x
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Press
  • About
  • Let’s talk!
Instagram Pinterest BlogLovin
Home › recipes › The Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Vanilla and Chocolate Recipes)

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0

link to follow on instagram  link to follow on Pinterest  Follow on Bloglovin

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Constellation Inspiration

Constellation Inspiration

A Dessert Blog

  • Cookbook
  • Tutorials
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Recipes:
  • cake
  • cookies
  • cream puffs
  • tarts
  • bars
  • candy
  • Asian-inspired
  • seasonal
    • Valentines
    • halloween
    • christmas
Jump to Recipe
recipes

The Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Vanilla and Chocolate Recipes)

by: Amy on: Dec 15, 2021

This cut-out sugar cookie recipe always yields a cookie that is delicate and tender – it has a crisp exterior but melts in your mouth. It's very versatile and that's another reason why it's a keeper.

Review  or  Print Recipe

I’ve always refrained from calling a recipe on here ‘the best’ especially for something more common like a sugar cookie — a simple google search for ‘sugar cookie’ yields about 2,180,000,000 results and no way my little recipe here is beating out 2,179,999,999 other ones. I’ve baked these cookies for family and friends and throughout the years I’ve heard “these are the best sugar cookies” and “these are honestly my favourite sugar cookies” quite a few times… enough times that it boosted my ego enough for me to put that superlative in my recipe title. The original recipe actually belongs to my aunt, a very talented cookie decorator, and she was kind enough to share it with me a few years back. I’ve made some tweaks here and there over the years, but nothing major. I use this cookie recipe throughout the year but it feels extra special during the holidays because that’s when I first learned to decorate sugar cookies from my aunt.

I shared this sugar cookie recipe two or three years ago but have made it a handful (read: over 50) more times that I’m updating it and re-sharing it now. I used my snow globe, Christmas tree, and snowflake cookie cutters for this batch but feel free to use whichever cutter you like. The number of cookies this recipe yields depends on the size and shape of the cookie cutter you use. I’ve also used this sugar cookie recipe as the base for jam-filled linzer cookies and thumbprint cookies. The recipe always yields a cookie that is delicate and tender – it has a crisp exterior but melts in your mouth. It’s very versatile and that’s another reason why it’s a keeper.

I’ve also developed a chocolate version of this sugar cookie recipe. Both vanilla and sugar versions don’t spread too much, making them perfect cut-out cookie recipes! Other great cut-out cookie recipes on the blog include:

Matcha, Black Sesame, Vanilla Shortbread Cookies
Kinako Shortbread Cookies
Pretzel Shortbread (Personal favourite!)

The Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

I've always refrained from calling a recipe on here 'the best' especially for something more common like a sugar cookie. I've baked these cookies for family and friends and throughout the years I've heard "these are the best sugar cookies" and "these are honestly my favourite sugar cookies" quite a few times… enough times that it boosted my ego enough for me to put that superlative in my recipe title.
Makes 15 cookies
By Amy

Ingredients

Vanilla Sugar Cookies

  • 150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 160 g (1 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

  • 150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 135 g (1 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 30 g (5 tbsp_ cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together on medium speed butter and granulated sugar, about 1 minute.
  • Add in egg yolk and vanilla. Mix until combined.
  • Add flour and salt. Add cocoa powder if making chocolate version. Mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds
  • Lay down a piece of parchment paper and transfer dough to the parchment.
  • Lay a second piece of parchment over the dough and roll out dough to 1/4-inch in thickness. (Using two pieces of parchment eliminates the need to add extra flour to the dough)
  • If the dough is too soft at this point, transfer the rolled out dough to firm up in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
  • Using cookie cutters of choice, stamp up cut outs.
  • Transfer the cut outs to the lined baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to refrigerator or freezer to chill cut outs until firm — this will prevent spreading.
  • Bake for 11 – 14 minutes, until edges the bottom of each cookie is a light golden brown.
  • Wait 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

more like this:

Nian Gao Cookies (年糕曲奇餅)

Gingerbread Snoopy’s Skating Rink

Crispy Pumpkin Mochi Cakes (3-Ingredients)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sweet Comments:

  1. Sarah says

    Dec 23, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    Do you have a recipe or instructions for the frosting/icing you use to decorate?

    Reply
  2. Jenny says

    Dec 24, 2021 at 3:47 am

    The dough was quite sticky for me. It ended up sticking to the two sheets of parchment paper, so I had to cave and use flour to roll them out. But fingers crossed they turn out well! I’ve loved all the other cookie recipes I’ve tried of yours, so I’m excited for these!

    Reply
  3. Thorsten says

    Dec 8, 2022 at 10:15 am

    1 star
    This dough is terrible … look out for a better one, this one is crap

    Reply
  4. Emilie Ashby says

    Dec 14, 2022 at 9:26 pm

    Not very sweet. I was surprised at the low sugar content for being a sugar cookie. I followed all gram weight measurements using a scale. My dough was very wet and sticky. Stuck to everything. I had to put it in the fridge rolled out and then put them in the fridge again after cut out and they still turned out rough and bumpy looking. Do you think your ingredients might be typed wrong? Just curious.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

a sweet hello.

Welcome to Constellation Inspiration, a buttercream-coated journal of recipes, stories, and love letters that are sweet to read, and even sweeter to eat. These love letters are dedicated to you.

sneak peaks & bonus recipes!

Sign up to get them for free:

featured

never not making @eatchofood’s (veg!) hot dog fl never not making @eatchofood’s (veg!) hot dog flower buns 🌼

#bakefromscratch #milkbread #breadbaking #breadmaking
tanghulu strawberries (冰糖葫蘆) 🍓✨ tang tanghulu strawberries (冰糖葫蘆) 🍓✨

tanghulu is sometimes called bingtanghulu, with the word ‘bing’ meaning ‘ice’ and describing the candy coating of this treat

16 strawberries
250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
125 g (1/2 cup) water
red food colouring, optional

wash strawberries and dry them completely. moisture will prevent the sugar coating from fully adhering. once dried, skewer strawberries on bamboo or lollipop sticks

line a large plate or baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside

in a small pot over medium heat, combine sugar and water. allow the sugar to melt without stirring the mixture

as the syrup boils and it starts to turn a very light golden colour (it should read 150c on a candy thermometer, about 8 – 10 min over medium heat), turn off the heat. if you are not using a candy thermometer, please use the ‘cold water test.’ when you drizzle some of the hot sugar into a bowl of cold water, the sugar should harden into sugar ribbons that you can break with a ‘snap.’ if the sugar in the cold water is still flexible or does not create the ‘snap,’ the sugar is not ready yet

stir in a few drops of red food colouring now if using

tilt the pot slightly, so more syrup pools on one side of the pot. dip a strawberry into the syrup and turn the stick gently to cover the strawberry completely. allow excess syrup to drip off and place sugared strawberry on the baking sheet

allow the sugar coating to harden completely before removing from the baking sheet, about 10 min. serve immediately

#tanghulu #strawberries #bakefromscratch #thebakefeed #bombesquad
lunar new year is my favourite time of year to vis lunar new year is my favourite time of year to visit chinatown because of all the festive decor and treats. whenever i visit chinatown, i never leave empty-handed (or with an empty stomach) because there are so many chinese bakeries to choose from

if you aren’t too familiar with chinese bakeries, especially the ones in vancouver’s chinatown, i have a short and sweet guide on the blog to help you savour and enjoy all the treats chinatown has to offer. i ate many coconut cream buns and egg tarts in one day for *scientific purposes* and i cant think of a better way to spend a weekend

📍 treats from all the bakeries below
📍 sun fresh bakery (245 keefer st)
📍 new town bakery & restaurant (148 e pender st.)
📍 zhao mah bakery (280 e pender st.)
📍 maxim’s bakery & restaurant (256 keefer st.)
📍 the boss bakery (532 main st.)

#chinesebakeries #bakefromscratch #yvreats #vancouverfood
Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic ca Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic cantonese style dessert and I grew up eating this dessert after large family dinners at chinese restaurants. The literal meaning of its chinese name is “ginger juice bumping into milk,” which describes the entire process of making the custard. The silky dessert only requires 3 ingredients: milk, ginger, and sugar. Because the ingredient list is so short, you can really taste each component. For my ginger milk custard, I’m using Dairyland Microfiltered Milk, which is a 100% canadian milk. (PS. Microfiltered Milk stays fresher longer than regular milk!)

Here is how you make it:
1 tbsp fresh ginger juice (from ~30g grated ginger) 200 ml dairyland microfiltered milk
2 tsp granulated sugar

Using the back of a spoon, peel ginger root. Then grate the ginger using a microplane or grater.
Extract the juice from the grated ginger by pressing it against a fine-mesh sieve. Transferthe juice to a bowl.

In a small pot over medium, heat up milk to 70c. It is important that the milk reaches 70c because this will cause the milk and ginger juice to congeal to form the pudding. Add sugar and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.

When the milk is warm enough, pour the milk into the bowl with ginger juice. Do not stir it and let it set for at least 15 min.

Put a small spoon on top of the pudding — if the spoon is able to rest on top of the pudding, the ginger milk curd is successful and ready to be enjoyed.

#startwithfresh @ingredients_by_saputo #chinesecooking #dessertrecipe #chinesedessert #homecafe
☁️ fluffy mango pancakes ☁️ (full recipe i ☁️ fluffy mango pancakes ☁️
(full recipe is on the blog)

#bakefromscratch #mangopancake #pancake #thebakefeed

Footer

Recipe Index
About
Press
Contact
Legal

sneak peeks & bonus recipes!

Sign up to get them for free:

© 2023 Constellation Inspiration · Site by Meyne