Sugar Cookie Dough

Editors pick for easy-to-make sugar cookie dough for roll out cookies. This dough holds its shape very well, tastes good, and can be made 2 to 3 days ahead. This dough is perfect for decorating!

This has been my favorite sugar cookie dough for years. This is probably one of the most worn index cards in my recipe file!

I found this recipe years and years ago in an issue of Family Fun magazine. The editors claimed that they'd tried A TON of recipes over the years, but found this one to be the best. And I agree!

Honestly, over the years, I also tried a few different recipes (mainly out of curiosity) and I ALWAYS come back to this one. These cookies hold their shape and they have a good basic flavor, which can be customized to your liking by adding orange zest, lemon zest or other flavorings like almond or lemon extract.

If you're not looking for a roll-out dough, try my big soft sugar cookies or review my cookie category page. Otherwise, read on to learn how to make this sugar cookie dough....

Overview of Dough Making Process

• The ingredients for this sugar cookie dough include butter, flour sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla extract.

• Begin by creaming the sugar and butter together, then add your egg, and vanilla

• Mix the salt with the flour and then add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix only until incorporated

• Shape the dough into one or two disks or a flat square shape(s), wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably, overnight.

• After refrigerating the dough, roll out to ¼-inch thickness using thickness guide rails (shown above in red) or rolling pin guide rings if you have them. They make this process so easy!

These Sugar Cookies Do Not Spread

Top Tips for Making Sugar Cookies

Mixing the Dough

• This dough is mildly flavored (vanilla flavored); for a more robust flavor, consider adding grated citrus rind (lemon or orange), lemon extract, or almond extract to your dough.

Rolling the Dough

• Make sure your cookie dough has been chilled before you roll out the dough to cut the cookies. Consider rolling the dough between two sheets of parchment paper before refrigerating to speed up the rolling/cutting process (I didn't do this but may try in the future)
• After chilling the dough, it will need to sit out for 20 minutes or so to facilitate rolling (time will depend on the thickness of the dough/how you shaped it, and the temperature in your kitchen)
• To make evenly thick cookies, roll your dough out to ¼-inch thickness using guide rails or rolling pin guides. This makes things easy!
• Use a fairly generous amount of flour on top AND underneath the dough as you roll it out. Otherwise, the dough can and will stick!
• If the dough starts feeling warm to the touch, place the dough in the refrigerator.
• Consider chilling your cut out cookies for about 10 to 15 minutes before baking to ensure that they don't spread.
• It may help to dip your cookie cutter in a bowl of flour.

Baking and Storing cookies

• Use parchment paper or silicone baking sheets to prevent burning the underside of cookies
• These cookies don't spread much at all but you should still allow at least ½-inch space between the cookies as you place them on your baking sheet.
• Monitor the bake - baking too long may result in a very dry cookies. Start checking the cookies at 8 to 10 minutes.
• Let your cookies dry completely before storing in a sealed container; otherwise, they will soften and there is a greater chance of spoilage.
• Let your cookies cool completely before decorating; otherwise, your icing will run.

To Decorate Cookies and My Pick for an Icing Recipe

• I used an icing recipe by Sweet Hope cookies. It's a mix of royal icing and glaze. I feel that straight royal icing isn't very good, taste-wise, and so this icing is definitely a step up.
• You can make this icing ahead and it keeps well for 2 to 3 days on the countertop, 7 to 10 days in the refrigerator, and indefinitely if frozen according to Sweet Hope.
• The icing serves as a base that will need to be diluted to piping and flooding consistency, which I defined as 15-second icing (it will smooth out within 15 seconds after you run a knife through it). This seems to be a personal preference.
• To make the icing into a 15-second icing, simply add water, 1 teaspoon at a time until it smooths within 15 seconds after you run a knife through it.
• You can add more sugar to thicken icing back up again if you find its gotten too thin.
• Special note: I added ½ teaspoon salt per batch of icing (which used a total of 2 pounds confectionary sugar) to cut the sweetness. I also flavored with lemon to balance the sweetness of the icing.

Sugar Cookies from Years Past....

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