Sugar Cookies/Cut-Outs

These sugar cookies are the kind you want for holiday cut-outs and decorated shapes. The dough holds clean edges through baking without spreading into shapeless blobs, and the finished cookies have a crisp edge with a slightly tender center. Lemon zest adds a subtle brightness that lifts the flavor beyond generic sweetness.

Chilling the dough for 2 to 3 hours is what makes these work for cut-outs. Cold butter firms up and holds the cookie’s shape in the oven. Skip the chill and the dough sticks to the counter, tears during cutting, and spreads during baking.

Adding water a few drops at a time is the final adjustment. You want the dough barely cohesive enough to pull away from the bowl, not wet. Too much water means soft, puffy cookies that lose their detail.

Chef Tips

• Roll to an even ⅛ inch thickness. Use guide sticks or rubber bands on the ends of your rolling pin if you have trouble keeping it uniform.
• Dip cookie cutters in flour between each cut. This prevents sticking and gives you cleaner edges.
• Bake until the edges just barely start to brown. The centers will look undone but they set as they cool. Overbaked sugar cookies are dry and chalky.
• Cool completely on wire racks before decorating. Warm cookies melt icing and the colors bleed.

Variations

• Replace the lemon zest with orange zest and a drop of almond extract for a different flavor profile.
• Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the flour for chocolate sugar cookies that look dramatic with white icing.
• Sandwich two cookies together with a layer of raspberry jam for a filled cookie version.