These are my favourite sugar cookies with icing. They're soft with an irresistible buttery vanilla flavour. They hold their shape and they stay soft for days. With crisp edges, thick centres, and room for lots of decorating icing. I know you’ll love these cut out sugar cookies. Use your favourite cookie cutters and try my classic royal icing!
Vegetarian
Kid Friendly
Simple & Easy Recipe
Fun To Make
Long Lasting
Freezer Friendly
Delicious
The Trick is the Order of Steps
I roll out the dough BEFORE chilling it in the refrigerator? That’s my trick and really helps the dough come together
I do this to prevent the cookies from over-spreading, the cookie dough must chill in the refrigerator. Roll out the dough right after you prepare it, then chill the rolled-out dough. (At this point the dough is too soft to cut into shapes.) Don’t chill the cookie dough and then try to roll it out because it will be too cold and difficult to work with. I divide the dough in half before rolling it out and highly recommend you do the same. Smaller sections of dough are simply more manageable.
Another trick! Roll out the cookie dough directly on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. Pick it up, put it on a baking sheet, and place it in the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for two baking sheets in your refrigerator, stack the pieces of rolled out dough on top of each other.
How Thick Do I Roll Sugar Cookies?
These sugar cookies remain soft because they’re rolled out pretty thick. Roll out the cookie dough to about 1/4 inch thick or just under 1/4 inch thick. Yes, this is on the thicker side and yes, this produces extra thick and soft cookies! If rolling out cookie dough doesn’t sound appealing, try my drop sugar cookies instead.
Recipe
~ Makes 20-30 Cookies ~
(depeneding on the size of the cookie cutter)
Prep Time - 2hrs ~ Cook Time - 12mins ~ Total Time - 2hrs 12mins
Ingredients For Sugar Cookies:
2 and 1/4 cups (280gs) of plain flour, spoon & levelled
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of sea salt
3/4 cup (170gs) of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150gs) of granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tsps of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)
Method For Sugar Cookies:
1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 tbsp more flour.
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
5. Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminium foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
6. Once chilled, preheat oven to 177C/350F. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. If it’s sticking to the bottom, run your hand under it to help remove it. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough.
7. Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
8. Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing or my easy glaze icing. Feel free to tint either icing with gel food colouring. See post above for recommended decorating tools. No need to cover the decorated cookies as you wait for the icing to set. If it’s helpful, decorate the cookies directly on a baking sheet so you can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help speed up the icing setting.
9. Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Ingredients For Royal Icing:
4 cups (480gs) of icing sugar, sifted
3 tbsps of meringue powder
9–10 tbsps of room temperature water
Food colouring (optional)
Method For Icing Sugar:
1. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat all of the icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 – 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, add a little more water. (On particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 tbsps water total.) If it’s too thin, add a little more sifted icing sugar.
2. Icing completely dries in about 2 hours at room temperature. If you’re layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to set quickly, place cookies in the refrigerator to help speed it up.
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