Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Simple Icing
In short: Buttery cut-out sugar cookies that keep their shape in the oven, made with a vanilla-almond dough and finished with a simple glaze. It takes about 50 min in total and makes 36 servings.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Resting
- 1 h
- Total
- 50 min
- Servings
- 36
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 125 kcal
Cut-out sugar cookies are the ones you roll, stamp into shapes and decorate for holidays, birthdays and baby showers. The hard part is keeping the shapes sharp, and the fix is simple: a dough with no baking powder, a thorough chill, and a short rest in the fridge after cutting. The dough tastes of butter and vanilla, so the cookies are good plain too. A thin glaze of powdered sugar and milk is all the decoration they need.
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy, but do not whip in a lot of air. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract.
- Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until the dough clumps together and pulls away from the bowl. If it seems crumbly, knead it briefly with your hands.
- Divide the dough into two flat discs, wrap them and chill for 1 hour. Cold dough rolls cleanly and keeps its shape in the oven.
- Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If a disc is too hard to roll, let it soften for 5 minutes.
- Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment to 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. Cut shapes with floured cutters, 6 to 7 cm (2 1/2 to 3 in) wide, and set them 2 cm (3/4 in) apart on the sheets. Re-roll the scraps once.
- Chill the cut cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes, then bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges just turn pale gold. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then on a rack until completely cold.
- Whisk the powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk and the vanilla, adding more milk a few drops at a time until the icing is thick but pourable. Spread or drizzle it over the cooled cookies and leave to set for 1 hour.
Tips
- Rolling between parchment sheets means no extra flour, which keeps the cookies tender. If the dough softens while you work, slide it onto a tray and chill it for 10 minutes.
- Add the zest of one lemon or orange to the dough, or replace 30 g of the flour with cocoa powder for chocolate cut-outs.
Questions and answers
How do I stop sugar cookies from spreading?
Use cold dough, skip extra leavening and chill the cut shapes for 10 minutes before baking. Always bake on cool, lined sheets.
How thick should I roll cut-out sugar cookies?
Roll to 5 mm (1/4 in) for cookies that are crisp at the edge and a little soft in the middle. Thinner cookies turn crisp, and thicker ones need a minute or two longer.
Can I freeze sugar cookie dough?
Yes. Wrap the discs tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge before rolling.
How long does it take to make Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Simple Icing?
About 50 min in total: 40 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking.
How many calories are in Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Simple Icing?
About 125 kcal per serving, with 1 g of protein, 18 g of carbohydrates and 5 g of fat. These values are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 125 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 11 g |
| Sodium | 40 mg |
Estimated values, calculated from the ingredients.
