Easy, chewy, no-chill, cut-out sugar cookies that are perfect to bake and decorate for any holiday!
I’m finally finally finally getting around to sharing my favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe that I’ve been making and perfecting for years. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve emailed or texted this recipe to a friend asking for it so it’s about time I share it on here with all of you.
It’s the perfect recipe. Most importantly, the cookies are delicious! We’re talking chewy and perfectly sweetened with a simple sugar icing that compliments it so tastefully.
They’re so easy to make, super kid-friendly when it comes to rolling out the dough and cutting into shapes, and no chilling required which means you can mix the dough and have your first batch in the oven in no time. Because seriously, who really has the patience when it comes to waiting for cookies?? Especially the kiddos!
The dough is balanced perfectly to hold its shape through baking, icing, sprinkling, serving and enjoying.
I like flavoring the dough with almond extract, but vanilla extract and also peppermint extract turn out super tasty too. Feel free to use your favorite or switch it up each time.
I also like the results I get from using half and half in both the dough and the icing. It adds just the right amount of rich moisture to the texture of the cookies and thickness of the icing.
We bake this recipe all throughout the year. Whether it’s a birthday party, a football watch party, Valentine’s Day hearts for the school party, the Christmas cookie exchange or just our family in the kitchen having fun, this recipe is a success for any occasion.
I hope baking, decorating and eating these sugar cookies brings sweet memories and delicious enjoyment to you and your family and friends for years to come.
xoxo,
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted COLD butter, sliced into tablespoon portions before mixing
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, vanilla extract or peppermint extract
- 3 large eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup half and half
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cold butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the half and half and almond extract and then the eggs, one at a time, until mixture is well combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until a thick dough forms. *If the dough seems too wet, add an additional ¼ cup of flour at a time until it comes together smoothly.
- On a floured surface, roll half of the dough out to ¼-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Repeat with remaining dough until you've used it all.
- Place cookies about an inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 7-9 minutes, rotating cookie sheets after 5 minutes, or until cookies are just set and starting to turn light brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, whisk 3 cups powdered sugar and ¼ cup half and half in a medium bowl until smooth and spreadable. Spread a thin layer of icing on one cookie at a time and immediately garnish with sprinkles before the icing sets. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Cookie dough can also be frozen up to 6 months. Wrap the cookie dough tightly in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe resealable plastic bag to freeze. Let defrost in the refrigerator overnight before rolling out and cutting into shapes to bake.
Definitely trying this recipe this weekend with my little man!! I love all of your recipes.
Yay Rachel! Enjoy! 🙂
This recipe absolutely works. Thank you!
You are killing me with all these delicious recipes! It all looks so tasty!
Finally! I’ve tried at least 20 different sugar cookie recipes over the years and yours is by far the best! Thank you for ending my quest.
Does the frosting set up like royal icing?
Hi Melissa! It hardens nicely like a royal icing, but doesn’t get so hard that it cracks when you bite into the cookie. Still a little creamy but hardens enough so you can stack them without the icing messing up. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
I was so happy to find a no chill recipe! I don’t have half and half tho, only heavy cream so I’m gonna try it with that, hope it works !
I just pulled these out of the oven, and they are delicious. Now I just have to hope they aren’t gone before I get the icing made. Great recipe!
Yay Lori! I love hearing that. So happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
What is half and half?
Hi Lee-Ann! It’s an equal parts blend of whole milk and light cream. You can find it near the milk at the store.
I just tried this recipe!! Thank you my whole family loved them thank!!!
Hello,
I made these cookies for a party yesterday and I noticed that the dough was much to wet for cut-outs, so I had to make drop cookies instead. The cookies were delicious, but do you think that dough would have been cut-out ready if I had added more flour during the mixing process? Thank you.
Hi Natasha! Did you follow the ingredients exactly? The dough should be pretty thick and only require a dusting of flour on the work surface to roll it out on. Certainly if the dough was wet, it would need more flour. You could try adding more in the mixer or coating it generously on the work surface before rolling it out. Hope this helps.
Mine was crazy wet too! No clue what went wrong. I even added almost another whole cup of flour and had to freeze it to cut them out. They baked really puffy 🙁 Apparently, I am not a baker 😂😂
Oh goodness, Kaitlin! I’m wondering if your butter was too soft or if you missed a cup of flour when adding it? The dough should be really thick and require just a little flour on the surface to roll out. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you.
If your eggs were really large then the dough was more wet so you would have to add more flour.
its really 3 medium sized eggs.
Hi Barbara! That’s a good point especially if someone has used x-large eggs. I always use large eggs, but I agree that eggs definitely vary in size. Thanks for sharing!
Yup really wet for me too and I had to add more flour 🙁
Hi Amanda! It could be the moisture in your home or the humidity of where you live. Next time, add 1/4 cup flour at a time until the dough is smooth enough to roll out, but not too thick to where it feels dense and dry. Hope this helps!
Hi! I am baking a big batch of cookies and I was wondering if I can make the dough ahead of time? May I keep them in the fridge for say 3 days? Or better to just stick them in the freezer?
Also, since it is a big batch, the cookies would end up pretty sturdy yes?
Hi Emma! Yes, you can divide the dough into several balls and wrap each one tightly with plastic wrap to keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just let them come close to room temperature so you can roll the dough out and easily cut into shapes. Yes, the cookies are sturdy yet chewy. Enjoy!
Mine was crazy wet too…it even stuck to parchment paper! I used the 3 cups of flour, barely soft butter, and medium sized eggs…are you sure you tried the recipe before putting it on the site? Idk what went wrong. I had to almost 3 cups more flour to it and still wasnt able to make cut outs. I had to change them to thumbprints! So disappointed
Oh goodness, Mindie! It sounds like something went wrong as you were preparing the recipe. Sometimes the moisture of your home or the humidity of where you live could cause the dough to be wetter and require more flour, but certainly not 2 cups additional flour. The recipe calls for 4 cups flour. Are you sure you just added 2 tablespoons half & half? And used cold butter? We bake these year-round and never have issues with the dough being too wet to roll out. I’m so bummed the recipe didn’t turn out the way its supposed to for you. I hope the thumbprints still tasted good at least!
what is half and half
Hi Denise! It’s half milk and half cream.
Amazing recipe! Perfect no- chill cookies that roll and cut-out like a dream! Thanks so much 😁
Yay, Samantha! I’m so happy you baked them and loved them! It’s a no-fail recipe that always gets such rave reviews. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hello Maegan – I can’t wait to try the cookies. But as noted above, my dough is also too wet to roll out. I won’t add more flour for fear of making the cookies too tough. (I’d rather add flour when I roll out the dough.)
I wanted to know your definition of “barely softened” since I think my butter was too soft and made the dough wet. So….my dough is in the freezer – chillin’.
Hi Christine! Barely softened butter should still be cool to the touch, but when pressed using a little pressure, your finger will leave a slight indentation. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Could I add cocoa powder to make a chocolate football cookie?
Hi Helen! I have a chocolate sugar cookie recipe that would be great for cutting into football shapes: https://thebakermama.com/recipes/chocolate-sugar-cookies/
Hi I would like to know what to use instead of half and half
Hi Joelle! You could use whole milk or heavy cream. Enjoy!
Hi,
I tried you recipe and the dough was amazing! But the bake was not so good, the cookies tasted really hard. I know if I probably made t right it would be amazing!!
Thank you!!
Hi Deniz! It sounds like you may have over-baked them. Oven temperatures do vary so check them around 5 minutes and take them out when the cookies are set. Hope this helps.
My daughter is home from college and was hanging out with a friend. They didn’t know what to do, so I suggested they put on some music and bake cookies. I searched for a no chill recipe, read the reviews on this one and checked my cabinet for ingredients. I didn’t have no salt butter, so they left out the salt. (After I read online that this is okay to do.) . These cookies were amazing! Perfectly moist in the middle, not crumbly and dry. I plan make them next time with no-salt butter, but using salted butter and leaving out the salt was not a disappointment. This recipe is a keeper! And the no-chill part will make this easy when I make them for Christmas! By the way, loved the icing too!
After searching for a great sugar cookie recipe for a couple years now, I have finally found a winner! I made these for the first time yesterday, and they are delicious! I iced about 3/4 of the cookies after they were done, and left 1/4 of the batch without icing… even without the icing they are wonderful. I will be making these again and again, and they will make some very scrumptious Christmas presents.
I would like to use this recipe to make these with kids at a winter break camp. Will it work without a paddle mixer? We have hand mixers or our hands only.
Hi Becky! Of course, just requires a little bit more effort and time to mix the dough together well. I hope they turned out great!
Can you add food coloring to the icing?
Sure! Just add it like you would to any icing recipe. Enjoy!
I’m going to try them with my little man today! I’ll keep you posted…
Hope you enjoyed baking and eating them! 🙂
I’m notorious for just “winging” it when it comes to baking things. I decided at the last second I didnt want THAT many cookies and cut my ingredients in half…everything came out perfect : )
Hello! My family and I bake for Christmas every year, and I found your recipe on my first try for a no-chill version. We were all excited by how easy and delicious they were, and they’ll be on our list every year! We all said our baking was less stressful this year! Kudos to you and thank you for sharing! Happy holidays!
LOVE the recipe- the cookies were so soft and chewy and thick! The best tasting sugar cookies I have personally made yet. However, I have found in general, the dough does need to chill in the fridge even if it’s for 20 minutes. I started rolling the dough out and it was just too warm. My butter was barely soft, like you note but I feel for the perfect ‘cut out’, a good hour in the fridge is the trick! Just my take on it, but this was the best recipe I have come across by far!
This is absolutely the best sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever used!!!! It’s quick to put together and not having to chill it makes it that much better. The cookies are always moist and have the perfect chew to them. Thank you Meagan for sharing your recipe. I’ve used this recipe dozens of times since finding it online and always get great compliments from friends, family and coworkers!!!!
Hello,
Thanks for the recipe!
I followed it to a T, I also had thick but rather wet dough, I had to use a generous amount of flower for rolling. Then after baking my cutouts lost shape, wondering if you can tell me where I may have gone wrong?
Hi Madison! I’m wondering if you rolled the dough too thick and the cookies puffed as the baked and lost their shape? Or did they spread as they were baking?
Can you use both vanilla and almond extract? If so, how much vanilla would you use? How much almond extract would you use?
Thank you
Hi Laney! Yes, you could use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Enjoy!
My 2 year old is dairy free but I would love to make these with her. I have a dairy free substitution for the butte. Any suggestions of what I could substitute for the half and half? Thanks!
Hi Kyrie! I would recommend a store-bought substitute or coconut milk or blend one part coconut cream with one part unsweetened or plain soy, rice, or oat milk to create the desired amount of half and half. Hope this helps!
Do you use bleached or unbleached flour? Does it make a difference?
Thanks
Hi Laney! It doesn’t make a difference, but I like to use bleached all-purpose flour so the cookies are lighter in color.
These are hands down the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made. Easy to roll out, keep their shape, easy enough for my 6 and 7 year old to put together with very little help.
I overbaked the first batch because I wasn’t sure they were done, but overbaking made them too hard. Your timing is perfect, even if they aren’t browned and makes them perfectly chewy yet firm. Thanks so much for sharing!!
What is half and half??? Welp
Hi Talia! It’s half whole milk and half heavy cream.
Loved your recipe! I’ve been trying many different sugar cookie recipes and this is my favorite! I added orange zest and about a tablespoon of orange juice in place of a little or the half and half and the flavor was delicious!
Is the ‘half and half’ needed for the cookie to turn out well?
Hi Sea! Not necessarily, but I would recommend using a heavy cream or whole milk as a substitute to get the richness and firmness of the dough that is desired. Enjoy!
Can u use just regular oleo
Hi Sue! Yes, it should work just as great. Enjoy!
I am not a baker so what do you mean…. “Rotating cookie sheets after 5 minutes, or until cookies are just set and starting to turn light brown around the edges.”
Hi Edilynn! Great question. After the cookies have been baking for 5 minutes, use oven mits to rotate the cookie sheets so the cookies that were toward the front of the oven are now toward the back and if one pan was on the top shelf and another was on the bottom shelf, rotate those too so they’re on different shelves. As soon as the cookies look set and are starting to brown very slightly around the edges, remove them from the oven. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
I found this dough to be very, very sticky. I was very frustrated and probably added an additional cup of flour. I was ready to throw in the towel and start over with a different recipe but I stuck with it, worked with it until I could get the cut outs to come off the floured surface successfully. I have to say, after tasting the finished product, I will never use another sugar cookie recipe. These are out of this world delicious. I don’t normally send cookies out to neighbors and such, but this year, I’m considering it, just so I can knock their socks off too. I will add a bit more flour next time, from the get go. It may just be my environment, I live in FL, so perhaps more flour is needed to dry the dough a bit more. Either way, these cookies redeemed themselves completely! I sincerely hope there are some left for when my kids get home.
Thanks so much for the recipes. Both the cookies and icing worked out really well! The dough was easy enough for my 6 year old to roll.