There are a few recipes that we turn to every holiday season, and this is one of them. This is a workhorse of a cookie recipe. Why? Well, it has everything you need for good cut-out sugar cookies. They mix up quickly, and they are full of sugar and butter so they keep well. This is a firm dough that can be rolled and cut more easily than Play-Doh, and yet it turns out a meltingly delicious cookie, with hints of almond, vanilla, and lemon.
Of course, labeling any recipe "best" is a risky proposition, but these have stood the test of time and many, many batches — and at least one reader agrees with my label!
Since I first posted this recipe a few years ago, I've made these many times. The original recipe made an enormous batch, and needed your very largest bowl for mixing. This is appropriate enough at Christmas, but I know that you don't always need to make 12 dozen cookies at a time. So I am including a scaled-down version of the recipe here.
A few tips:
• The dough freezes perfectly. The original recipe makes a very large quantity, so roll out a few sheets of dough and freeze flat in the freezer between wax paper and plastic wrap for quick cut-out cookies later.
• When you take the chilled dough out of the fridge you may need to let it sit for a few moments before it is soft enough to roll out. The high quotient of butter makes this a very firm dough.
• That firmness makes these perfect cut-out cookies for children; if you roll the dough at least 1/4 inch thick children should have no problem cutting and picking up cookie dough shapes. The dough doesn't tear easily or get too soft like other more delicate cookie doughs.
• They are firm yet tender, with a very buttery flavor. If you sandwich them with a soft filling like buttercream or Nutella the cookies soften even more.
Decorating ideas:
• Ice with a sugar glaze then sandwich with Nutella between two cookies.
• Glaze with warmed jelly then sandwich with another cut-out cookie on top.
• Drizzle with melted chocolate.
• Ice with royal icing and stick on candy dots for decoration.
3 cups unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for an hour
3 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
6 ounces cream cheese (3/4 of a standard cream cheese package)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
9 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until golden. Add the cream cheese and again beat until well incorporated. Add the flavorings and lemon zest.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then add, bit by bit, to the butter/sugar mixture until fully incorporated. (You will have chosen a large bowl for this particular recipe, I hope - mine was overflowing by this point and I ended up doing the final mix in a large plastic bag.)
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour — preferably overnight.
Heat the oven to 350° F. Divide the dough into smaller balls and roll out 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies.
Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes, depending on thickness. The small, thinner ones started browning after about 8 minutes, and I didn't want these brown at all. The larger ones had a slight golden bottom after 11 minutes, which was perfect for my purposes.
Let cool before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.
Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Small Batch)
about 3 dozen cookies, depending on size
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for an hour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a standard cream cheese package)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat until golden. Add the cream cheese and again beat until well incorporated. Add the flavorings and lemon zest.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then add, bit by bit, to the butter/sugar mixture until fully incorporated.
Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
Heat the oven to 350° F. Divide the dough into smaller balls and roll out 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies.
Bake cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. The small, thinner ones started browning after about 8 minutes, and I didn't want these brown at all. The larger ones had a slight golden bottom after 11 minutes, which was perfect for my purposes.
Let cool before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.
Related: Sugar Cookies Save the Day!
(Originally published December 18, 2007)
(Images: Faith Durand)
Kart Serving Tray b...

Comments (54)
Wow this makes a huge amount of cookies!!! Hmm will have to give it a try and will definitely be whipping out the big bowl for this one.
It does divide just fine so don't be afraid to do that. But yeah, if I am making this kind of dough I like to freeze a bit!
A couple of weeks after the original post, but I just wanted to say that this is a fantastic recipe. I made these cookies with my four-year-old niece, and they turned out beautifully. We opted to sandwich them with sour cherry preserves or dark chocolate ganache, which balanced out the sweetness of the dough. They were the hit of the family Christmas party. This one is definitely going into my recipe files.
I just have to say that this is indeed the BEST COOKIE RECIPE EVER!!!
I have coeliac disease and therefore cannot use normal wheat so all my recipes have to be made with special gluten-free flours (like rice etc) - and this generally makes baked goods either taste less than yummy or really hard to use (pastry for example is awful to try and roll out and cut and get into a pie dish - it just disintegrates when you try to pick it up)
Using this recipe with my gluten-free flour made an easy to use dough that made the most delicious cookies that stayed moist and delicious for days over the Christmas period
I halved the recipe and still had enough for two trays of cookies and enough dough left over to freeze - after freezing it still worked perfectly
So I used it as a base for the lemon meringue pie I made instead of struggling with pastry - it worked wonderfully - came out of the dish cleanly without any extra oiling on the dish itself - and tasted divine - the almond flavouring added something to the pie that we all liked
This has instantly become my fail-safe cookie/pie base recipe - I'm going to try a non-sweet version to see if it works for savoury pies too!!
Thank you apartment therapy kitchen - I will treasure this recipe forever.
I'm going to have to try these. We usually use a mix and it usually isn't amazing...
I'll have to scale it down a bit though.
Any good mixtures for icing? I tried martha stewart's, and although i didn't have the meringue powder, did it the egg white way, it came out horrible. It was way too thin even though i had everything measured exactly, and now matter how much powdered sugar i added, it wouldn't thicken. I have the meringue powder now and am tempted to try again, but also worried.
This is the BEST cut out cookie recipe I have ever made and made them with my 5 and 10 year old daughters. It's like we made perfect "Martha Stewart" cookies. If you keep the dough chilled it bakes up with perfect edges!! I have to say I have never been a fan of cut out cookies. I only did it because my girls loved to do it and you should do it with your kids, but now I will make this recipe every year for Christmas.
This cookie is amazing! Such a great recipe and it was worth the labor that it took to make such a huge amount of dough. I had my doubts... the massive proportions and the dough that seemed way too sticky. A couple of tips: definitely use the almond extract (it adds so much to the wonderful flavor); I divided the dough in 4 portions so that it would chill quickly; I put the dough in the freezer before rolling it out, after rolling it out and after cutting with the cookie cutters (this keeps the shape of the cutter); and lastly I put a little almond extract and a couple of splashes of maracino cherry juice in the royal icing which went perfectly with the flavor of this cookie. This will replace all other sugar cookie recipes!!! THanks!
Quite late on this thread-- but has anyone tried making this without a mixer, just stirring or whisking by hand? Does it really need an electric mixer?
This recipe is PERFECT. I don't even like sugar cookies but was making them for family... and couldn't stop munching on the broken pieces. The lemon zest is key.
I find the thicker (half-inch) works better.
Next year I'll make the dough in Nov and freeze it for super-easy Christmas baking. YUM. Thank you.
Agreed that this is most definitely the best sugar cookie recipe out there! The flavor punch from the almond extract, lemon zest and cream cheese will banish your old "bland sugar cookie" recipes to the bottom of the recipe file!
The cookie dough is nice and firm but still pliable. It held well in my refrigerator for a week and the cookies hold their shape wonderfully while baking.
I used this recipe (the large one that was originally posted, not the small batch) this past weekend for an annual cookie exchange and decorating party that I hosted. It is fantastic! I made 2 batches which yielded around 100 large sugar cookies that were also cut on the thick side (closer to 1/4 inch). Each batch maxed-out my 11 cup stand mixer and the flour billowed a bit as I added each cup to the wet ingredients. So, be prepared to make a mess - it is worth the clean-up. (Btw, I would not recommend attempting this by hand or even with a hand mixer, you will be exhausted). Thank you for posting this! It will be used every year to come.
@ellicious, no need for a mixer, these mix up by hand just fine.
I've never been a fan of sugar cookies, but when my daughter MUST have something to frost and give to her teachers, this is, indeed, the best. It's not a fussy dough at all.
I second the request for how to make these without a mixer.
@MaryWynn, just cream the butter/cream cheese with the sugar, add the egg/zest/extracts, and then the flour, like any cookie recipe. You will need a sturdy spoon.
On the no-mixer questions I concur with everyone above, with a more detailed explanation here:
Here's the deal. The stiffer and colder the butter is to begin with, the less you have to chill the dough to get it to a roll-able state. BUT of course then you need a mixer (hand or stand) to cream the butter and sugar.
On the other hand, if you have more time, you can let the butter really soften (perhaps 2-3 hours at room temp) and beat the sugar in by hand. You'll need a strong arm and stiff spoon to beat in all the flour, but since the butter is so soft it should be fine. The tradeoff is that you will need to really chill the dough for several hours. Then it won't be sticky anymore, and it will be sturdy enough to roll.
Glad you guys like these! I just made a big batch too, and they really work out well every time - even when kids are cutting them out. That's when I find this recipe most valuable; my friends' kids' little Christmas trees and angels don't fall apart when we transfer them to the baking sheet. :)
I tried this recipe last year and can attest, they are incredible and very versatile!
Hands-down the BEST cut-out sugar cookie I have ever made. Not only are they a dream to work with, but they are DELICIOUS! Thanks so much for sharing!
This sounds fantastic. I've been put in charge of "snacky" things as well as desserts for 3 difference Christmases this year.
I love that you can call a savory version "snacky" then whip out the Nutella (or whatever's left of it after I decide to go at it with a spoon) and call it dessert.
I made these for the first time today, and they are absolutely the best! The lemon zest is a really nice touch and made the kitchen smell great, too. I don't have a stand mixer, and it was no problem to do by hand. My 3-yr-old helped with the whole thing - it's definitely a kid-friendly cookie recipe.
We JUST made these. Completely screwed up and added an entire lemon's worth of zest (don't ask) but made up for it with an addition of powdered thyme to the cookies and a delicious cranberry/rosemary/nutmeg/cream cheesy filling.
We JUST made these. Completely screwed up and added an entire lemon's worth of zest (don't ask) but made up for it with an addition of powdered thyme to the cookies and a delicious cranberry/rosemary/nutmeg/cream cheesy filling.
These were delicious! They rolled out so easily and tasted so yummy! I used lemon extract and vanilla extract and eliminated almond extract since my family doesn't care for it. This is our new go-to holiday cookie recipe!
The Best Cut Out Sugar Cookies-I love to bake and when I saw the ingredients I believed that they would tast great especially since my grandson dislikes chocolate. These cookies are the best ever my grandsons loved them. I baked them last week. My husband is diabetic can I substitute the sugar with splender? Can you freeze them after baking? I highly recommend these cookies!!
I have had the best results with the recipe posted on university of cookie. Best sugar cookies ever! They don't spread, hold shape the best. The taste is great and the icing is not too overpowering, I even had them two weeks after they were baked and still crunchy and delicious!
ooh nice - you got me with the "hints of lemon, almond, and vanilla"
I'm so excited that this got posted. Have a party coming up and needed a foolproof recipe! Love the suggestions on how to build them into other cookies too.
+1 to sara @ two-tarts' comment! :) Also with the cream cheese. Will be baking these with the kids this season.
Cannot wait to try this one. Have been looking for a good sugar cookie recipe forever to go with my Mom's gingerbread cookie recipe (the best ever). Cookie day is 12/18 here. Sisters and daughters and granddaughters baking up a storm. Will give it a go!
Can't wait to try these!
Suggest you add a printer-friendly button for the small batch recipe.
How far in advance do you think I can bake these, before serving? I am throwing a party and would like to do as much as possible the week before.
Hmmm...I just made a small batch of this dough and it is somewhat dry and crumbly. Is that how it is suppose to be? It's in the refrigerator now chilling, so we'll see what it looks like in an hour.
Also, can I just roll little balls, dip in sugar and then flatten? or do I have to roll the dough out and use cookie cutters? (i've never made sugar cookies before!) Thanks!
i just have to say that, besides my family recipe for dark anise cookies, this is my favorite christmas cookie recipe EVER. i took a batch to a cookie exchange last year at work and they were a huge hit - especially the ones that were sandwiched with my homemade strawberry jam. thanks for a great recipe, faith!
i've tried this one today and it came out haven!!! thanks so much as always for such makeable goodies!!! :)
kids at school will be thrilled tomorrow when they see them to be decorated!!
Yes. These are amazing. My new go-to Christmas recipe. We invited some of our Chinese grad student friends over to decorate and had a blast! (And one one friend who normally isn't too fond of sweets snuck 4 cookies before they were even decorated.) So good!
Oh thank you! I have been battling various sugar cookie doughs for years and this is absolutely the one. Wonderful consistency, not to sticky, easy to make, freeze, roll - and soo tasty! Hooray!
Made these over the weekend and indeed, best sugar cookies ever. I halved the large recipe, instead of making the small batch, because I forgot the small batch recipe was there. And even though it's wasn't exactly the same measurements they turned out perfectly. The best part of this dough is that once you've re-rolled a few times you can just let it rest in the freezer to firm back up and keep rolling. So I didn't have a lot of wasted dough, which annoyed me about other recipes that you couldn't revived past a few rolls. I had enough to make a good number of very large snowflake cookies, a ton of mitten shaped ones, and two dozen linzer cookies. Decorated all with sanding sugar, were so beautiful. They were a big hit at our open house. Am definitely making these guys again!
Best.Cookie.Recipe.Ever! Made these this weekend, realized after creaming the butter/sugar/eggs that there was no way 9 cups of flour was going to fit in my KitchenAid. So out came a GIGANTIC chip bowl and a hand mixer. Well even that didn't do it so I wound up just mixing the last bit of flour in by hand.
So worth it! These were the best sugar cookies I have ever made. I usually only make them out of obligation, but these tasted so good! Thank you!
To Mthood--would you be willing to share your family recipe for dark anise cookies? I have been trying to find my mother's recipe and cannot, and I really miss these cookies.
Can anyone tell me what the finished consistency of these cookies are? I like cookies that are soft & chewy, not hard and crunchy! Thanks :o)
Michelledy-- thay are most definitely soft and chewy... Kind of a light shortbread cookie. Not even close to hard or crunchy... Unless you manage to burn them or something. :)
These sound wonderful and I'd really like to make them tomorrow but have a question. Are they to be baked on a greased or dry cookie sheet, or even on parchment paper? I didn't see any comments about this, or mention of it in the recipe. Thanks!
Late reply, but I bake mine on parchment paper.
These cookies are awesome! But after baking my cookies I find that the cookies expand and are bigger then the size of the cookie cutter I used to cut them.. I want to decorate the cookies with a stencil I brought so having it to the original size is important...I thought it was because of the baking powder so I halved the quantity and this made the cookies shrink in size... Is anyone else having the same problem or am I doing something wrong? Any tips on how to keep cookies to original size? Thanks in advance!
These are great! I usually hate sugar cookies but I'll eat these undecorated any day. Plus, the recipe makes a ton, so I can freeze and bake later. Yay!
I have found that if you freeze the cutout cookie dough on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before placing them in the oven, the cookies pretty much maintain their original shape while baking. Hope that helps!
Last year, I made sugar cookie sandwiches with this recipe using Linzer cookie cutters and nutella ... SO GOOD. I also like making these and then zig-zagging chocolate drizzle across the top. You really cannot go wrong with these, and the possibilities are endless!
Usually for a more kid-friendly dough, I use half butter/half shortening. Would the cream cheese in this recipe accomplish that? Or should I sub shortening for cream cheese?
So I accidentally made the huge version and trying to figure out storage options. It says in the recipe to roll out and freeze. Can I just freeze it in a huge ball? Any tips for freezing or working with the dough after freezing?
youareyourown- I wouldn't freeze it in a ball for a couple reasons: Longer defrosting time, not easy to work with, will have to use it all up. I really like sectioning off about a pizza dough ball size (maybe about a lb.?!), placing it on a large sheet of plastic wrap, wrapping it up, then smashing the dough flat in the plastic wrap, similar to how you would wrap and freeze pie dough. Wrap in foil, then place in a freezer bag. Then, you can just pull out the amount of dough that you need and keep the rest in the freezer for the next time you want to make cookies. It's also already flattened a bit, making it easier to roll out.
If you know you are going to bake the next day, just place cookie dough in the fridge overnight to defrost. Or if you're in a hurry, you can take it out of the freezer and leave it wrapped on the counter for 30 or so minutes, until it is able to be rolled out. Hope that helps!!
CAUTION: These cookies stick to the baking sheet unless it is the most reliable nonstick sheet, otherwise use parchment paper. I ended up with 2 dozen broken cookies. The tatse is great but heed my warning!
libby: the dough is super pliable and kid-friendly just with cream cheese. This dough is nothing like traditional sugar cookie dough ... I would leave it as-is.
The unit of measure for the butter is cups-- is that correct?
Yep... six sticks.
My husband and I are very critical of Christmas cut outs. Often they are bland, dry, too thick. After reading that these were as easy as cutting out play dough, I was intrigued; it was the vanilla, almond and lemon zest in the dough that sold me though. It really is THE BEST CUT OUT RECIPE...EVER. Incredibly tender, crispy exterior with a soft inside. Buttery, not greasy, sweet but not cloying. What used to be the dark cloud looming over my holiday preparations is now another fun part to look forward to. Thank you, thank you, thank you!