Soft & Fluffy Cut Out Sugar Cookies For Any Occasion
Cut out sugar cookies that actually taste good and look good! They’re soft and fluffy but still hold their shape well. They’re flavorful, not too sweet and can be frosted with whatever type of icing you want!
What is a sugar cookie?!
I’m answering this just because sometimes I get confused when someone just says “sugar cookie”. Obviously it’s a cookie that uses sugar but there are soft and chewy sugar cookies, cut out sugar cookies, something in between, etc.
Historically I believe the term ‘sugar cookie’ was just used to refer to cookies that weren’t flavored with anything else. So it differentiated between a plain cookie and a chocolate cookie, etc.
Of course, there are also ‘butter cookies’ which are plain but I believe those are much less sweet.
So anyway, a sugar cookie is just a cookie with simple ingredients like butter, flour, sugar and egg. Most of which also include vanilla (or other extracts) and a leavener.
What is a cut out cookie?
Well this one is more self-explanatory than the first question lol but it’s a cookie that will hold its shape even during baking (high heat).
If you think about the science, sugar and butter will melt and cause lots of spreading at high heat so a cut-out cookie must be high in flour…however if it’s too high in flour, you’ll be baking bricks. & that’s my problem with most cut-out sugar cookies, they often lack flavor and the hard texture is just not for me so it’s always been one of those desserts I would never reach for…until now.
What makes these cookies actually good then?
I’m glad you asked. I’ve been testing sugar cookies for probably five years now (intermittently of course, not continuously lol I come back to it 1-2x a year). I had three goals for my sugar cookies:
- Soft and fluffy, slightly chewy texture.
- Holds its shape during baking.
- Delicious flavor.
Unfortunately goal 1 and 2 don’t really go hand in hand, it can be difficult to get a soft cookie to hold its shape during baking. However, it is possible if you’re willing to put in the extra chill time.
TIP: If you want the cookies to be more firm and/or just don’t want to use yogurt, you can replace the yogurt with an extra stick (1/2 cup/113 grams) of butter. That’ll give you a more traditional sugar cookie texture as opposed to the fluffier texture I was going for (you can see the airy texture in the photo below).
How To Make The Best Cut Out Cookies
It really is just like a traditional cookie base where the room temperature butter gets creamed with the sugar, followed by the eggs, flavors and then the dry ingredients. The dough ends up similar to a pie crust texture where it’s too soft and sticky to work with a room temperature but turns firm once it’s chilled.
Ingredients:
- Butter: I like to use salted butter for cookies because I think it has more flavor but unsalted works fine as well. Dairy free butter also works fine.
- Sugar: I used granulated sugar in the cookie dough and haven’t tested this recipe with any other types. I also don’t recommend reducing the amount of sugar.
- I use powdered sugar for the icing.
- Egg: I use one large egg, preferably at room temperature.
- Yogurt: this is not traditional in sugar cookies but it makes them really soft and fluffy and balances the sweetness well. I use plain greek yogurt but plain yogurt or sour cream also work fine.
- Flavors: I use a lot of vanilla and a little almond extract. You can use any extracts you want though!
- Flour: I used cake flour because I really wanted these to be extra tender! The recipe also works fine with all-purpose flour though.
- As always, I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale to measure at least the dry ingredients.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder and I don’t recommend swapping it for baking soda. Baking soda can cause more spreading and browning.
- Salt: I always add in a little extra fine sea salt.
- Meringue Powder: this is used to make royal icing for decorating. I got mine at a local Michaels Store but you can also get it online.
Step-by-Step Photos
Sugar Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar together first.
- Add in the egg, beating until well combined.
- Add in the yogurt and extracts, beating until they’re well combined. The batter may split here, that’s ok.
- Mix in all the dry ingredients, just until the last streak of flour is combined.
- Split the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax or parchment paper.
- Place another sheet on top of the cookie dough and then use a rolling pin to roll each half to ¼” thick.
- Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
- Cut out shapes and then chill the shaped cookie dough again while the oven is preheating.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes (really depends on the size and shape of your cookies), just until the top of the cookies no longer look wet. They should NOT be browning around the edges (if they are, they’re overbaked).
- Cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Royal Icing
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder in the squeaky CLEAN bowl of a stand mixer.
- With the mixer on low, add in the water and vanilla, just until it comes together.
- Turn the mixer up to full speed for 5-10 minutes, until the icing holds soft peaks.
- Use a piping bag to pipe the borders on your cookie.
- Then add 1 tsp of water at a time to the royal icing to get a more runny consistency to “flood” the cookies. You want this consistency to flow, filling in the space between the borders you piped but not too runny that it’ll flow past the border.
- Add sprinkles and let them set for several hours, preferably overnight.
What Kind of Icing To Use On Cut Out Cookies
Traditional cut out cookies are frosted with (or better yet, decorated) with Royal Icing. Royal icing sounds more intimidating than it actually is. You just need to get some meringue powder and make sure your bowl is super clean, and it’s super simple to whip up.
However, some other options for frosting cut out cookies are:
- Simple Powdered Sugar Glaze – just mix powdered sugar with water, milk or juice and whatever extract you want. A rough estimate is about 1 cup of powdered sugar to 1-2 Tbsp of liquid – add more or less sugar depending on the consistency you need.
- American buttercream – just a traditional butter, powdered sugar situation. I would do ½ cup of butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp of heavy cream and whatever extract you are using.
- Cream Cheese Frosting – same as above but swap half the butter for cream cheese. I don’t prefer this option because the cookies will need to be refrigerated then and they won’t be as soft.
- Ganache – I would probably do equal parts cream and dark chocolate
- Melted Chocolate – you can just melt some chocolate chips and dip the cookies into it and let the chocolate set.
With any of the frostings, I would add in a tiny pinch of salt, some extract or even swap out a little of the powdered sugar for cocoa powder to make chocolate icing.
How To Store Cut Out Cookies
If the sugar cookies are unfrosted or frosted with anything EXCEPT cream cheese frosting, you can store them at room temperature. If the frosting is not yet set, just leave them uncovered to dry out.
If the frosting is set, you can place them in a tray/box and keep them airtight at room temperature for a few days or refrigerated for up to a week.
You can also freeze them (airtight) for a couple of months.
I hope you guys like my version of cut out cookies as much as we did. If you do, please consider leaving a 5-star rating or a review below. If you have any questions at all, please those down below as well.
As always, thank you for being here and happy baking!
Have a blessed day<3
Love, B
