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Classic Sugar Cookies

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By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Updated Nov 15, 2024
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We consider this the best sugar cookie recipe out there—because it's the kind your grandma or even great-grandma would recognize. Baking homemade sugar cookies from scratch is a time-honored tradition, after all! With a tender, short texture that comes from a good buttery base, these sugar cookies break with just the right balance of bend and snap. And the taste? Perfection.

When it comes to the perfect cutout sugar cookie recipe, there's one more crucial factor to consider: how easy your cookies are to decorate! We've developed a simple icing that's easily tintable, covers smoothly, and dries firmly so that you can stack your finished cutout cookies without fear of smudging them. We love dressing them up in holiday style as festive Christmas sugar cookies! However you choose to decorate your sugar cookies with icing, they’re sure to impress friends and family.

Sugar Cookie Ingredients

Here’s everything you need to make these tasty sugar cookies with icing.

Powdered Sugar: We use powdered sugar in both the sugar cookie dough and the icing. Powdered sugar has a super fine texture and helps to ensure your homemade sugar cookies are perfectly tender, sweet and fluffy inside.

Softened Butter: Not only is butter a delicious addition to baked goods in general—it also adds much-needed moisture and structure to your dough for a rich, perfectly tender cutout cookie.

Vanilla and Almond Extracts: Vanilla and almond are classic flavorings for sugar cookies. The warm, nutty and marzipan-like flavor of almond extract is perfectly sweet without being overwhelming. The vanilla extract brings a rich, sweet taste to both the cookie dough and the icing—it’s a flavor enhancer used in endless dessert recipes for good reason!

Egg: The egg acts as a binder, holding your sugar cookies together and promoting a nice spread as they bake.

Flour: Like most baked goods, these cutout cookies need flour to achieve their structure. Make sure to measure accurately!

Baking Soda: Don’t skip this leavening agent—it’s necessary for an evenly-baked cookie with a just-right rise.

Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar helps create the right consistency, resulting in homemade sugar cookies that are perfectly chewy.

Milk: When mixed with powdered sugar and vanilla, the milk helps create a smooth, sweet and ultra-creamy cookie icing.

Food Color (Optional): Want to add some color to your sugar cookies with icing? You’ll want to use food color. Just remember that a little goes a long way!

Sprinkles or Colored Sugar (Optional): After spreading icing on each cookie, decorate each one to your liking with different colors of candy sprinkles or colored sugar to match the occasion. You can’t go wrong with festive red and green for your Christmas sugar cookies!

How to Make Sugar Cookies with Icing

We consider this to be the best sugar cookie recipe for beginners—it takes just 5 simple steps to make and decorate a large batch of homemade sugar cookies! And the best part? You can let your creativity run wild when decorating. Here’s a quick overview of how to make sugar cookies.

Mix and Chill Dough

Beat together powdered sugar, softened butter, almond extract, a teaspoon of vanilla and 1 egg on medium speed—or just mix it with a spoon—until well blended. Next, you’ll stir in the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar to complete your dough. It should look uniform at this point. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a disk and wrap both disks in plastic wrap before refrigerating for at least 2 hours.

Heat Oven

Set your oven to 375°F to heat while you roll and cut your cutout cookies.

Roll Dough and Cut Shapes

It’s time to make your sugar cookie cutouts! Set out the chilled disks of dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll each disk with a rolling pin to ¼-inch thickness. Now, this is the fun part—making the cutout shapes! Use cookie cutters between 2 and 2½ inches to cut out your homemade sugar cookies, then place the cutout shapes on ungreased cookie sheets. Make sure to leave at least 2 inches of space between the cutout cookies to allow for spreading.

Bake

Place your cookie sheets in the oven and bake for homemade sugar cookies that taste just as good as they look! Don’t chow down yet though. Let the cookies sit for a minute on the baking sheets, then carefully transfer them one by one to cooling racks so they can cool completely.

Add Icing

We might be biased, but this is our favorite step! Make your icing by beating powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth. If you want to use fun colors to decorate, separate your icing into a few different bowls and tint each one with a different food color. Spread the icing on each cutout sugar cookie and decorate each one to your heart’s content—we love using candy sprinkles and colored sugar! You’ll want to let the icing set for about 4 hours at room temperature before storing your sugar cookies.

The Best Dough Thickness for Cutout Cookies

Trust us—an even, 1/4-inch thickness is ideal for perfectly-baked sugar cookies with a just-right texture. Measure the thickness with a clean pastry ruler if you have one in your kitchen! If you roll out your cookie dough even a little too thin, the cookie cutouts can become too fragile for handling. A dough that’s too thick is unlikely to cook all the way through—and will probably result in an overly dense cookie.

Festive Sugar Cookie Decorating Ideas

Grab your cookie cutters, icing and festive sprinkles—it’s time to make this sugar cookie recipe your own! Once you’ve learned how to make sugar cookies that taste great, why not make them stand out with sweet, colorful toppings? From perfectly piped designs using brightly colored royal icing to thinly spread buttercream frosting topped with yummy candy sprinkles, there are plenty of fun (and delicious) ways to decorate homemade sugar cookies. On the lookout for festive holiday design inspiration? Here are some of our favorite ways to decorate Christmas sugar cookies.

Snowman Sugar Cookies: If you really want to impress with your cookie presentation, we’ve got you covered. Transform your tasty homemade sugar cookies into adorable melting snowmen with our melted snowman sugar cookies recipe! The quick and easy decorative design is a major hit with kids and adults alike.

Easy Christmas Sugar Cookie Cutouts: Don’t want to stick to just one cookie design? You can switch it up for every cookie, or try out a few different simple techniques! Select cookie cutters that fit your final vision, then decorate with different colors of icing, candy sprinkles and colored sugars. Check out our recipe for easy Christmas sugar cookie cutouts for some inspiration—we love making cute sugar cookie Christmas trees, mittens, stockings and stars for holiday gatherings!

Pre-Bake Decorations: As an alternative to decorating with icing, try sprinkling these cutout sugar cookies with granulated or colored sugars before baking. This is a quick and easy way to jazz them up if you’re not a big fan of sweet icing or buttercream!

How to Store Sugar Cookies

Happen to have leftover sugar cookies? That might be a first! Luckily, these cookies keep well when stored as directed.

At Room Temperature: If you leave your homemade sugar cookies out on the counter in an airtight, covered container, they’ll stay fresh for about 3 days at room temperature. Add wax paper in between each layer of cookies to prevent sticking.

In the Freezer: Won’t be able to finish your cookies within a few days? No problem! When stored correctly, these sugar cookies will keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months. Store them in flat-bottomed containers with airtight lids, making sure to line the bottom of each container with wax paper or plastic wrap.

More About This Recipe

  • Our Classic Sugar Cookies have such a tender crumb and balanced sweetness, you’d never know how easy they are to mix, roll out and cut. If it’s your first time behind the rolling pin and cookie cutters, take a few minutes to read over these step-by-step sugar cookie instructions that walk you through mixing, rolling and baking. Once you have a counterful of baked cookies ready to go, the real fun begins, as your sugar cookies serve as blank canvases for your colorful creativity. Icing, frosting, sprinkles and colored sugar will make these classic sugar cookies distinctively yours. Check out our best sugar cookie recipes for even more creative ideas. Once you master the basics, you’ll find yourself picking up new cookie cutters wherever you travel, and making classic sugar cookies all year long.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Some Variations of This Sugar Cookie Recipe?

We still consider this the best sugar cookie recipe of all time—but give some of these other cutout cookies a try to find your favorite.

Gingerbread House Cookies: If you want kid-friendly holiday fun in cookie form, get the family together and decorate these adorable easy gingerbread house cookies! Cover them in your favorite red and green candies and customize each cookie to your liking.

Christmas Surprise Sugar Cookies: Looking for a cutout sugar cookie recipe that makes a great gift for friends and family? Our Christmas surprise sugar cookies always make a sweet surprise—wrap up these tasty treats in a holiday gift box or picnic basket to put a smile on any loved one’s face!

More Sugar Cookies: Fans of all of these sugar cookie variations are sure to love our collection of family-favorite sugar cookie recipes! From heart-shaped designs for Valentine’s Day to edible holiday Christmas tree ornament cookies, we’ve got cutout sugar cookie recipes for every time of year.

How Long Should I Bake Sugar Cookies For?

These classic sugar cookies only need 7 to 8 minutes in a 375°F oven. Unlike other types of cookies, you shouldn’t wait until sugar cookies are a golden-brown color to take them out. Don’t worry if they haven’t achieved much color or don’t appear set—this is normal! Your sugar cookies will continue to set as they cool.

How Can I Make Icing for Sugar Cookies?

To make an easy sugar cookie with icing that looks and tastes bakery-made, follow this recipe as directed. All you need is powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to make a sweet, smooth and perfectly spreadable homemade cookie icing! If your icing seems a little too stiff to spread, feel free to add additional milk, adding just a teaspoon at a time until the icing reaches your desired consistency. This is also a great way to thin out your icing if you plan to pipe out intricate designs on your cookies. Once it’s been thinned down just enough—not so liquid-y that it’s difficult to control—it should be easy to squeeze out of a piping bag. We love decorating homemade sugar cookies with professional-looking clean lines!

If you’re looking for a creamier alternative to the simple cookie icing used in this sugar cookie recipe, try using homemade vanilla buttercream frosting. It’s rich, perfectly sweet and easy to spread. Just hold one sugar cookie at a time, scoop a tablespoon of frosting onto the center of each cookie using a small metal spatula and slowly spread the frosting to the edges. Switch up the look of your vanilla frosting by using your favorite food colors, then add some fun sprinkles or tasty candy decorations. It’s that easy! If you have any leftover cookies, store them in a single layer—the buttercream frosting will not set up enough to allow for clean stacking. However you decorate them, your fun, festive homemade sugar cookies are sure to please a crowd!

Can You Make Sugar Cookie Dough Ahead of Time?

If you want to prep your sugar cookie dough ahead of time, you’re in luck! This cutout sugar cookie recipe makes a versatile dough that you can chill or freeze until you’re ready to bake.

In the Fridge: Save time the day of your event by making your dough a day in advance! Your prepared dough can chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. If you let the dough chill for longer than 4 hours, it may need to sit for a few minutes on the counter before you can roll it out. Continue with the recipe as directed, and you’ll quickly have delicious, crowd-pleasing sugar cookies on your hands!

In the Freezer: Want to keep sugar cookie dough on hand at all times for last-minute hosting? Shape your prepared dough into about two or three 1-inch-thick flattened disks, then cover each disk in plastic wrap and place in a resealable freezer bag. Stick your prepared dough in the freezer for up to 6 months! When you’re ready to bake tasty homemade sugar cookies, just transfer your dough from the freezer to the fridge for thawing. After a few hours, your dough should be ready to roll out, cut, and bake to cutout sugar cookie perfection! If you’re in a hurry, you can also unwrap a dough disk, place it on a lightly floured surface and let stand and soften for around 30 minutes. Then it should be ready to roll out.

Classic Sugar Cookies

  • Prep Time 60 min
  • Total 7 hr 50 min
  • Servings 55
  • Ingredients 13
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Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 cups Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • Food colors, if desired
  • Colored sugar or candy sprinkles, if desired
Make With
Gold Medal Flour

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the almond extract and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Divide dough in half; shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
  • Step 
    2
    Heat oven to 375°F.
  • Step 
    3
    Roll each disk on lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters into desired shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts at least 2 inches apart.
  • Step 
    4
    Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
  • Step 
    5
    In medium bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until smooth and spreadable. If icing is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Tint with food color. Spread icing on cooled cookies. Decorate as desired with colored sugar or candy sprinkles. Let stand about 4 hours or until icing is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

Nutrition

90 Calories
3 1/2g Total Fat
0g Protein
14g Total Carbohydrate
10g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Cookie
Calories
90
Calories from Fat
30
Total Fat
3 1/2g
5%
Saturated Fat
2g
11%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
10mg
4%
Sodium
50mg
2%
Potassium
20mg
1%
Total Carbohydrate
14g
5%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
10g
Protein
0g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
2%
2%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
0%
0%
Iron
0%
0%
Exchanges:
0 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1/2 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
1
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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