubbed the world’s best sugar cookies by my 5 year old.

More Christmas cookie recipes

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!