Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies {No Chill Dough}
The easiest cut-out sugar cookies that don't spread, and you don't need to chill the dough in the fridge.
Buttery soft sugar cookies are perfect for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, and any other holiday.
When I think of classic Christmas cookies, I immediately think about decorated and colorful cut-out cookies.
All kids love decorating homemade sugar cookies. My kids love to roll out the dough and use the cute cookie cutters. The part that hampers the fun is the several hours of chill time for the sugar cookie dough. With this recipe, that is no longer a factor. Enter.... No-Chill Cut Out Sugar Cookies.
Looking for cookie frosting? Here is the recipe for beautiful Glossy Icing. **LINK HERE**
The Best No-Chill Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- No chilling the dough
- Perfectly sweetened, buttery soft cookies
- Won't crumble under frosting and sprinkles
- Simple and fast. Make the dough and be decorating in as little as 30 minutes
- No spreading, holds detailed edges
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Ingredients
Easy sugar cookie recipe with only 7 simple and standard ingredients. Sweetened with almond and vanilla extract, these no-chill cut out cookies are perfect for decorating with glossy icing or a crusting buttercream frosting.
- Butter- I always use salted butter. It doesn't have to be overly soft, but out at room temperature for 30 minutes or so
- Granulated Sugar- nothing fussy here, basic sweetness and structure.
- Egg- only one egg in this recipe. We use this for a sturdy cookie that will hold up to frosting and sprinkles.
- Almond extract and vanilla extract—the combination of almond extract and vanilla makes these cookies taste heavenly. I love this combo.
- Baking powder is the magic ingredient in this recipe. It is a leavening agent that allows cookies to be soft while still holding their shape.
- All purpose flour- basic and always on hand
See recipe card for quantities.
Easy Ways to Soften Cold Butter:
1. Grate it and set at room temperature for about 5 minutes
2. Slice it- let it set at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes
3. Set out the whole stick. Let it set at room temperature for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Instructions
*Remember that this dough does not need to be chilled before baking. These cookies hold their shape perfectly in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until just mixed. Add the egg and mix again just until combined. You don't have to over mix this dough.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until evenly combined and the dough is smooth.
- Lightly flour your countertop or table and roll out your dough with a rolling pin. Roll to ¼ to ½ inch thick. Cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will look set and dry but will not be golden brown. Don't overbake them.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
Note about using a hand mixer
You can use a large bowl and a hand mixer, but the shape of the beaters makes the dough very crumbly. When everything is mixed, just use your hands to knead the dough together. It will soften and hold into a ball from the warmth of your hands.
While this recipe is new to the website, it certainly isn't new in my kitchen. Everyone I have shared this recipe with agrees that these are the best sugar cookies. This is one of my go-to recipes year round.
Decorating holiday cookies with your kids should be simple. Messy, yes. But the stress shouldn't come from making the dough. These cookies simply work every. single. time.
What does it mean to cream together the butter and sugar?
- In most cookie and cake recipes, you will see instructions to "cream together the butter and sugar" before adding the other ingredients.
- Creaming is simply whipping it together at a medium to high speed.
- Creaming is a method that allows the sugar to be evenly incorporated into the butter. The water in the butter holds on to the sugar, and small air pockets are formed. When baked, the heat will expand those air pockets, and you will have a delightfully chewy cookie or cake with a fine and tender crumb.
- When creaming the butter and sugar, you will use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
How To Cream butter and sugar:
- Start on low speed and mix until the two are mostly combined evenly.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and allow mixture to become light and fluffy. {LIght in color.} It will be smooth and puffed up in volume. Stop 2 or 3 times and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Two Tips:
- Always use room-temperature butter. Too cold, and the dough becomes gritty and chunky. Let the butter be at room temperature for about 30 minutes. If the butter is too warm or melted, the dough will become greasy and separated.
- Only mix until fluffy and pale in color. Do not overmix where it becomes greasy, shiny, or flat.
Did you know you can also make "no roll" sugar cookies? These are drop cookies that can be decorated with frosting and sprinkles.
Sugar Cookie Tools:
Having a few useful tools on. hand can make success with cookies easier. All of these are items I use in my kitchen regularly. You can find everything on my Amazon Storefront and see the kitchen items I love for all of my recipes.
- hand mixer
- stand mixer
- baking sheet
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- cookie cutters
- Gel food coloring
- Icing bottles
- sprinkles
Glossy Cookie Icing
This glossy sugar cookie icing contains no raw egg whites or meringue powder—just simple ingredients. It is the perfect icing for your Christmas sugar cookies. This icing dries nicely in just a few hours, allowing them to be stacked.
Can I Freeze Cut-Out Sugar Cookies?
These cookies freeze perfectly. Cut them, bake them, and let them cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container or double-bagged in a ziplock and freeze for up to 4 months. Let them come to room temperature and frost as you like. ❤️
Top Tip
When baking, try to bake the same size cookies on each pan. Keeping the sizes similar allows for an even baking time. Larger cookies may need a bake time of 9 minutes where as smaller cookies might need only 8 minutes.
More Cookies:
I love cookies! Here are a few more for you to enjoy.
Perfect Cut Out Sugar Cookies
ByIngredients
- 1 cup salted butter soft at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until well combined.
- Add in baking powder and flour and mix on low to medium speed until the dough is soft and cleans off the sides of the bowl.
- Lightly sprinkle flour on a flat surface and divide the dough in half. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to ¼ - ½ inch thickness. Cut using your favorite cookie cutters.
- Place cut cookies on your prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart and bake 6-8 minutes. These cookies will be white and look set, but they will not brown on top. If you like a more crisp cookie, add 2-3 minutes more baking time.
- Gather up scraps of dough, knead together and continue to roll out and cut. Continue this until you have used up all of your dough.
- Let cookies cool completely before frosting.