Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe
Everyone needs an Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe! These are literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious and our go-to sugar cookie dough. It is perfect for decorating Christmas sugar cookies.
We love festive holiday treats like melt-in-your-mouth Snowball Cookies, soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, and of course Baklava. These beautifully decorated sugar cookies are a beautiful addition to the Christmas cookie platter.
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My name is Natalya and I run a food blog Momsdish. I love simple dishes that use minimal ingredients. During the holidays, I love baking but I hate making messes. This recipe for sugar cookies gives me the best of both worlds — perfect cookies and an easy clean-up. I’m so excited to share this recipe with you!
Sugar Cookies
Whether you are planning a cookie making party for the holidays or whipping up a batch for a friend’s birthday, you need a sugar cookie recipe that you can rely on. These cookies taste amazing, keep their shape and are perfect for eating plain or decorated with frosting and sprinkles. Let’s get started!
Tips For The Best Sugar Cookies:
Sugar cookies may seem simple, but there are a lot of bad recipes out there! After much trial and error, I feel confident that I have mastered the art of the sugar cookie. Here are all the best tips and tricks I have gathered throughout the years:
Rolling Out Sugar Cookies Dough
Roll your dough out directly on a silicone baking mat or piece of parchment paper so you do not have to transfer your delicate shapes onto a baking sheet later. You can cut your shapes out right atop the mat and make your life a bit easier.
How Thick Should Sugar Cookies be Rolled Out?
Roll your dough out to about ¼-inch thick. This is the sweet spot. You’ll have cookies thick enough to keep their shape, while also thin enough to promote even baking.
Avoid Crumbly Dough
Crumbly dough makes for misshapen cookies that are prone to uneven baking. To prevent this, don’t overmix your dough. You want the dough to be as smooth as possible. However, if you do get a crumbly texture, add ½ tbsp of water, or milk to the batter and incorporate it until it remoistens the dough.
Avoid Overbaking
10 minutes might seem like a very short baking time for cookies. But, trust me, do not overbake them! At around 10 minutes, the edges of the cookies should just start to turn golden brown. This is the time to pull them! If you continue baking, you risk compromising that signature tenderness of a perfect sugar cookie.
Storing Sugar Cookies
The great part about this recipe is that it can be made a couple of days in advance and the cookies will still retain their freshness. Below, I will share how you should store them and also how you can freeze your dough or baked cookies for later munching!
Storing Cookies at Room Temperature:
Store baked sugar cookies on the counter in an airtight container. They will keep for up to a week. Remember, if you have decorated your cookies, it is best to store them between layers of parchment paper to prevent sticking and/or destroying your designs.
Freezing Baked Sugar Cookies:
To freeze baked sugar cookies, first, make sure that you allow them to cool completely. Then, stack the cookies in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper. Freeze cookies for up to 2 months. When you are ready to eat them, allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough:
To freeze your sugar cookie dough, roll it into a ball or a log. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container or freezer bag. The dough will keep for up to 2 months before you need to use it. When you are ready to bake, allow the dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, make sure it reaches room temperature before you shape your cookies and bake them.
How to Make Sugar Cookies
- First, you will combine your flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set the dry mixture aside.
- Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat your butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy.
- Slowly beat flour into the butter mixer until it is fully incorporated.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll out each piece to ¼-inch thickness.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out your favorite shapes or freeze your dough for later use.
- Bake the cookies and allow them to cool.
- Decorate the cookies as you please or gobble them up plain!
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies:
To decorate sugar cookies, you can make your own homemade royal icing which makes a great sugar cookie icing, add food coloring, then pipe it on with a squeeze bottle or little zip bags (handy and inexpensive for cookie decorating parties), or you can purchase an icing decorating kit with pre-made frostings in a variety of colors which makes it really easy. Don’t forget the Christmas sprinkles and crushed candy canes.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
These are our best-loved (and reviewed) Christmas cookies to fill up your holiday cookie platters. These are well-loved by all ages and you’re sure to find some new favorites in this list. Looking for more Christmas recipes and inspiration? Check out our Christmas archives here.
- Almond Snowball Cookies
- Meringue Shell Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- Madeleine Cookies
- Meringue Shell Cookies
Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe
Everyone needs an Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe! These are literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I am positive these Christmas cookies will win you over.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, (large)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, (measured correctly)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 °F with a rack in the center. Whisk together flour with baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
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Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat the butter together with sugar. To the mixture add vanilla extract and egg and beat to combine.
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To the butter mixture, add flour in 3 parts until fully incorporated.
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Divide the dough into two equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll into ¼-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out your favorite shapes.
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Bake cookies on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet at 350˚F for 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
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Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely and decorating with cookie icing.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natalya Drozhzhin
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
these where the and softest cookies ever will use this recipe again tysm!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Lilly!
Easiest and Best tasting, not so sweet, cutout cookie recipe! Definitely mu go-to in the future. Thank you
So glad to hear that, Laura! Thank you for sharing.
You need to add a homemade cookie icing recipe. Reference to a bottle icing seemed odd. Should the dough be refrigerated first to keep from spreading? I did, but the recipe didn’t say.
Hi! No, it is not necessary to refrigerate the dough. We use pre-made royal icing for our sugar cookies. They also have kits where you can mix your own ingredients and make it at home but I do not have a recipe for the icing.
The dough is so velvety and smooth and so easy to work with it literally took a few minutes to make about 34 cookie in total some where a bit larger than others! My first sugar cookies and they came out perfect. Mine took about 12 minutes to make as they where thicker and they came out super soft and tasty and not overly sweet! Will continue to make this recipe. Now after 5 hours of cooling it’s time to decorate.
Hi Maria! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you loved it.
These taste great and were really simple! Difficult to mess up, which is perfect for me 🙂 Definitely saving this recipe.
Thank you, Patrick! Good to know that this will be added to your saved recipes!
Simple and successful. I’ll be using this recipe again! Thanks!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Gabriele!
These cookies are delicious! Measuring the flour accurately made for a velvety dough. I loved getting the cookies in the oven without having to chill the dough! This will be my new go-to recipe for cutter cookies!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Laurie! Thank you for sharing your fantastic review with me!
Does not work well at high altitude, added more milk to try and save the cookie dough
Hi Dawn! This recipe is not written for high-altitude baking. I do not have any experience with high-altitude baking but you may find this article helpful HERE.
I made these tonight. We loved them. Very easy to make.
My husband is a Cookie Monster and he loved them.
I will definitely use this recipe from now on… YUMMY
I’m so glad to hear that, Susie! Thank you for sharing.
I don’t recommend this recipe at all. The dough is the most crumbly dough I’ve ever made. Trying to roll it out was very frustrating. It split all around the edges and when trying to move the cookie from the counter to the cookie sheet they would break and rip. On a positive note, the flavor was decent. Not good, but not bad.
Hi Tina, based on how you described the dough, it sounds like too much flour was added (or not enough butter). Check out our helpful tips on How to measure ingredients for baking for great results every time.
Very easy and delicious sugar cookies. I will be making again . My family loves them
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Phyllis!
Can you use shortening or margarine if there’s no butter and will it bake fine on just a cookie sheet no paper?
Hi Gina! I haven’t tested it but one of my readers commented on using margarine.
Like others have mentioned I also needed to add 1/4 cup milk to this recipe. Without it the dough was a crumbly mess. I went as far as weighing out things like butter and flour to make sure I didn’t mess this recipe up and this still happened. Thankfully I read the comments before throwing the dough in the trash!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Hannah! Be sure to measure by fluffing the flour first with a spoon then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape off the top. If you push your measuring cup into a flour bin, you will get up to 25% too much flour. Also, do not tap the flour down in the measuring cup.
I made the cookies I also had to add 1/4 milk plus 2 teas vanilla They turned out great.
This recipe is perfect!!
I also had to add a half cup of milk like another baker did, but this is the recipe I grew up with.
The only thing I changed was for extract, I used half vanilla and half lemon. (to honor my mother).
Thank you!!!
Sounds good! Thank you for sharing your experience trying out this recipe. We’re glad you enjoyed this!
I just realized it says preheat oven so sounds like you don’t chill prior to baking. Answered my own question!
Hello! About to make this recipe. I’m wondering if you chill your dough for 1-2 prior to rolling/baking? I want to make sure to get this right haha
Hi Megan! No, I do not chill the dough. 🙂 I hope you love this recipe!
These cookies came out a little dry. Tasty, but too dry for my taste.
This was my mother’s recipe. Just made some today. It is the best!
These cookies look delicious! Can you share a great icing recipe for these cookies? I don’t see one linked on this post.
Hi Abby! I don’t have a recipe for icing. We used a pre-made icing kit from the store/amazon.
The easiest cookie icing recipe is… Mix 10x sugar and a little milk until it has the consistency of Elmers glue. Have used this for years.
Will this icing recipe harden on the cookie? Thx and merry Christmas!
I toss together a bunch of confectioner’s sugar with some milk until it looks thick enough. Then stir in just a little karo syrup–that makes it harden into a glaze on the cookies.
for many moons i have always used sugar and have been seeing powdered sugar instead….wondering what the differences is for the cookies
They came out delicious not too soft definitely not too hard just right when you take a bite they crumble in your mouth this is my go to recipe thank you tried so many recipes and this is the best
Thank you for sharing that with us Donna. We’re glad that you loved this recipe!
J
Just made these cookies. They are yummy but I had to add at least 1/4 C of milk to the batter. Way too dry and I used exact measurements.
Natasha can l substitute almond flour in this recipe, thanks
Hi Elizabeth! I have not tested that to advise.
Frosting how do you make so you can stack an frosting don’t smear
Hi Lauri! I put in my notes above that you’ll want to use royal icing for this. Royal icing dries and hardens so it allows you to stack the cookies. I do not have a recipe for homemade royal icing, you can purchase this pre-made royal icing or you can purchase a royal icing mix and make it at home yourself.
I was weary of making cut out cookies with my 3 year old grandson because the process has been so tedious with other recipes. This was not the case with this recipe. These cookies were PERFECT and so easy to make! It will be my go to for sugar cookies in the future.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Susan!
Hello:)
How long do these stay nice and soft, how long can I make these in advance?
Hi Mary, please see our ‘Storing Sugar Cookies’ section in the recipes. Yes, these can be made ahead.
I am on vacation without cookie cutters. Is it OK to use this recipe and roll the cookies into balls instead?
Hi Sarah. It would be best to you a glass of some sort instead.
another fantastic recipe! i added cherry flavored emulsion and vanila extract to the batter. my family and friends went nuts. five stars! these are wonderful!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Lisa!
Hi Lisa! Do you mind sharing how much emulsion you added to the cookie recipe? Thank you!
I just made these for the first time. The dough turned out very easy to work with, and my clover cut outs held their shape. The flavor could be punched up a bit, but I will experiment with that in the future. This one is a keeper.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Kelly!
Made these cookies on Christmas with my 9yo daughter. They were easy and such a crowd pleaser! (great tip, as mentioned below, just measure the flour properly). Best recipe we’ve found for sugar cookies – thank you!
That is so sweet. I love to hear when Christmas food memories are made with children. Thank you for sharing that with me.
This is the first time I made sugar cookies that came out so good. I will be using this recipe from now on.
Hi Roxanne, I am so happy to hear that. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
I’ve got the mixture in the fridge right now and hoping that some resting will help it but like other reviewers I’ve had issues with this dough. It crumbled. It is not incorrect measuring or anything like that. It’s too much flour. I’ll see how it rolls out but meh. It’s not looking like this is going to have a good outcome.
Hi Elise, Be sure to measure by fluffing the flour first with a spoon then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape off the top. If you push your measuring cup into a flour bin, you will get up to 25% too much flour. Also, do not tap the flour down in the measuring cup.
Thanks for the tip! I may try it again, because the batch I made went into the bin.
I think the other reviews were right; the dough was easy to work with, but they weren’t as sweet as normal sugar cookies. Excessive frosting compensated, but I’d rather enjoy the cookie alone.
Hi Kathryn, 1 cup of sugar for 3 cups of flour is pretty typical for sugar cookies.
Came out perfect. I live in Colorado so a high elevation, cookies often need more flour or they spread out too thin. This recipe was perfect as is and we definitely will be making every year!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
These are delish! Perfect sweetness and easy to work with. Great recipe, as always 🙂
Thanks so much, Meg! I’m glad to hear that.
These cookies turned out fantastic! I had to hold myself back from eating too many. I love how easy they were to make with my 5 year old. I substituted vegan butter (dairy allergy in our house) and they still turned out great.
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
Hey Natasha can I use salted butter (if that’s all I have) and omit the salt? Would that work for these cookies?
Hi Katya, I have made this using unsalted only. I worry it would be too much salt, but it may work, vomiting the salt from the recipe. If you happen to experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
I haven’t made sugar cookies in a long time. These were very easy to make and roll out. I will definitely be using this recipe again.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
You did a great job working on this recipe Natasha 🙂 this cookie is sooooo yummy 🙂
Thank you for that lovely compliment!
Frustrating dough, I even put in a bit less flour because I thought 3 cups was way too much, I thought right. This dough was impossible to work with. Also, 10 minutes., perhaps for cookies the size of a quarter, mine took 17 minutes and they’re not very good. For the time I spent making them, for the money I spent on the ingredients I would have been better off just buying them retail somewhere.
I’m sorry to hear that. I haven’t had that experience but I have made these many times so I’m happy to help troubleshoot. First consider if any ingredients were changed or substituted that would affect the balance of wet to dry ingredients. Also, baking for 17 minutes would really dry out the cookies. They should be just barely golden at the edges and bottoms. Don’t wait for them to turn golden on top or they will be dry. Lastly, make sure your oven is preheating correctly. I highly recommend an in-oven thermometer to test that. My own oven says its done preheated when it’s always 25 degrees under.
OMG! Those cookies are the best! Soft and flavourful. Every single thing I do using your recipes turns out perfect! Thank you so much! ❤
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Edyta!
Hi Natasha! Can I add some cocoa powder to a part of the dough to make chocolate sugar cookies?
Hi Karen, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Followed recipe and dough crumbled. Waste of time and ingredients.
Hi Felicia, I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like maybe too much flour was added? Make sure to measure flour correctly for baking, otherwise, it can be up to 25% too much flour.
These were amazing!! I am gluten free but I’ve been craving a sugar cookie this Christmas. I subbed out my 1:1 GF flour and then followed the recipe exactly. My friends had no clue that these were gluten-free they were so delicious!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Jenn!
For your easy sugar cutout cookie recipe should you refrigerate your doe before rolling out?
Hi Mary, this recipe does not require that step! I hope you love it!
Natasha, I’m going to be making 7 dozen of these for a gathering. Would it be ok if I made the dough in advance and kept it in the refrigerator until ready to use?
If so, how many days in advance?
I don’t want to make the dough and freeze it or make the cookies and freeze them. Thank you in advance.
Hi Irina, that will work great to make the dough ahead and refrigerate it. Just make sure it reaches room temperature before you shape your cookies and bake them.
Ooof. I added slightly less than the tbsp (which really seems like a lot!), and we could really taste in the cookies. We definitely did NOT use baking soda by mistake, I bake frequently and know the difference. I suspect this has to be an error. My kids won’t even eat them.
Hi A.J. I’m not sure what else it could be. I’ve made this recipe many times exactly per the recipe and haven’t had that issue. In baking in general, the rule of thumb is 1 tsp of baking powder per cup of flour so 3 tsp = 1 Tbsp.
Hi Natasha,
Can you please share your royal icing recipe to go along with your wonderful cookies?
Hello Mary, I don’t have it on my website yet but here is a royal icing recipe from my friend Sally.
Went against my better judgment and stuck with the recipe using a whole tablespoon of baking powder. The cookies tasted horrible from that
Hi Gabrielle, did you use baking soda by mistake? You should not be able to taste the baking powder. Also, I highly recommend buying baking powder that does not contain aluminum. Some people are sensitive to the taste of it and can detect it.
Hi, I made these and they are horrible. Too much Baking Powder in your recipe! I think the 5 star reviews are either bots or people that cannot taste food correctly.
Hi John – did you possibly use baking soda by mistake? Baking soda is 3-4x stronger than baking powder and will ruin these cookies in that quantity. We make these every year and I haven’t had any issues with the quantity of baking powder.
Hi john you probably just leave this wonderful lady and her website alone. The cookies are fantastic and you should keep your thoughts to yourself. 🙂
Hello!! I was thinking of making this with my little cousin and I don’t want anything to go wrong. We can’t use eggs, so is there a substitute for the egg that is just as effective? Or will ignoring the egg be fine? I heard banana is a great substitution but then the cookies will have a banana-y taste. Thank you, otherwise, just reading this is telling me that they’re gonna turn out amazing!
I haven’t tried an egg replacement to substitute for egg in this recipe. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I just made these with my kids and they turned out great! What a wonderful recipe! This will definitely be my go-to from now on! Thanks Natasha!
Wonderful to hear that, Amanda. Thank you for your awesome review! I’m glad you just found a new favorite with this recipe.
I made these for the first time last night. They are buttery and delicious. This dough was the least sticky and easiest to roll out and cut that I have ever made. This will be my sugar cookie recipe from now on!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Susan!
What do i do if i put all the flour at once? How can I fix it?
Hi Melissa, it would just be more difficult to blend it in. As long as you can get it to blend in (you may need to mix a little longer), it should be ok.
Hey Natasha, I was wondering if you can put the dough for the cookies into the fridge?
Hi Melissa, yes, that will work great to make the dough ahead and refrigerate it. Just make sure it reaches room temperature before you shape your cookies and bake them.
How long can the dough be refrigerated for? Also, how far in advance can I make the cookies for a decorating party? One day sealed tight or longer? Thank you!! These are definitely my favorite go-to sugar cookies Natasha! Thank you for opening your kitchen to us all. 😁
Hi Alla, please see the notes in the recipe on how to store these cookies.
Hi Natasha!
Love your recipes. I want to try this recipe before Christmas to make sure it goes well, but I noticed there is no recipe for the royal icing. Might you have one? Thanks in advance.
Hi Madelene, I don’t have it on my website yet but here is a royal icing recipe from my friend Sally.
Can you add almond extract cookies because I have some almond extract and I’ve been reading that it makes sugar cookies more flavorful
Hi Tia, I haven’t tested that yet but I imagine that will be fine. Please share with us how it goes if you try that.
Made the cookies and they were super duper dry. Had to add lots of water but not enough bc after they were cooked still super crumbly and dry. Just out here trying to make mushroom shaped cookies.
Hi Audrey, dry sugar cookies are usually due to overbaking (also make sure you are using conventional oven modes and not convection). These would work fine for a mushroom cutout, but not a 3-d mushroom shape like our Meringue mushrooms (I’m not sure if that’s what you meant).
I followed this exact recipe and they tasted like baking powder. My whole family tried a bite and spat it out. When I was making them I thought a tablespoon of baking powder was a lot as my moms recipe only calls for 1 tea spoon. I don’t know what I could have done wrong because most other reviews have good results
Hi Ashlee, normally you should not be able to taste baking powder (unless way too much was used or sometimes people say they can taste aluminum in it so avoid baking powder with aluminum). I wonder if maybe you accidently used baking soda instead of baking powder. You would be able to taste baking soda if you accidentally used that which is a common mistake. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, I love this recipe, but I use 1 tsp baking powder. The recipe above says 1 Tbsp baking powder! Too much, surely? It’s no wonder Ashlee and family spat out the sugar cookie if it tasted of baking powder. 😜
I had this issue with any recipe I made using baking powder for a while. Check your container of baking powder to see if there are small balls or clumps of baking powder formed. If there are, run your baking powder through a sifter and break up all the clumps. This fixed it for me!
Please check if you’re using US standard sizes. In some cultures like India, tablespoon equals 5 times US standard tablespoon.
I made these sugar cookies today and they were so delicious! They baked without spread and were soft on the inside with a little crunch along the edges. I’ve made many many sugar cookie recipes, and this one BY FAR surpasses the, all! Thank you…I love your site and your videos!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Ronda!
Hello! I have a question:
I have seen 3 ingredient recipes for sugar cookies; they exclude the baking powder, egg, & keep the vanilla optional. What do these changes do to the cookies? I’m looking for ones that a chewy or soft rather than crispy.
Hi Rebecca, these are not chewy but they will be soft if they are baked for less time.
Hey there Natasha
The sugar cookies turned out amazing!!
But since the batter makes so many cookies is there a way maybe to freeze them and then bake them some other time?
Hi Amreen, I answer that question actually in the recipe. Check out the portion, How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough.
When will the recipe for the royal icing be up?
Hi Viviana, I don’t have it on my website yet but here is a royal icing recipe from my friend Sally.
Ur the best non stop cooking every minute baking cooking thank u for recipes
You’re welcome, Rita! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes.
WOULD LOVE ROYAL ICING RECIPE FOR COOKIES
Thank you for that suggestion! We have it on our to-do list!
Hi I made these cookies exactly like the recipe and when I started to roll them out it started to rip in Stick on my rolling pin and every time I try to pick him up from the silicone mat they were ripping I don’t know what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Donna, I wonder if it’s too much flour – check out our post on measuring ingredients for baking which may help. If the dough is dry, it may be excess flour. If it’s too sticky, you may need to dust your surface with some flour.
My dough was crumbling apart and I didn’t even use all the flower it called for
Great !
Fantastic recipe & instructions-first time I have enjoyed making sugar cookies-so easy & come out looking perfect! Have made them 3 times since Christmas! I really appreciated the hint about rolling out on the parchment paper & then putting them in the pan!!! Thank you💕
You’re welcome, Linda! Thank you for your great feedback.
Absolutely love this recipe! Thank you so much 😊 I was always frustrated with sugar cookies and your recipe is perfect!!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Hope. I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe.
These cookies turned out delicious! They will be my go to sugar cookie recipe! I just made it today with my 3 yr old and both enjoyed them 🙂 I made them with this recipe for royal icing, which I really liked as well! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017887-royal-icing
Thank you for sharing that wonderful review with us, Mary! I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Thanks,so much for sharing this with us. Looks beautiful. We welcomed our 4th child baby boy on December 25th ,so finaly im back to the kitchen cooking & baking & its my favorite thing to do is being in the kitchen. My older girls r so interested being in the kitchen with me. Im going to try this recipe. May God bless you and your family on this new 2021 new year!!!😊💐💖
You’re so welcome, Olga. Congratulations on your new blessing, your baby boy! Thank you for your good wishes and wishing you and your family the same too!
Hi Natasha,
I sooo wanted to love these because there was no chilling involved, and because I have lived everything I’ve ever made on your blog. However, this dough came out extremely crumbly. I added some water and it made a huge mess. Eventually, it did come together and the outcome was delicious, but we probably spent 15 minutes trying to make the dough smooth enough to roll out. We even made it a second time a few days later because I thought maybe I oversized, but the same thing happened. Any suggestions?
Hi Carla, it sounds like you may have had too much of the dry ingredient. Did you, by chance, scoop your flour? I recommend our post on measuring to make sure you measure your ingredient’s property. I hope this helps.
I just baked these with my grand daughter. I had the same problem and I measured very precisely. I fixed the dough by adding a couple of tablespoons of room temperature butter. Problem solved.
I have never made sugar cookies because I don’t like them. My granddaughter wanted to make them for Santa so I acquiesced. They were actually REALLY good much to my surprise. I followed the instructions to the letter and after 10 min I thought they were not done but they were. Such an excellent recipe Natasha.
I’m so happy you gave these a try! Thank you for this wonderful feedback, Janine!
I can’t bake to save my life and my kids wanted to make xmas cookies this year. I chose your recipe because I love your facebook videos. Well I have to tell you that your recipe is fool proof! The cookies turned out fabulous!!!! Thank you so much!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Shelley!
Love this recipe!!! Easy and simple & they came out really good!
Thank you for your good feedback, Anthony!
Happy Christmas Natasha
I like all recipes 😋🥰😍
Thank you and Merry Christmas too!
I saw you just made these on your Facebook story. Before I make them I wanted to know what specific icing you used for yours. I’m looking for an icing that holds well when the cookies are layered over one another as were yours in the tins, which looked awesome by the way! Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas!
Hi Dalia, you would want to use a royal icing (here is a recipe from my friend Sally).
Just made these with my toddler and husband – delicious! Thank you for the great and simple recipe
Such a sweet food memory you’ve created. I’m so glad you all loved the recipe.
I made these sugar cookies yesterday for the first time and they turned out great! I love how easy the recipe is. I’ll definitely be making these again.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hi! If we just want to decorate the cookies with sprinkles (no frosting/icing), would we do that before we bake them? Any way to get the sprinkles to stay on without icing?
Hi Maria, you could either press them gently into a plate of sprinkles or sprinkle on the sprinkles and pat them gently into the cookies.
Hey Natasha! My daughter and I are going to make these today for Santa. We are currently quarantined because my husband tested positive yesterday…THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS..Anyway, all I have is salted butter. Will that destroy my cookies?
Hi Whitney! I have made this with unsalted only. I worry it would be too much salt. If you happen to experiment, I would love to know how you like that. I hope you all stay happy and healthy!
I dont think these will DESTROY your cookies, it will definitely make them a little saltier to maybe dont add salt to your dough and make your icing a little sweeter to balance it out.
I often bake with salted butter. I just omit the salt from the recipe and everything turns out just fine.
The kids and I made these yesterday and they are delicious!
Thank you for yet another great recipe and Merry Christmas 🎄
Hello Beth, thank you for your wonderful review. I’m happy that you enjoyed these cookies!
My 5 yr old loved helping make these cookies… and of course the best part was eating them! An easy sugar cookie recipe to make, and so delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.
That is so cute! I think it’s a great bonding experience to cook with the kids, I’m glad you both enjoyed making this recipe. THanks for your great feedback, Amanda.
So I doubled the recipe while making with my nine year old. I let her count in the sugar and flour amounts and helped her with the mixing things in right order, but I confess I was multitasking instead of keeping eyes on the process. We’ve taken the easiest recipe ever and turned it into a crumbling mess! Any suggestions to save it? I’ve got another block of butter warming to room temperature to see if adding will help.
Thanks
Hi Kim, it may be possible there was too much dry ingredient added. I recommend our post on measuring to make sure everything is measured properly.
I love this recipe! Not only are the cookies delicious, this dough is by far the easiest I have ever worked with. This will be my go to recipe. Any easy frosting I use is 2 T melted butter or marg, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp almond extract, and about 1 T milk. Stir until smooth. Add more milk or sugar for desired consistency. Add color as desired.
Thanks again for this delicious recipe!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hello, any Chance can we add cocoa powder to the cookies to make them chocolate? or what would you recommend to make the cookies appear more chocolaty
Hello Dee, I haven’t tried that yet to advise but you can do an experiment. Please share with us how it goes if you try it!
I actually ended up melting 1 cup of chocolate into the batter before I put in the flour. They ended up really well, are not to sweet and look great with white frosting! Simple trick to make them look like gingerbread cookies but easier (;
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Good morning from Maryland,
I have a question ( or two) for you before the grandkids and I make your cookies today…
Softened butter: I let mine sit out overnight. Do you think it will be too soft? Should I refrigerate it for a while?
We only use sprinkles, no icing. Would you recommend an egg wash on the tops of the cookies to help the sprinkles stick or just sprinkle away?
Thank you for being my go-to and trusted chef🌹
Hi Beth, you might refrigerate that butter for just a little bit since over softened butter can make the dough seem greasy and hard to roll out. Also, I would sprinkle the tops with sprinkles before baking and maybe press them down lightly.
So easy and sooo yum!
Thank you, Anna!
These were the best sugar cookies! Easy and just the right firmness. Our daughter said soft on the inside and not too hard on the outside. First batch is gone. Have to make another before Christmas 😃
I used canned frosting and tinted the vanilla to the color I wanted!
Love it! That is a good idea! I’m sure it looked amazing. Thanks for sharing that with us, Sharon!
Just a question before making these with my grandkids tomorrow, is the tablespoon of baking powder the correct amount? Every other sugar cookie recipe I have read has a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half of baking powder. Just want to be sure! Looking forward to baking them!
That is the correct amount.
Aloha Natasha, These cookies brought back some childhood memories. The ones I remembered had an anise flavoring to them. Wondering if it was in the cookie or the icing. Any ideas?
Hi Lois, I haven’t tried that yet to advise, sorry wish I could help you more. But others might have tried that and could share with us?
How do you make the icing?
Hi Sara, We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites. You may try this frosting recipe that I have here. you can purchase an icing decorating kit with pre-made frostings in a variety of colors which makes it really easy.
Natasha, thank you for this perfect cookie recipe. They are delicious and easy to work with- I am normally challenged in this area.
You are so welcome, Jenna. It is my pleasure to be able to help provide you a perfect recipe for cookies!
Does this sugar cookie dough recipe need to be refrigerated for before using?
Hi Raelene, it is not necessary at all to refrigerate the dough with this recipe and the dough does not stick. If you have any sticking, just dust your work surface and the top of the dough or your rolling pin lightly with flour. There is plenty of butter in the recipe that helps prevent sticking.
I only have salted butter. Is that ok to use?
Hi Beverly, I have made this with unsalted only. I worry it would be too much salt. If you happen to experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
I made these last week and again today using salted butter and they turned out great! I didn’t think they tasted salty at all.
Thank you for sharing that wonderful feedback, Alli! I’m so happy to hear that!
These are the best cut out sugar cookies I have ever tried. I always make sugar cookies for Christmas to decorate with the kids. This recipe is totally foolproof. I did not chill the dough and I purposely work it and rolled it a few times to see how it does……the result was amazing, even after rolling the dough a few times my cookies kept the shape and looked perfect. Thank you Natasha!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I am making the cookies for the Christmas party tomorrow for the kids I made them before and they where so good!
That’s so great! I bet they will have so much fun with these!
I made these sugar cookies and I will have to make another batch; they were a hit! The flavor is perfect. My husband loves them and can’t believe how light they are-he can eat more at one time. lol!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Debra!
Hello! I am doing these cookies for Christmas, and I just wanted to say how great the tips you gave before the recipes are. They are amazing and really helpful! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 🙂
So great to hear that, Sofia. Thank you so much for your good comments and feedback. Happy Holidays!
When do you add the egg? When doing the wet is what I assume but it’s missed in the instructions
Hi Derek, it is in the instructions in #2 in the recipe card.
Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat the butter together with sugar. To the mixture add vanilla extract and egg and beat to combine.
Just got done making these cookies with my husband on my birthday. They are so tasty. Thank you for all your recipes. You make it look so easy and fun. Thanks again. Can’t wait to see what else we make.
Hello Sonja, you are so welcome. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feedback regarding this recipe. I’m glad that you liked it!
I was so excited to make the recipe but after I put all the ingredients together I noticed my baking powder was clumpy all over the dough. I should have sifted. Now I don’t know if I should bother cooking the cookies or not. Might want to mention that in the instructions. I should have known better, but I haven’t made cookies in years.
Hi Patty, baking powder doesn’t normally clump that way, and whisking the dry ingredients is adequate normally blend them together. Baking soda does however tend to clump and I do sift baking soda. Did you possibly use baking soda by mistake?
I love it! It is simple, tasty and 10 minutes makes it just perfect! After years of burning mine or not being happy with the taste I finally figured it out! THANK YOU!
Hello Martyna, you are most welcome! So great to hear that you were able to get the recipe that you loved!
I love your cookie it tastes realy good
Hi Natasha,
Do you think you can make a video for this recipe on your Youtube Channel? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.
I really plan on making them on Christmas and I really understand better when it is a video.
Hi MG, probably not at this time but I’ll consider that for our future videos. Thanks for suggesting that.
This looks awesome. I’m sorry if I’m missing it, but where is the recipe for the icing? I’m sure it’s right under my nose, but I don’t see it. Thank you
Hi Lisa, We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites. You may try this frosting recipe that I have here.
How do you get your icing so red? I buy the gel but it never seems to get that deep bright red like yours?
Hi Krista, you can purchase an icing decorating kit with pre-made frostings in a variety of colors which makes it really easy.
Is it ok to freeze the dough to make later ?
Hi Diane, I answer that question actually in the recipe. Check out the portion, How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough
I absolutely love your recipes.
I was wondering if I can use almond flour instead of regular flour?
thank you and keep up the great job. your recipes are the best!!!!
Hi Claudia! I’m so happy you’re enjoying our recipes! I haven’t tested this with a gluten-free/ almond flour substitution, but I would love to know how you like that if you happen to experiment.
Hi Natasha,
I have tried many of your recipes, they have come out perfect! thank you!
Can I bake the cookies a week and a half in advance and refrigerate until ready to decorate with royal icing?
Thank you, Sam. You can check this portion in the recipe How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough as there are tips in there.
These cookies turned out amazing!! Kept their shape beautiful and tasted great!!
That’s just awesome, Nanci! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Hi Natasha! I stumbled upon this recipe awhile ago and it has become my go to! I am selling gift baskets with baking theme. I wanted to include my favourite sugar cookie recipe. Would I be able to include your recipe if it is credited to you and your site as the source?
Hi Ashley, I don’t see any problem with that since you’re going to be making it just following the recipe. Crediting us would be awesome!
Can the dough be frozen? Sorry if it was already answered in comments.
Hi Rimma, I answer that question actually in the recipe. Check out the portion, How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough
I made these sugar cookies this afternoon, and I am very happy with how they turned out. These have a nice chew to them and are not dry. I’m always skeptical of sugar cookies, as I find they rarely come out the way I want them too. These were great, thanks again for the great recipe!
Hello Nadia, that makes me happy! Thank you for your awesome feedback, I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies.
Hi Natasha,I’m from SriLanka love all your receipes would like to know how to make hard glazed icing for the cookies.Sana
Thank you so much for sharing that with me & thank you for that suggestion!
Yes, me too!
This was her answer to the same question above:
We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites.
Hi natasha
I love you recipes, I just wanted to know if you can give me a recipe to make my own gingerhouse for Christmas please.
Thank you, Chanelle. I don’t have a recipe for that yet but thanks for your suggestion. I’ll take note of that for my future recipes and videos.
Hi!
I am a big fan of your recipes and have made many of them.
Could you please post how to make the icing for the sugar cookies?
Thank you!
Jyothi
Thank you, Jyothi. We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites. You may try this frosting recipe that I have here.
Thank you so much. I will try the buttercream link you mentioned.
Looking forward to seeing more recipes from you.
You’re welcome!
I made cookies based on this recipe and it was amazing. Everyone loved it! Thank you
That’s so great to hear! Thank you for sharing that with us.
No salt in this recipe?
Hi Kim, that’s right, no salt for this recipe.
I absolutely love your recipes and I wish I could just print them as I used to do with other recipes in the past. Saves time in writing and its neat so I can just pop in a notebook. But now I can’t look through a recipe without being slammed with bloody ads!!!! I hate ads and I feel like they are everywhere. Don’t you own this site to where they can be eliminated! Ads dont make me want to buy what they offer. They make me not want to view the recipes anymore therefore not make what looks good. It’s inconvenient to take a screen shot, edit, take another screen shot and edit again until I have the full recipe that now I have 2-4 pages. Not worth the trouble.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi Natashia !
I am making these for the kiddos at church/community to decorate. I will paint some of them with food coloring so the little ones can decorate with success. Thanks Ever So for what you do
Yum! That sounds amazing Jami!
Hi, after cutting out the shapes, should it be chilled before baking? I have heard that chilling the dough is integral to sugar cookies. Thanks in advance
Hi Sarah, this recipe doesn’t’ require any chilling!
Thank you so much 🙂
You’re welcome, Sarah! Happy Thanksgiving!
Is the baking powder 1 T correct? Love all your turorials. So much fun while we’re learning!
1 Tbsp baking powder
Dear Natasha please may have your creamy pumpkin pie recipe my grandsons partner has a birthday Sunday she is here in NZ cant see her family in the States Covid!! And pumpkin is her favorite..
Hello Jill, sure. Here is my Pumpkin Pie recipe. Enjoy and I hope you love it!
I hate when sometimes people will give a recepie 5 stars but still adda nd subtract the ingredients. So, Now I think I found the best so far. I followed receipe exactly as it was. Cookies turned out amazing. I however did use cookie press thingamigiggy. Thank you Natasha . All the best !!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Do you have a royal icing recipe that is as glossy as the one on these cookies?
Hi Alicia, thank you for that suggestion. We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. A couple of varieties out there are 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well; it just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites.
No salt?!? Surely salt is needed for flavor!?
Hi Karyn, that’s right! No salt for this recipe!
Hi Natasha! will you please share butter cookies recipe…….Thankyou
You’re welcome Maryam!! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Natasha…very excited to try baking sugar cookies for the first time. My question is, will this cookie dough work in a cookie press? Thanks so much in advance! Patty
Hi Patty, to be honest, I haven’t tested this in a cookie press to advise. If you do experiment please let us know how you like that.
Also I found your youtube channel and was like: wait….WHAT. You should make a video on this recipe.
Thank you for that suggestion Lucca.
I LOVE this recipe I wish I could rate 10/5, I would like your permission to sell these, since it’s your recipe. Please get back to me soon :D. Thank you!
Hi Lucca, if you want to bake them and sell them you are free to do so. The only thing I do not allow is for my printed recipe to sold or reproduced in a cookbook or other publication without permission.
I wasn’t planning on it . Thank you!
Hi Natasha!
love love love your recipes all the time!
I want to make these cookies atleast a week and a half before the actual party. Can I make them a week ahead and refrigerate? without royal icing?
Hi Sam, yes that will work great to make the dough ahead and refrigerate it. Just make sure it reaches room temperature before you shape your cookies and bake them.
Hello Natasha,
Thank you for sharing all your recipes!
I would like to know how to make royal icing in order to decorate the sugar cookies.
Pretty please!!!
Hi Andrea, thank you for that suggestion. We ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. There are a couple of varieties out there: 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well, just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites.
Can I use country crock spread instead of butter? I ran out of butter!
Hello Heather, I haven’t really tried using that substitute yet to advise. Please share with us how it goes if you do an experiment.
Recipe looks great! Are these the soft or the harder type of sugar cookie recipe? I prefer a crisp bite
Hi Deborah, if you cook them longer, they will become more crisp.
Great and perfect Christmas biscuits!
Really happy with this simple recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Irene!
Hey Natasha !
I am not using frosting only colored crystal sugar. When would I put that on. Thanks
Hi Pamela, I haven’t tried that, but you might try this method from Land O-Lakes for adding crystal sugar to cookies.
Amazing recipe!!!! Especially at a time when you are stuck with kids! So easy to prepare, and so yummy!!!! Thank you sooo much !!
You’re welcome, Mona! I’m so glad you and your family are enjoying this recipe.
Ohhhhh Natasha! Bless you for this recipe! It was a God send to me today! My usual recipe requires 2 hours of chilling and when I was surprised with a bunch of kids who wanted to make sugar cookies at 2pm this afternoon I knew I literally had no time for that! Then I remembered your post from the other day! It was a ray of sun for me because you said ” no chilling” required! It is amazing! And though I love my childhood Recipe…..this was soooooo much quicker, easier, and just as Delicious! I can’t thank you enough! You helped me give all my kidlets a great cookie experience! Merry Christmas and Thanks again! P.s. I’d post photos but can’t seem to find the option! Hahahaha
Hi Sharlene, I’m so happy you loved the sugar cookies and that makes me smile big knowing you got to enjoy your cookies sooner! Thank you for the amazing review. I don’t have a way to post a picture here but if you would like to post it on our private Facebook group that would be awesome or if you share it on your social media account, please tag me @natashaskitchen and #natashaskitchen so I can find it!
I’m definitely gonna make some Christmas cookies this year with my daughter. I’m wondering do you have to flour your cookie cutters before using them? I’ve had my cookie cutters for a long time but have never used them.
I have not had to do that with this recipe but it may help if your dough is too sticky.
I can’t wait for Christmas lm going to make it tomorrow. Thanks
You’re welcome! I hope you love this recipe!
Hey Natasha! I’ve seen other recipes where the cool the dough in the fridge for a couple hours before rolling it out so it’s not sticky, is there a reason why this recipe doesn’t require the dough to be refrigerated?
Hi Yana, it is not necessary at all to refrigerate the dough with this recipe and the dough does not stick. If you have any sticking, just dust your work surface and the top of the dough or your rolling pin lightly with flour. There is plenty of butter in the recipe that helps prevent sticking.
Can this dough be refrigerated still? Or will they not turn out as good?
Hi Inna, yes that will work great to make the dough ahead and refrigerate it. Just make sure it reaches room temperature before you shape your cookies and bake them.
Natasha, thank you for these great tips! What is the best recipe for Royal Icing for decorating the cookies?
🌲 Rose
Hi Rose, we ran out of time to publish a royal icing for the cookies. I’m hoping to have one up around Valentines day. I know it doesn’t help for Christmas! I would suggest googling for a Royal Icing. There are a couple of varieties out there: 1 with egg whites and 1 with meringue powder (no raw egg whites). Both work well, just depends on preference or if someone may be allergic to egg whites.
Hi. Do you put cookies in fridge before baking? So many recipes call for this. Thanks!!
Hi Cheryl, that is one of the things I love so much about this recipe – it is unnecessary to refrigerate the dough. I just baked up a batch yesterday and they came out perfect without needing to be refrigerated before baking.
We love making sugar cookies this time of year. Thanks for the detailed instructions and pictures. This recipe was easy to make! Happy holidays!
Hi Erin, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing that with me and Merry Christmas!!
I was so excited when I found this recipe this morning because I have all of the ingredients! Mine didn’t come out as pretty as yours but they were amazing! Thank you!
I love when that happens! That’s so great! Thank you for that awesome review, Lauren!
These cookies are so perfect! Sugar cookies are a must for Christmas and love this recipe.
Thank you Erin for your wonderful review! I’m so glad you love the cookies. I agree they are such a sweet and memorable Christmas tradition.
Can you share what frosting you used?
Hi Lana, There’s a link to the one that was used to make these cookies at the bottom of the recipe post. We didn’t have time to post a homemade one this year, but it is definitely on my list!
Is it just me, or is there no link?
Can’t find it.
Hi Olya, sorry that wasn’t more clear in the post. I’ll add an extra link above to make it easier to find, but it is currently in the decorating section. Here is the link to the icing decorating kit.
I couldn’t find the link for the icing, that was used. Can you please help? Thank you!
Hi Nataliya, the link can be found in the decorating section towards the bottom of the post. Here is the icing decorating set that was used from Amazon.