The 8-Ingredient Sugar Cookies I Make Every Christmas (They’re Perfect for Decorating!)

These easy sugar cookies have crisp edges and soft middles. Cut out into shapes and decorated with icing, they’re a delicious treat for any occasion.

Meet my best sugar cookie recipe! It’s an updated version of one I shared a few years ago, with streamlined steps, simple ingredients, and absolutely delicious results.

These cut out sugar cookies have crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor. Decorated with icing, candies, and/or sprinkles, they’re a festive treat for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or any occasion.

Heads up that this recipe requires chilling the dough, so plan to mix it up at least 2 hours before you roll out and bake the cookies. If you’d like to space out the steps of this recipe even more, you can freeze the cookies after baking. That way, they’ll stay fresh until whenever you’re ready to decorate. Let’s bake!

Sugar Cookies Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy sugar cookie recipe:

• All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
• Baking powder – It helps the cookies rise.
• Unsalted butter – You’ll need softened butter for this recipe. To soften it, let it sit at room temp for an hour before making the dough.
• Granulated sugar – For sweetness.
• An egg – It binds the cookie dough together and gives the cookies a soft texture.
• Vanilla extract and almond extract – For warm depth of flavor. If you don’t have almond extract on hand, feel free to replace it with an extra splash of vanilla.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Cut Out Sugar Cookies

You can find the complete sugar cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a step-by-step overview of how it goes:

Start by making the cookie dough. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts.

Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until a soft cookie dough forms.

• Tip: If you don’t have a stand mixer, make the dough with an electric hand mixer!

Next, chill the dough. Divide it in half, and form each half into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Don’t skip this step! Chilling the sugar cookie dough helps the cut outs hold their shape.

After the dough chills, roll it out. Place one disk on a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it out until it’s 1/4-inch thick.

• Tip: If the dough is too firm to roll out right away, let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes to soften.

Use cookie cutters to cut out your desired shapes. Re-roll the scraps as necessary, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough.

Bake the cookies in a 350°F oven until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown, typically 9 to 11 minutes. The cookies will still seem underdone in the middle, but they will set up as they cool.

Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

How to Decorate Sugar Cookies

My favorite part of making this sugar cookie recipe is decorating the cookies! Here are the two sugar cookie icings I like to use:

• Royal icing (pictured) – Made with meringue powder, this type of icing sets up with a firm texture, which makes it great for piping fine lines and flooding/filling in shapes. I’m sharing the recipe I use in the recipe notes below.
• A super simple sugar cookie icing – When I’m not planning to make intricate designs, I make a super simple sugar cookie icing with milk (any kind) and powdered sugar. I start with 1 tablespoon milk and 3/4 cup powdered sugar and add more of each as needed to create a thick drizzleable consistency. This icing takes longer to harden. Store cookies in a single layer until it sets up.

Feel free to add food coloring to either icing to make your desired colors. After adding icing, top off the cookies with candies, sprinkles, or colored sugar to make them look extra-festive.

More Easy Cookie Recipes

If you love these soft sugar cookies, try one of these easy cookie recipes next: