Finding the perfect cut-out cookie recipe for the holidays can be tricky-some call for baking powder, others for cornstarch; some need chilling, others don't. After reading through a few, I landed on one inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction that struck the right balance: soft in the center with a light crunch. Best of all, it turned into a fun holiday activity with my kids, baking and decorating together.
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Why you'll love these Easy cut out Cookies?
- They have the right amount of sweetness, keeping in mind the frosting is also sweet.
- They are very easy to make, follow all the instructions to the T
- Bring the Christmas spirit and cheer by baking these beautiful and colorful cookies. Another great cookie for the holidays is the Doubletree Hilton-style chocolate chip cookie and Fudgy chocolate crinkle cookies.
- A fun time if you involve your kids and little ones in the baking and decorating process.
Ingredients that you will need:
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt
- Organic butter and sugar
- Organic egg
- Vanilla essence
- For the frosting, Food coloring, and gel
- Corn syrup, milk, and powdered sugar
- Sprinkles and other decorations
How to Make the Cut-out Sugar Cookies?
Steps 1-4 ) We start with creaming the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, and then add the eggs and vanilla and beat for a minute. Next, add the flour in small additions and beat on low speed to form a nice smooth dough. Divide the dough into smaller portions and put in ziploc bags.
Steps 5-8) Roll the dough to about ¼ or ⅛ of an inch and transfer to a baking sheet and cover it with another sheet, and refrigerate. Once cooled, cut into desired shaped using the cookie cutter.
Step 9-12) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 11 to 12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. Cool on a cooling rack and frost with sugar frosting and sprinkles.
To make icing for Sugar cookies
- The icing is very simple to make. All it needs is powdered sugar, corn starch syrup, vanilla extract, and a few drops of food coloring gel. You can add colors of your choice and make pretty decorations.
- We used mainly red and green as it is Christmas time. Use a narrow and pointed tip attached to the piping bag to draw outlines and fill it with icing.
- Add sugar dust and colorful sprinkles to make it look festive. The cookies have just about the right amount of sweetness and may be a little less sugary for some. But keep in mind that the frosting will have sugar as well.
We were quite happy with the outcome, and indeed, a wonderful result for the first attempt.
Useful Tips
Chilling the dough
- One helpful tip I followed and highly recommend is to roll out the dough before chilling it. It's much easier to handle when soft, and rolling it out at this stage saves effort later.
- Although the dough is smooth and not sticky, chilling it for 1-2 hours is essential to help it hold its shape during cutting and transferring to the baking tray.
- To make the process even easier, divide the dough into two portions before rolling. This makes it more manageable and saves time.
Rolling the dough
- Place the dough between two parchment papers and roll into about ¼ th or ⅛ th of an inch uniformly. You can place the rolled dough in the refrigerator in the baking tray itself, covered with a cling wrap.
- The chilled and rolled-out dough helps in easily cutting shapes using the cookie cutters. Coat the molds by dipping in all-purpose flour while cutting, to get nice, clean edges.
- The remaining dough from the cookie cutters can then be rolled again and reused to make cookies.
Be sure to take the cookies out exactly at 11 to 12 minutes or just before the edges get browned while baking.
Here are some other cookie recipes that are great for the holiday season chocolate chip cookie, bakery-style chocolate chip cookies, and almond flour chocolate chip cookies. Kerala Christmas Fruit Cake is a great celebration cake to bring out the Christmas Spirit.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Wishing you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and joyous holiday season!
Related Recipes
If you tried this Easy Cut out Cookies Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
Easy cut out cookies
Ingredients
For Cookies
- 2 ¼ cups All-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
For icing
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 3 - 4 tbsp milk
- 2 ¼ tbsp corn syrup light
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- few drops food coloring or gel
- 1 bottle sprinkles
Instructions
To make Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar for about 2 to 3 mins on high speed. Scrape the contents from the sides and mix as necessary.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for a minute .
- Next add the flour in small additions on low speed until they are all well combined.
- Take the ball of dough and divide into smaller portions.
- Roll the dough in between two parchment papers .
- Do the same for the other divided portions.
- Transfer to baking tray
- Cover with cling wrap .
- Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or upto 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
- Take the chilled and rolled out dough and cut into shapes using cookie molds.
- Transfer to the baking tray lined with parchment paper for baking .
- Bake for 11 to 12 mins until the sides are slightly brown.
- Cool on a cooling rack until completely cool.
To make Icing
- Mix all the ingredients in the "for frosting section" in a large bowl using a whisk
- Fill into piping bags with narrow tip.
- Decorate by making borders, filling with frosting and adding sprinkles as desired.
Notes
- Chilling the dough
- One helpful tip I followed and highly recommend is to roll out the dough before chilling it. It's much easier to handle when soft, and rolling it out at this stage saves effort later.
-
- Although the dough is smooth and not sticky, chilling it for 1-2 hours is essential to help it hold its shape during cutting and transferring to the baking tray.
-
- To make the process even easier, divide the dough into two portions before rolling. This makes it more manageable and saves time.
- Rolling the dough
-
- Place the dough between two parchment papers and roll into about ¼ th or ⅛ th of an inch uniformly. You can place the rolled dough in the refrigerator in the baking tray itself, covered with a cling wrap.
-
- The chilled and rolled-out dough helps in easily cutting shapes using the cookie cutters. Coat the molds by dipping in all-purpose flour while cutting, to get nice, clean edges.
-
- The remaining dough from the cookie cutters can then be rolled again and reused to make cookies.
- Be sure to take the cookies out exactly at 11 to 12 minutes or just before the edges get browned while baking.
love the tips. I enjoy making cookies for festive season. It was what my husband and I did on our first official date. Love the tips!
Thank you so much ! That must have been a lot of fun . Glad to hear you loved the tips.
These sugar cookies are super inviting and cute, Nisha! love the colorful idea and festive shapes , I'm sure my kids would love these , going to try the recipe with different shapes , thanks for this recipe my friend!
Thank you so much Aarthi ! Hope you have a fun time with your kids baking and deocrating them .
Sugar cookies are so much fun to make. The kids love decorating them with different coloured icings and toppings.
Yes they are fun indeed . Thank you so much!
owww. They are so pretty. Always wanted to try to cook something like that. Thanks for recipe, will make my homemates happy with these ones!
Thank you so much! They are really fun to make and taste delicious as well. Hope you like them as much as we did. Enjoy!
It's been so long since I made sugar cookies, and it's good to be reminded in a post like this that they are fun and worth making. Great tip about rolling out the dough before refrigerating it!
Thank you so much, Beth. So glad to hear it brought back fun memories of making them. The tip about rolling the dough before chilling really saved me some effort for sure :).Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!
Nom nom, a classic for Christmas!
I saw these on your Instagram - they're very cute, and I love your decoration designs! xx
Yes Caz a Christmas favorite indeed. Thank you so much for the comments and stopping by!
I enjoyed seeing the photos on Instagram yesterday and now I'm getting the details here! YUMMY 😋 Happy Christmas!
Thank you so much dear Christy for stopping by, appreciate your support! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!
Yes, Nisha after cooling the dough must be cut correctly. Colorful cookies and it looks terrific. Greetings friend 💕
Cooling and chilling the dough definitely does make it easier in the cutting process! Thank you for the wonderful comments appreciate it!
Love these beautifully decorated cut-out cookies. Thanks so much for sharing egg-free sugar cookies recipe & also for sharing wonderful tips.
Thank you so much Megala for the appreciation . Glad the tips are useful. But this recipe does have egg in it .I guess you could use baking soda and vinegar or apple-sauce as a replacement .
Wow these look like they came from a bakery! What a beautiful job!
Thank you so much Diane for the wonderful comment, that is a great compliment coming from you as you are an avid baker yourself !
You make it look and sound so easy! My wife and I normally hit a church "cookie walk" fundraiser for our sugar cookies, but since that isn't an option this year (COVID protocols), we are going to try making our own and letting our 4-year-old decorate them with icing. Wish us luck!
Oh I see, but this is truly a no fail recipe .I am sure you will breeze through making this . Good luck with it ! Kids usually have a great time decorating , so it will be fun as well.
Beautiful Presentation.
Thank you very much for the appreciation!
Super cute little cut out cookies. This is the same frosting I have always used and it comes out perfect.
Thank you so much Jere! Ah I see, this is a fool proof recipe for sure . There's also just about enough to mix with different colors .
These cookies look yummy! Great job on the decorating, too! I always like to start our holiday season with a batch of rolled sugar cookies to decorate. The little ones love helping. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Thanks a lot, Deborah! Yes, indeed the best way to start the holidays is by baking these sugar cookies. To decorate the cookies with kids is the most fun part!
Delightfully yummy! Nice job on decorating these cookies! They are so bright!🌲🌟😍
Thank you very much, we had a lot of fun decorating and yes the red green and white are really bright !
Nisha, very useful tip for dusting the mould in flour for neat edges.
Cookies are creating perfect festive atmosphere. Loved the most bright green coloured one!
Thank you so much Deeksha, the Christmas colors indeed creates a festive look ! The green Xmas tree one is my favorite as well .Dusting the mold is truly a great tip and helps with neat edges .