Best Cut-Out Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

1 ½ cups butter softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
5 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for rolling

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl (or your stand mixer), beat together butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add eggs, one at time with mixer running on low. Turn mixer up to medium and beat until well combined for about 2-3 minutes. Add extracts as mixer is going.
Combine dry ingredients and slowly add to butter mixture, beating on low speed until just combined.
Place about 1 cup dough mixture onto parchment paper or wax paper that has been dusted with powdered sugar and cover with an additional sheet of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out to ¼ inch thickness and place in sealed storage bag or large covered container.

General Tips

For best results, be sure to use room temperature eggs and butter.
Re-roll sugar cookie dough scraps up to 3 times (refrigerating dough in-between if the dough becomes warm and squishy)
If using sprinkles, it is best to put on the cut out cookies before baking.
If icing these cut out cookies, let the cookies cool completely before icing.
Sugar Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 5 days. Be sure to store in the refrigerator if cookies are iced and let them come to room temperature before enjoying for best taste.

To Freeze Baked Cut-Out Cookies, allow cookies to cool fully and then place into a sturdy freezer-safe container and freeze for 2 months.
To Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough, Place dough on parchment paper in flattened rounds. Place the dough into a freezer-safe bag and tightly seal. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough out in the fridge the night before baking. And then roll out and bake as directed.
Bake Sugar Cookies. Bake for 6-7 minutes at 400 degrees. Bake until the tops of the cookies are just set. Don’t let the bottoms brown too much, or these cookies will lose the softness they are known for. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking tray for 1 to 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Original Recipe Source: The BEST Cut-Out Cookie Recipe https://amindfullmom.com/best-cut-out-cookie-recipe/ November 28, 2020

Made recipe 2020. Excellent taste. Left dough in refrigerator two days before rolling. Should have rolled per instructions since it was a huge hard ball of dough that was hard to portion out to roll out and needed to soften first. Should have made cookies a little thicker for softer cookies. Very similar to Mom’s crispy cutout cookie recipe but has butter instead of shortening. these taste better than Mom’s recipe. This is the Sugar Cookie recipe you have been looking for! This recipe produces the most perfect Cut Out Cookie EVERY single time. They bake up soft, are full of flavor, and the dough holds its shape while baking.

HOW TO FREEZE SUGAR COOKIES

You can freeze both iced and un-iced sugar cookies in the freezer, keeping in mind that iced cookies will not retain their flavor as long when stored in the freezer as plain sugar cookies do.

FOR NON ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Bake as directed and allow the cookies to cool fully.
Place the cookies into a freezer-safe container, separated by layers of parchment or wax paper, and freeze for up to 2 months.

FOR ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Place decorated cookies onto a cookie sheet and freeze until solid, about 1 hour. This will keep the icing from sticking to other cookies or parchment paper.
Once the icing is hard to the touch, transfer cookies to a freezer-safe container, being sure to place a layer of parchment paper or wax paper in between layers of cookies.
Iced Cut Out Cookies will last in the freezer for 4-6 weeks.

FREEZING SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH

Prepare cookie dough as directed.
Divide the sugar cookie dough into 3-4 sections and place each section on parchment paper.
Cover each section of dough with another piece of parchment paper and lightly flatten the dough into an even disk.
Place the sugar cookie dough into a freezer-safe bag and tightly seal.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
To bake, place dough in the refrigerator the night before to thaw. Roll out and bake as directed.

The cookies are buttery and soft. If rolled too thin they will be crispy.
They hold their shape perfectly when baked–meaning you actually know if your cookie is supposed to be a Christmas tree or whatever shape you used!
These sugar cookies are NOT bland in flavor. You can eat them plain or iced and will thoroughly enjoy them.
Even after rolling and re-rolling, and re-rolling some more, these Cut Out Cookies turn out tender and perfectly baked.
They can be made months in advance and frozen for future use.
To prevent cookies from spreading be sure your dough is well-chilled and re-chill your scraps after they get warm before cutting into more shapes. You also do not want to grease your cookie sheet. Use parchment paper or a nonstick pan instead.

Why powdered sugar?
I strongly suggest you use powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling out the sugar cookie dough. The powdered sugar works to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface just like flour, but the powdered sugar dissolves into the cookie when baked. Meaning, no raw flour taste or cookie coated in white dust.

How do you roll out sugar cookie dough evenly?
To roll out sugar cookie dough, I think it is best to roll out your cookie dough before refrigerating. It is MUCH EASIER to manage. To ensure the dough is even when rolled out, my tip is to use wooden spoons on either side of the cookie dough. These wooden handles work as a guide so that your dough will be rolled out to the same depth as the handle, about ¼ inch-evenly across the parchment paper or working surface.

What if sugar cookies look under-baked?
Do not be tempted to over-bake sugar cookies. They should be very blond in color and just set to the touch. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes to continue cooking a bit after removing from the oven and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sugar cookies will go from perfectly cooked, to very crispy and browned in a matter of a minute or two and will lose the soft texture they are known for.

How many times can I re-roll dough scraps?
After you cut out as many cookies as you can, place the scraps together to form a ball of dough and roll out the sugar cookie dough again and cut out additional cookies. After that process has been repeated, place the 2nd batch of scraps together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and roll out the sugar cookie dough one final time. That is a total of 3 times for rolling out sugar cookie dough. Any additional rolling after that will result in an overworked cookie that will be tough and burn easily.