Great for getting the kids involved in some holiday baking...one of my favorite, easy Christmas Cookie Recipes!!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
It makes the best rolled sugar cookies ever -- especially if you are baking with kids.
You can re-roll the dough as much as you need to without it getting tough or crumbly. It makes them perfect for cutting out and decorating.
The edges cut cleanly and the cookies don't spread in the oven. Perfect cookies, full of buttery-sugary-deliciousness every single time!
🧾 Ingredients
It's amazing that these cookies are so delicious with so few ingredients. It's a simple recipe but it's super important to use real butter or the flavor just won't be there.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Mix the dry ingredients and set aside.
- Melt the butter.
- Whisk in the sugar until smooth and it looses its graininess.
- Stir in the eggs.
- Blend in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture.
- Stir until blended. Dough is very soft.
- Chill for 30 minutes in the freezer or the refrigerator overnight.
- Roll the dough out, cut, and bake.
This sugar cookie dough is very soft before you chill it - as in the image above.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: I like to cut the dough out in shapes then freeze it unbaked. That way I only have to put them on the cookie sheet and bake - no mess and hardly any time at all!
I don't think it would be a holiday for my kids without a few of these along with some coconut white chocolate chip - especially my older kids who have fond memories of the bake sales.
- The dough is very soft - let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or, if you are in a hurry, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.
- When rolling use just enough flour to keep them from sticking.
- Bake just until the bottoms and edges are light golden brown.
- Use baking soda for soft cookies or baking powder for crunchy cookies.
- The dough keeps for several days in the refrigerator or you can freeze it for longer storage.
- Always bake similar sized cookies together so that they bake evenly.
- Rolling the dough about ⅛-inch thick will give you a crispy sugar cookie while rolling the dough ¼-inch will keep them softer.
- Let cool completely before decorating with icing.
📖 Variations
Classic sugar cookies are flavored with vanilla but this recipe is so versatile that you can easily change the flavors.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Split a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds into the melted butter before you add the flour
- When melting the butter let it get a golden brown color for a nutty, rich taste
- Use part vanilla and part almond extract instead of just vanilla
- Use lemon extract
- Use a few drops of anise flavoring
- Color the dough with gel or paste food color
- Replace 1 cup of the sugar with brown sugar
- Add a little freshly grated nutmeg
- Add a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- Add a pinch of cardamom
- Add a teaspoon of lemon or orange zest
🎥 Video
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👩🏻🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
This dough almost always keeps its shape perfectly but if you want to make absolutely sure the cut cookies will keep their shape then put the cookie sheet with the cut cookies on it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.
Your oven was too hot and the butter melted too fast. Be sure your oven is at the correct temperature. Freezing the cookies before baking will help, too.
Good question! That kinda depends on you. ⅛th to ¼- inch thick is about right. Thicker cookies, especially when made with baking soda, stay softer. Thinner cookies, especially when made with baking powder, stay crispy.
🍽 Equipment
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Good cookie sheets make all the difference in the texture of your cookies and whether or not the bottoms burn. I like these heavy duty cookie sheets from Calphalon for this easy recipe. They’re high quality and will last for years.
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This recipe makes easy rolled sugar cookies for your Christmas cookie tray -- but they are beautiful for any occasion from Valentine's Day to Halloween.
Cut them in rounds and put two together with some chocolate ganache in between for sandwich cookies - so good!
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📖 Recipe
Rolled Sugar Cookies Recipe
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup butter, melted
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 beaten eggs
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, or 1 tsp baking soda for a softer cookie
- pinch salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Whisk the sugar into the melted butter and let it stand until the mixture is lukewarm.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.
- Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes or the refrigerator overnight.
- Roll ⅛ inch thick on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut as desired.
- Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.
- Cookies should be golden on edges but don’t let them brown.
- Let cool and decorate as desired.
- Amount varies with size of cookie cutters.
Notes
- Split a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds into the melted butter before you add the flour
- When melting the butter let it get a golden brown color for a nutty, rich taste
- Use part vanilla and part almond extract instead of just vanilla
- Use lemon extract
- Use a few drops of anise flavoring
- Color the dough with gel or paste food color
- Replace 1 cup of the sugar with brown sugar
- Add a little freshly grated nutmeg
- Add a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- Add a pinch of cardamom
- Add a teaspoon of lemon or orange zest
- The dough is very soft - let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or, if you are in a hurry, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Use enough flour to keep them from sticking.
- Bake these easy sugar cookies just until the bottoms and edges are light golden brown.
- Use baking soda for soft cookies or baking powder for crunchy cookies.
- The dough keeps for several days in the refrigerator or you can freeze it for longer storage.
- Always bake similar sized cookies together so that they bake evenly.
- Rolling the dough about ⅛-inch thick will give you a crispy sugar cookie while rolling the dough ¼-inch will keep them softer.
- Let cool completely before decorating with icing.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published December 2006. Last updated August 17, 2020 for a better variety of images, readability, and better user experience.
Kathleen cole
Hi can you put the dough between 2 sheets of cling film to roll out,I was told that to much extra flour ruined the cookies many thanks kathle
Marsha
I love sugar cookies and these sound so wonderful. But I like a softer cookie, but a crunchy edge. Can i use 1 tsp soda and 1/2 tsp
of baking powder to get both? Thank you for sharing this awesome cookie.
Marye
That might work? I think you'll need to experiment. 🙂
Sabrina Garcia
Hi there! Looks like a great recipe! I was reading the article and didn't see anything specifically pertaining to freezing the recipe and using it later down the road. I'm going to be making Christmas cookie plates for friends and family this year so I just wanted to make this ahead of time. Thanks for your time!
Marye Audet
they freeze very well. 🙂
Terry Finley
April's making your cookies again....she said to tell you that you are too young to be a grandma and she loves that you love RED. (She does, too) My baker2be is off making cookies tonight for her birthday tomorrow. 🙂 Have a great one, my friend!