Mom's Rolled Sugar Cookies

These rolled sugar cookies are the workhorse of holiday baking. Sturdy enough to keep their cut-out shapes, soft enough to bite into, and patient enough to hold up under a thick layer of icing without going soggy.

The one-hour chill is doing real work. Cold dough rolls without tearing, cuts with sharper edges, and resists spreading in the oven so a star stays a star instead of turning into a blob. Skip the chill and you will end up with puffy, smooth-edged cookies.

A quarter-inch is the sweet spot for thickness. Thinner crisps up too fast and the centers bake before the edges set; thicker ones go cakey. Use a ruler the first time, then trust your eye after that.

Pull them out when the bottoms are barely golden but the tops still look pale. Sugar cookies finish setting on the sheet, and overbaked ones lose the slight chew that makes them worth eating.

Pro Tips

• Roll between two sheets of parchment instead of flouring your counter. The dough stays softer and you skip dry, gritty edges.
• Re-chill scraps before re-rolling. The second roll bakes up tougher if the dough warms up too much.
• Bake one test cookie first to dial in your oven. Pull at 9, 10, and 11 minutes to see what you like best.

Variations

• Swap butter for the margarine for a richer, more shortbread-like flavor.
• Add the zest of one lemon or orange to the creamed sugar for a citrus version.
• Stir ½ teaspoon almond extract in alongside the vanilla for that classic bakery cookie taste.