Best Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe (Buttery, Cut Out)
This soft sugar cookie recipe makes the best buttery, sweet, flaky cookies with perfect crisp edges. They're a big tradition in our family for 40 years and counting. We make them for Christmas, Chanukah, Halloween, Valentine Day and other celebrations.
Servings (change as needed): 40 cookies (depends on shape sizes)
Ingredients
cookie dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (important) 2 sticks
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature 1 egg = 1/5 cup = 2.7 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
simple glaze (Note 1 for royal icing)
- 1 cup icing sugar (also called confectioners sugar or powdered sugar)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup optional to make icing glossy
- 1 tablespoon water
- food coloring, various colors
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN to 375F/190C
- MAKE DOUGH: Blend butter and sugar until fluffy in a food processor (or mixer on medium speed). Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Add flour and baking powder in intervals. Measure flour by scooping it into measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. Dough will seem as if it doesn't have enough moisture but continue to mix in food processor until combined. Shape into a log (or two logs) and wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper, then put into fridge to firm up for 30-60 minutes or up to 2 days.
- CUT OUT COOKIES: On a flat work surface, roll out dough between 2 sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch/6 mm thick. Or just use a rolling pin dusted with flour. Cut out with cookie cutters (Note 5) and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- BAKE COOKIES: for 7-8 minutes or until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from oven. Let cool for a minute then transfer to a wired rack to cool completely.
- MAKE GLAZE/ICING: Note 2 to make extra colors. Mix the powdered sugar, water and corn syrup together in a bowl with a fork or whisk. You can omit the corn syrup, but the glaze will be less shiny. Add the food coloring, a drop at a time, stirring in between, until you reach the color intensity you want. Play around with the consistency of the glaze, adding more icing sugar (to thicken) or water (to thin out) as needed.
- DECORATE: Use a small knife or back of a spoon to spread glaze on cookies. Decorate with store-bought piping icing (from a tube) and sprinkles as desired. Or use a toothpick to decorate with colored glazes on top of plain white glaze for example. Note 2 to decorate with extra icing. If you're using sprinkles, use them as soon as you glaze the cookies as they dry fast. Let the glaze harden for several hours or overnight at room temperature. These cookies dry to a nice hard shiny finish and can be stacked or piled on top of each other (except if you use icing gel which is sticky and does not dry). Note 1 for Royal Icing.
Notes
- Royal Icing (instead of simple glaze). Here's a Royal Icing recipe and instructions on how to use it. A bit trickier, but once you get the hang of it, it looks amazing, very professional.
- Tip for making colored glazes: To make several colors of glaze icing, double the recipe, divide into small bowls, plastic cups or a muffin tin and add different coloring to each.
- To decorate with homemade icing/glaze (instead of store-bought tubes): Make another batch of the glaze as per the recipe (make it thicker adding more icing sugar or less water). Put it in a small ziploc bag with a tiny corner cut off to pipe the icing through. (If you have a piping tip, place it through the hole in the bag before you put the icing in).
- Flavors: instead of or in addition to vanilla extract, you can use almond extract if you prefer. Even peppermint or coconut extract. Try adding some lemon or orange zest.
- Make Ahead options
- Dough: Make the dough and refrigerate it for a up to 2 days. Or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Plain cookies: Roll the dough, cut out the cookies and bake them. Cool the cookies completely (not iced), lay them in a freezer friendly sealed container or bag and freeze them. Or let them sit on the counter for a day or two before icing them.
- Decorated cookies: The glazed sugar cookies dry to a nice hard shiny finish after several hours or overnight and can be stacked or piled on top of each other (except if you use icing gel which is sticky and does not dry). They will keep well at room temperature in a sealed container for 2-3 days. You can freeze cookies with Royal icing or glaze for 2 months.
Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 13mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 148IU | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.5mg