Sugar-Cookie Cutouts
Submitted by pepperpot
Classic rolled sugar cookie cutouts with a tender butter-and-cream dough, sprinkled with red and green colored sugar before baking. Holiday cookie-tin staple.
YIELD
2 dozenPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
4 hrsEvery holiday cookie box needs a good sugar cookie cutout, and this recipe delivers the tender-but-sturdy dough you want. The cookies hold their shape cleanly through the oven (no spreading snowmen or reindeer with legs fused together) and come out with crisp golden edges and soft centers.
The secret to the texture is the ¼ cup of cream worked into the dough near the end. Most sugar cookie recipes use only egg for moisture, which can yield a dough that’s either too stiff to roll or too soft to hold detail. Cream tenderizes the crumb and makes the dough roll out like a dream without sticking.
A 3-hour chill is non-optional. Cold dough rolls thin without tearing, cuts sharp edges, and keeps its shape while the butter firms up in the oven. Skipping this step is the most common reason cutouts spread and lose detail.
Chef Tips
- Roll dough between two sheets of parchment if you don’t want to flour your counter. Too much flour on the dough toughens the cookies.
- Sprinkle colored sugar on dough before baking. It bakes into the surface and sparkles after cooling.
- Re-chill scraps between rerolls. Warm scraps roll unevenly and bake misshapen.
- Bake on light-colored sheets. Dark pans over-brown the bottoms before the tops set.
Variations
- Add ½ teaspoon almond extract with the vanilla for a bakery-style note.
- Swap granulated for superfine sugar for a finer crumb.
- Decorate with royal icing after cooling for detailed designs instead of using colored sugar.
Ingredients
Directions
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Beat in eggs and vanilla until blended.
With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour, baking powder and cream until well blended.
Press dough together, then divide in half. Wrap each half and chill 3 hours or until firm enough to roll.
Heat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease cookie sheet(s).
On lightly floured surface, roll 1 piece of dough at a time.
Cut in desired shapes with floured 3-inch cookie cutters.
Sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon colored sugar.
Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet(s).
Reroll scraps and chill.
Bake 14 minutes or just until bottoms and edges are brown.
Cool completely on cookie sheets on wire rack.
Repeat with remaining dough.
Decorate as you wish.
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