Introducing the actual best sugar cookie recipe! My recipe makes simple, versatile vanilla sugar cookies; the dough is easy to roll and to work with and doesn’t spread when baking, so your cookies will always have sharp, defined edges! You can decorate these cookies with sanding sugar, or you can use my recipe below for a simple (and tasty!) pipe-able sugar cookie icing (one that’s not royal icing!).
The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
If you’re looking for perfect cut-out Christmas sugar cookies, ones that hold their shape and don’t spread in the oven, come together easily with no strange ingredients, and that actually taste incredible, too, I’ve got you covered this year.
If you want a foolproof (and I do literally mean foolproof) easy sugar cookie icing that isn’t royal icing, one that dries firm but not break-your-teeth hard, well I’ve got you covered there too.
I’m adding this flawless sugar cookie recipe to my Christmas cookie tray alongside the gingerbread men, meringues, and hot chocolate bombs (am I the only one including these on my cookie list this year?) and would like to gently suggest you consider doing the same, I don’t think you (or your guests or gift recipients!) will regret it.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe:
- My recipe yields cookies that absolutely do not spread in the oven, so you have perfectly defined shapes and clear cookie-cutter edges.
- These sugar cookies have a soft interior texture with a classic, buttery flavor (and instructions for adding other flavors, if desired).
- Recipe includes instructions to easily customize the cookies depending on whether you prefer thicker and softer or thinner and crispier sugar cookies.
- Includes a simple, shiny, and absolutely foolproof (you seriously can’t mess this up!) sugar cookie icing that you are going to love. While royal icing certainly has its place (and I even have a fantastic royal icing recipe, if you’re searching or would like to use that here) I generally prefer this oh-so-easy frosting instead.
What You Need
Sugar Cookies Ingredients
- Butter. I recommend using unsalted butter so that we can best control the flavor. For best results, note that the butter should be softened, but not so soft that it’s melting/oily.
- Sugar. Use granulated sugar, it gives my sugar cookie recipe that classic Christmas cookie flavor you know and love and helps keep them from spreading.
- Egg. A single egg helps the dough bind together.
- Vanilla extract. You can really flavor these cookies with whatever extract you like best (almond and lemon are popular choices), but typically I always include at least a splash of vanilla, even when using other flavors, as it gives the sugar cookies a beautiful depth of flavor. (If you have homemade vanilla extract, now is a great time to use it!).
- Flour. I have only tested and only recommend this sugar cookie recipe with all-purpose flour (often simply referred to as “plain” flour outside of the US).
- Baking powder. My recipe uses just a small amount of baking powder, which helps give the cookies the perfect soft interior texture and crisp edge.
- Salt. I mentioned above that unsalted butter is best, but if you only have salted on hand simply reduce the salt in the recipe to ¼ teaspoon.
Sugar Cookie Icing Ingredients
- Powdered sugar. Also known as confectioners sugar or icing sugar. For best results (especially if you’ll be piping the icing), sift it to remove any lumps before using.
- Milk. I use whole milk, but any variety (low-fat, skim, or even non-dairy milk like almond) will work instead. Just note that if you are using a lower-fat milk you may need less than the recipe calls for, as it is thinner.
- Vanilla extract. If you want pure white icing I recommend using a clear vanilla extract.
- Light corn syrup. Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup, this ingredient gives my sugar cookie frosting a glossy, shiny finish and helps it to to set firmly. If you must leave it out, I’ve included notes in the recipe on how to do so, but for best results I recommend using it. Dark corn syrup could work but will add a muddy color and additional flavor to your icing. Outside of the US, you may be able to find glucose syrup, which should work instead.
- Food Coloring. Of course this is optional, but for festively decorated Christmas sugar cookies, you’ll probably want to add a bit of color. I love and use gel food coloring for best results (and linked to the kind I use in the recipe). Liquid or powder food coloring will work, but may not be as vibrant.
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients used here and why they were chosen. For the full sugar cookie recipe with amounts and detailed instructions, please scroll down to the printable recipe.
SAM’S TIP: Don’t have time to decorate? Skip the sugar cookie frosting and just sprinkle colorful sanding sugar over the cookies before baking!
Tips for Making the Best Sugar Cookies
- When cutting out your sugar cookies, make sure to keep your cuts as close together to get as many cookies out of your dough as possible. Re-roll any scraps so that you use all of your dough. Keep in mind that with each re-roll you’re adding more flour into the dough, so you want to get as much as possible out of that first roll.
- Bake cookies that are about the same size on the same baking sheet. Otherwise the small ones will burn and the large ones won’t finish baking.
- For thinner, crispy sugar cookies: Roll cookie dough thinner (about ⅛″) and look for the edges of the cookies to be beginning to turn golden brown to know that they are done.
- For thicker, soft sugar cookies: Roll dough to about ¼″, and watch for cookies to be just beginning to turn lightly golden around the edges. Let them cool completely on the cookie rack as they may break if you try to move them while they’re still warm.
- When making the sugar cookie icing: It’s hard to mess this one up, because if you make it too thin, just add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, just add more milk! Look for a consistency where the icing that drizzles off of the whisk holds its shape for several seconds before dissolving back into the icing bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sugar cookies should always have a distinctly buttery, sugary and (usually) vanilla flavor, but in order to maintain their clean-cut shape they are never quite as rich as drop cookies. Much of their flavor comes from the sweet sugar cookie icing. While my sugar cookie recipe is already flavorful, to make them even more so, you can add different extracts or emulsions to the dough or top the icing off with sanding sugar or decorative candies.
Yes, my easy sugar cookie icing may be colored (if desired) and stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to a week before using. To help keep the top from crusting, always place a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the sugar cookie frosting when storing (or keep in a plastic bag and twist to keep the air from reaching the icing). Most likely you will need to stir (or if you stored it in piping bags, massage it) before using.
This is often a result of accidentally mis-measuring an ingredient or over-measuring the flour. Please see my post on how to measure flour properly, and remember to never scoop the flour directly into the measuring cup (for best results, use a scale!).
Add your flour gradually. Adding it all at once can make it difficult for the dough to properly absorb the dry ingredients, resulting in a crumbly, difficult dough. Make sure that your sugar cookie dough is thoroughly combined; if it still seems crumbly after you’ve added all the flour, just keep mixing with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until dough is clinging together and no flour remains.
This is most often a result of accidentally mis-measuring or substituting an ingredient, using butter that is much too soft (it should never be melting/oily and should not be warmed in the microwave), or not chilling the dough for long enough. Dough that is still slightly sticky after chilling can often be salvaged by chilling longer or by generously dusting your countertop and the dough with additional flour.
Hopefully you love this easy sugar cookie recipe as much as I do, and don’t forget to check out the how-to video in the recipe card!
Enjoy!
Easy Sugar Cookies & Sugar Cookie Frosting
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract (see note)
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour (Plain flour)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar, sifted (weigh before sifting)
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk (I use whole milk, but any kind will work)
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup (see note)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Gel food coloring optional
- Additional candies and sprinkles for decorating optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy and well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until completely combined.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 large egg
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.2 ½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until dough is smooth and completely combined.
- Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and transfer approximately half of the dough onto the wrap (dough will be quite sticky at this point, that’s OK!).
- Cover dough with clear wrap or wax paper and mold into a flat disk. Wrap tightly. Repeat with remaining cookie dough in another piece of clear wrap. Transfer dough to refrigerator and chill for at least 2-3 hours and up to 5 days.
- Once dough has finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (alternatively bake cookies directly on an ungreased baking sheet). Set aside.
- Generously dust a clean surface with flour and place one chilled cookie dough disk onto the surface. Lightly flour the dough and roll out to ⅛" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or ¼" (for thicker, softer cookies). Add additional flour as needed both on top of and beneath the dough so that it doesn't stick. Note: if dough is cracking as you roll it, let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to soften before attempting again.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and use a spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 1" apart. If you are not intending to decorate your cookies with icing, you can decorate them with sanding sugar at this point before you bake them.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 8-10 minutes (this is for cookies that are approximately 3" [7.6cm]; note that smaller cookies will need less time and larger cookies will need more), or until edges just begin to turn lightly golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before decorating.
Easy Sugar Cookie Icing
- Combine powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. If frosting is too thick, add more milk, about a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is thick but pipeable. If you accidentally add too much milk, add powdered sugar until desired texture is reached.3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar, sifted, 3-4 Tablespoons milk, 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- If coloring the frosting, divide into bowls and color as desired at this point.Gel food coloring
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a piping tip (I used Wilton 5), or place in a Ziploc bag and snip a small piece of the corner off (not as neat, but this will still work, just take care that the frosting isn’t so thick that it breaks open the seam of the bag when you are squeezing).
- Pipe frosting on cookies and decorate with decorative candies, if desired.Additional candies and sprinkles for decorating
- Allow frosting to harden before enjoying, stacking, or storing (this took several hours for me and may vary for you depending on the consistency of your frosting).
Notes
Flavoring and extracts
You may also reduce the vanilla extract to ¾ teaspoon and add ¼-1/2 teaspoons of either almond or lemon extract (or just about any other extract you’d like!).Corn Syrup
I highly recommend using light corn syrup for the firmest, glossiest finish on your sugar cookies. However, if you must omit it, you may, but note that the frosting will not dry quite as hard and you will likely need to add more milk to get the icing to the proper consistency. Glucose syrup may be substituted, but outside of that I am not sure of a substitute that would give the same effect.Making Frosting in Advance
To make icing in advance, store in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface of the icing. It will keep for several days and may be stored either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Icing will need to be stirred again before using. It may be colored with food coloring before or after storing.Storing
Keep uneaten cookies sealed in an airtight container at room temperature for up to ten days. Cookies may also be frozen for several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Rosie
Great recipe! Annoying presentation, should pull your hair back also.
Sam
Annoying comment. If you don’t like how I present my recipes, then no one is making you visit MY blog, Rosie 🙄
Dayna kennelly
You’re a rude person! Bet you love Scrooge before he turns nice. 🤷♀️
christine robidoux
Made the cookies today, family loved them! These will be our teacher gifts this year.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Christine! Those are some lucky teachers. 🙂
Nikki
I used your recipe last night to make sugar cookies for the first time. They were great!! Came out of the oven nice and soft, set up well, and kept their shape. I just used royal icing this time around, but next time I’m going to give your recipe a try as well. Thank you so much for making my first Christmas sugar cookie experience a good one!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Nikki! I hope to help you with many more positive cookie experiences. 🙂
K.Blyth
I have tried countless recipes hoping to find that perfect cookie..Found It! These cookies were easy, tasty and held their shape beautifully while cooking.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Kristen! 🙂
Lis
I have tried so many over the years. I found this recipe last year and it was everything I wanted. They were crisp on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. Very delicious. The frosting was also great. I especially liked the glossy finish.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
Jessica
My dough was really sticky couldn’t do anything with it without it sticking to my fingers and rolling pin and counter top … please help
Sam
Hi, Jessica. Was it still really sticky after refrigerating for a few hours? If so you can just add a little more flour to the dough and the surface so it doesn’t stick. 🙂
Jessica
Yes it was!!! I wrapped it in wax paper and refrigerated it for 4 hrs and still very sticky. So I wil try and add more flour to it. Thank you
Sam
That should help you. I hope it works out for you. 🙂
Drage
I really really like the delicious sugar cookies. 🍪 🥇
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Rachel F.
How far in advance can you make the frosting? I’m hosting a cookie decorating party and wondering if I can mix it up the night before or if it will harden and be unusable.
Sam
Hi Rachel! Unfortunately, the frosting would start to harden if you make it the night before. It really starts to glaze over in 15-30ish minutes.
Sofia
i just made this recipe and i have to say that i love it !! they didn’t even last a day ! there so tasty and easy to make !
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Sofia! 🙂
Cammi
I have just made my dough and put it in the refrigerator. The dough was sticky but also seemed loose, not crumbly like I’m use to…is this normal for this recipe or did I mess up some how… I followed the recipe correctly.
Sam
Hi, Cammi! I think you did everything right. This recipe is supposed to be sticky. Refrigerating will help some of the stickiness go away. I hope you love them! 🙂
Cristy
It’s a snowy day here in Southern VA and I’m about to spend it making your sugar cookies! I don’t have maple syrup for the frosting, so I’m so sad about that, but will have to just deal with another recipe. 🙁 I’ll be sure to get the syrup later, though!!!! Here’s to lots of baking!
Sam
Hi, Cristy! I am assuming you mean corn syrup for the frosting? Maple syrup won’t work because it won’t set up. Unfortunately I don’t know of a good substitute. I absolutely LOVE baking when the snow is falling outside. There’s nothing like it! Enjoy. 🙂
Rebecca
This is the second recipe of yours I have tried in just a few weeks and, again, the recipe was easy to follow and the results were flawless! There was NO spread while baking! I was actually giddy about how well they turned out! They were perfectly tender and delicious, another homerun recipe, thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Rebecca! I hope you love everything you try. 🙂
Alana Bittles
I’ve baked these 2 weeks in a row and they came out great and tasted beautiful, however both times I’ve left them to cool and then put royal icing on them and left them out to dry and they’ve got a stale kind of taste to them is if they’ve been left out too long but I’ve read that most people leave them out overnight and they are fine. I know I haven’t used your icing recipe but should I put the cookies in a container once cooled before icing. Any help would be great as I love this cookie recipe when they cooled and were buttery and crispy and now don’t taste like that anymore and I only made them last night 😐
Sam
Hi, Alana! I’m sorry you are experiencing this. I have left them out overnight without an issue, the only thing I could think is that the icing is causing that taste. 🙂
Jillian
I really loved the cookies – they were delicious and absolutely perfect. The frosting, however, less so. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but the frosting tasted very chemically which was disappointing. The frosting was also much too sticky to easily apply. I’m not sure if it was a difference in brand or not enough or too much or something, but I ended up having to scrape off the frosting and buying store brand.
Sam
Hi Jillian! If the frosting was sticky that could be fixed by adding a bit more milk into the mixture. The chemical taste is odd to me, did you color the frosting? I’m wondering if there was too much food coloring by chance? That’s the only thing I can think of that might make it taste funny.
Jillian
Hi Sam, We had tasted it before putting food coloring in it and it still tasted off. It was okay in small doses but when we covered the cookies completely it was too overwhelming.
Sam
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the frosting. Was it possible one of the ingredients was bad or maybe there was something on the spoon when mixing? I really don’t know how it could get a chemical taste to it. I wish it had worked out for you.
Rashayna
Found my favorite sugar cookie recipe!! So good and even better the 2nd day! I prefer the thicker cut ones either way they were a hit!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Rashayna! I hate to say mine don’t typically make it until the second day, there’s not much self control in this house. 😂