Active Time
45 minutes
Total Time
2 hours 30 minutes (not including decorating)
The best sugar cookie has understated flavor and delicate texture. It should also take you straight back to your childhood, and this Gourmet classic hits all the right marks. It’s a roll-and-cut-out sugar cookie recipe that results in crisp, buttery cookies with the straightforward flavor of vanilla extract. Of course, these are your cookies, so if you want to add a ¼ tsp. peppermint or almond extract, ½ tsp. of cardamom or cinnamon, or 1 tsp. citrus zest, go for it. (Looking for chewy sugar cookies or gluten-free sugar cookies? We’ve got you covered.)
The lack of baking soda and baking powder in this recipe means the cookies won’t spread. That's ideal for turning out picture-perfect snowflakes, reindeer, stars, or whatever cookie cutters you want to use—even a Halloween pumpkin. For double the insurance, refrigerate the sugar cookie dough any time it starts to feel too soft. And always use a cool pan to bake off the next batch. Baking your cutouts on a cookie sheet lined with silicone or parchment paper ensures that the bottoms of the cookies won’t get too dark and makes it easier to transfer them from refrigerator to sheet pan to wire rack.
The icing used to decorate these easy sugar cookies is no plain powdered sugar glaze. Adding powdered egg whites (a pasteurized product) turns it into royal icing, which means it has body and will harden with a nice matte finish. You could also opt to frost the cookies with buttercream. Another option: Decorate with sanding sugar or sprinkles before your perfect sugar cookies hit the oven. Want to skip decorating? Fold in some mix-ins and call it a holiday.
Ingredients
Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies
Sugar cookies:
Decorating icing:
Sugar cookies:
Step 1
Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.
Step 2
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer or 6 minutes with a hand mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Step 3
Form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Step 4
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 5
Roll out 1 disk of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into an 8½-inch round (¼ inch thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, rewrap in plastic and chill until firm.) Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart.
Step 6
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Step 7
Meanwhile, gather scraps and chill until dough is firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll scraps only once) and bake on cooled baking sheets.
Do Ahead: Dough can be chilled up to 3 days. Baked cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.
Decorating icing:
Step 8
Beat together all ingredients except food coloring in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderate speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat icing, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until it holds stiff peaks, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 4 to 5 minutes with a handheld.
Note: If you plan to spread (rather than pipe) icing on cookies, stir in more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin to desired consistency.
Step 9
Transfer ¼ cup icing to a small bowl for each color and tint with food coloring. Spoon each color icing into a sealable bag, pressing out excess air, and snip a ⅛-inch opening in 1 bottom corner of bag. Twisting bag firmly just above icing, decoratively pipe icing onto cookies. Decorate with sanding sugar and dragées, if using. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour) before storing cookies.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the December 2005 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared online in November 2005. Head this way for more of our best Christmas cookies →
Leave a Review
Reviews (65)
Back to TopBest sugar cookie I've made ever. Great taste, ease of use, Bravo! Strongly advise to use weight measure instead of "cups." King Arthur calls 1 cup of its flour @ 120g. Foolproof when you measure by weight.
Duspin
Boston, MA
12/27/2021
My go-to sugar cookie recipe. They're always delicious! I love the texture and buttery flavor.
wildblueheron
Seattle
8/22/2020
This recipe produced delicious, crisp cookies with a crunch that lasted for days. I made them for my halloween party this year and they were a hit. They completely held their cookie cutter shapes and colored very well. I added food coloring to the sugar before mixing everything together to create beautiful orange and purple cookies.
MatCooks
Atlanta, GA
11/17/2017
This recipe is just okay. I'm glad we gave it a test drive before our holiday baking because it is rather bland. The recipe indicates you can use a handmixer but I found my handmixer struggled when the flour was added (I have a sturdy hand held Cuisinart handmixer). I think this recipe would work better with a stand mixer. We were able to make just under 3 dozen small cookies with this recipe. The texture of the cookies is nice...chewy inside and lightly crisp outside...but overall a bland cookie recipe that we won't be using again.
bythesea2
Southern US
1/9/2017
I loved these. Crisp and very tasty. Better with icing, of course. They were only slightly difficult to roll out as the dough didn't hold together as well as I would have liked. But the cookies turned out great. We all thought they were delicious.
joanlmikk
Newport Beach, California
12/24/2014
These cookies bring back memories of my youth. I love that they're crispy and tasty but not overly sweet. I make them every year at Christmas time and the whole family loves them!
lavinm
Washington, DC
12/22/2013
Not sure why so many people have trouble with this... I use Silpat baking sheets, and that is definitely a help. I also lightly flour the door before each roll. Dough rolled out perfectly, even with just a few minutes in the freezer (be sure to put in refrigerator between rolls). No, they are not that sweet, but that is how roll out cookies are supposed to be. But they were flaky and delicate, but tough enough to roll easily roll to a 1/4 inch and still not break.
vamama
Arlington VA
2/10/2013
This was my stand-by sugar cookie recipe for years (sorry my tasters have now voted it out for a Martha Stewart one) but its really good recipe. The technique is really important and if you can get these right it will make you a better baker. I wouldn't suggest frosting these cookies. Just a little sugar for that satisfying crunch. Also I suggest starting with highest quality butter you can get and brand new flour. Fancy vanilla won't hurt either.
CantaloupeAlone
Taipei, Taiwan
1/20/2013
Loved this cookie recipe. Subtle sweetness and buttery. I followed the recipe exactly. Dough might've a touch dry but held up well to multiple roll-outs by the kids. Will definitely make again.
Kimphuong
Santa Cruz, CA
12/25/2012
A very unmemorable sugar cookie. My biggest issue is that was very bland. Texture was just ok. I will not be making this one again.
blueocean_baby
8/19/2012
We enjoyed these cookies. My daughter is allergic to egg, so we used pear baby food in its place. We also used whole wheat flour instead of white flour, to try to make the cookies a little more nutritious! Two babies, a toddler and their mommies all agreed that these were easy and tasty.
Um_Isra
Dubai, UAE
6/8/2012
Thin, brittle, crispy, flavorless cookies. Icing is sweet but not tasty. Will not make these again.
Anonymous
Midwest
12/24/2011
The cookies are hard and not very flavourful.
sweetbug28
11/13/2011
I just took mine out of the oven, their delicious! My friend told me she could eat twenty of them.
anvils
VA
6/16/2011
Golden standard for cut outs any time of the year. Sometimes I use a little lemon zest to flavor. Make sure you use the finest butter you can get your hands on.
TheGoodGutdotcom
Brooklyn
2/19/2011
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