Sugar Cookie Cutouts are a fun and festive holiday cookie recipe. Everyone loves delicious, classic sugar cookies with icing. And they are perfect to decorate for any holiday theme or event! The cookie is lightly browned and crisp around the edges, while softer on the inside.
These sugar cookie cutouts in the shape of a snowflake are the biggest hit on a holiday cooking tray. These eye appealing, crisp and buttery cookies are absolutely delicious with the glace icing.
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Making Sugar Cookie Cutouts for the holidays
Making the sugar cookie cutouts are easy. It’s the decorating that can be tedious. However, while decorating sugar cookies with icing can be tedious, it is also very rewarding! The look of happiness on the faces of your children when they see a prettily decorated sugar cookie is so heartwarming!
These are one of the most popular sugar cookies with icing on my cookie platter and they disappear fast! I had friends and family asking if I would make these cookies for them! They loved the snowflake design. Needless to say, they are everything I hoped they would be in taste and appearance!
How to Handle Sugar Cookie Dough
Sugar cookie dough should be slightly firm yet pliable. When sugar cookie dough is too soft, it will tend to stick to the cookie cutters and easily fall apart. Below are some tips on what is most important when making cookie dough for cutouts.
Softened Butter for cookie dough.
Be sure the butter is at room temperature. I do not recommend softening the butter in the microwave. Doing so, could cause it to become too soft. Instead, take the butter out at least 30 minutes to an hour prior to mixing the dough.
Test the butter for softness. Lightly press press on the stick of butter and feel it give. If your finger goes into the butter, it is too soft. If your butter is too melty, it can lend to a chewier cookie rather than a crisp one.
Chilling and cutting the sugar cookie dough
Sugar cookie dough needs to be chilled prior to rolling out and cutting the dough. Doing this aids in the ease of rolling and cutting of the cookie dough. It also lends to a crisper cookie around the edges. If the dough is too soft, it is not easy to handle.
Important: Be sure to chill the scraps from cutting the dough if they become too soft to handle.
Sugar Cookies with Icing made 3 different ways!
There are a few different ways you can frost sugar cookies with icing. Many times, when I don’t want to take the time to decorate a cookie, I will leave the icing off. Below are some icing recipes that you may like to try to frost this sugar cookie recipe.
Glace Icing is what I used on this particular cookie you see pictured. Glace is similar to royal icing with the exception it doesn’t get as hard. This softer icing still will hold its shape and flood a cookie. The magic ingredient in this icing is corn syrup.
A Royal Icing recipe will be a hard and dry surfaced icing. This uses meringue powder or egg white which is the ingredient that keeps the icing dry and firm.
Frostings can be used instead of icing. Where icings are used to intricately decorate a cookie, a frosting can just be spread over the cookie with a knife. My favorite frosting recipes are caramel frosting and butter rum frosting.
Food Coloring can make a difference in the texture of your colored icing. My preference are gel food colorings over the liquid. Gel doesn’t thin the icing out like a liquid icing would tend to do.
Adaptations made to Sugar Cookie Cutouts
- Instead of flavoring the cookie with vanilla extract, try using other flavors. Some of our favorites are almond and lemon.
- Add a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg for a lightly spiced sugar cookie cutout.
- Make them chocolate! Replace 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of baking cocoa.
- Instead of frosting the sugar cookie cutout, dip half of it in melted chocolate and sprinkle with colored sprinkles.
Products you need to make this recipe
- This Baking sheet is my very favorite!
- Parchment Paper or Silpat for lining the baking sheet.
- Cooling Rack
- Wax Paper (used to prevent stacked cookies from sticking together)
Tips for a successful recipe
- Be sure your butter is softened before hand and do not microwave to soften.
- Bring your egg to room temperature before adding to the ingredients.
If cookie dough gets to soft when making cut outs, return to chill another 15-30 minutes. - Flour the cookie cutters before cutting the sugar cookie. This will prevent cookie dough from sticking to the cookie cutter.
Other Christmas Cookie Recipes to include on your holiday cookie tray
I want to share with you some of our long time favorite Christmas Cookie recipes. These are cookies that make it on holiday platters that I give to friends and family every year!
Chewy Mocha Toffee Chip Cookies are my personal favorite. I love a sweet, chewy cookie with a ton of flavor and this one fits the bill exactly!
This Italian Christmas Cookie recipe is Grumpy’s favorite. He loves this softer cookie and the entire cookie is coated in a delicious sweet confectioners glaze.
These Poinsettia Ball Cookies are flavored with a hint of nutmeg and rolled in nuts before baking. The green candied cherries are arranged to give the cookie a festive look.
Santa’s Whiskers cookies are a fun cookie to make with the kids! We would leave these out on Christmas Eve for Santa to enjoy before he went on his merry way!
Candy and Fudge recipes to include on your holiday cookie tray
Friends and family love to receive cookies, but they also love to get candy and fudge recipes! The holidays are the only I make fudge, so it is a real treat for those on the receiving end.
Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge is Grumpy’s favorite fudge. This is the creamiest, most delicious peanut butter fudge ever. And, it’s basically a no fail recipe that does not include marshmallows! It is the only recipe I will make and it has 1 special ingredient that makes it the best! This always makes an appearance on our Christmas Cookie tray.
I grew up loving Nanny’s recipe for Brown Sugar Fudge. I wanted to hoard the whole recipe for myself whenever we would receive it on our cookie tray. Because I loved this so much, I wanted others to be successful with the recipe. There is an instructional video on this post for my readers!
My favorite candy for the holidays is my Great Aunt Helga’s Candied Date Recipe. This is a no bake recipe that is so delicious people will not believe its made with dates!
If you have someone in your life who eats sugar free, they will appreciate this recipe for Raspberry Chocolate Truffles. The first time I ate this, I wasn’t sure it was sugar free!
Tell me what your favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe is!
Inquiring minds want to know! Do you have a cookie recipe with icing that you love to make every year? Do you like soft and puffy sugar cookie cutouts or light and crispy? Maybe you have a recipe that is completely different. Share it with me in the comments. I would love to your cookie recipe too!
Sugar Cookie Cutouts
A classic sugar cookie recipe that tastes delicious and is easily decorated for any type of event!
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Glace Icing
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, mix together butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg, vanilla, and milk, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Gradually add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well with hand mixer after each addition. When the dough becomes too stiff to use the hand mixer, use a wooden spoon to stir in the rest of the flour.
- Once the flour has been completely mixed in, divide the dough in half.
- Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 dough ball until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
- Using cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shape. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake 7-10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
- Transfer baked cookies to cooling rack and let cool completely before icing.
- Repeat step 6-8 with remaining dough ball.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 74 Total Fat: 4g Saturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 14mg Sodium: 58mg Carbohydrates: 10g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 4g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 1g
Your cookies look so beautiful, that I think I’m going to make some too.
Have a nice holiday.
Your snow flake cookies would make a beautiful addition to your cookie plate for the holidays. As kids we always made sugar cookies with my mom as do my daughter and I. This year we are making them for her boyfriend. I had wanted a snowflake design so these are perfect!!
Your snowflake cookies are beautiful! Thanks for sending the link through Food Buzz.
Gorgeous cookies! I wish I took the time to decorate them, but I have been so crazy busy lately!
I love your story, too! Snow is so beautiful!
wow, how beautiful they are!
Love the snowflakes and the memories!
Beautiful Cookies! I am sure you will be in the Christmas mood very soon. Hope your MIL is doing well. I have been gone four days and have missed so much here. I will go back and read the posts I missed!
Those are really pretty– what kind of frosting tip did you use to decorate them ?
Thanks for the compliments! I’m so proud of these (first time I’ve EVER decorated this way!)
Evie – I didn’t use a tip – I bought the Wilton decorating bags and they are AWESOME!
Oh gosh, these are gorgeous! I LOVE the little silver balls. I swear every time I see them on something it makes me happy, like, instantly. 😀
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Those snowflakes are just beautiful. I love the colors and they’re so festive and pretty. They look almost too pretty to eat but I’m sure that they tasted incredible as well!
So beautiful! I love the colors that you used too 🙂
Your cookies are gorgeous! Such a great color combination.
Those look so pretty! I’d love to have one for breakfast 🙂
Wow. Those are gorgeous! And I really like your new snowflake plate.
They are so pretty! 🙂
I love these cookies! They are gorgeous!
Awesome job, as always! 🙂
~Jen (of CreativeConfectioneryBlog.com :))
They are almost too pretty to eat…almost.
Simply beautiful Shelby!
Jam
Shelby, Shelby, Shelby…. You are amazing!! Those are the prettiest sugar cookies i’ve ever seen!! Wow… I just can’t get over how beautiful they are. Very well done!!!!!
Beautiful! i so love the fresh and crispy color combination.. btw, i did that thing with the catching snowflake on tongue thing as well!
What a beautiful job you did decorating those cookies!!!
gorgeous cookies–wow! i love the silver dragee accents:) i hope you enjoy your holiday party at work! i’m not having a tree at home either (leaving on the 20th) and it does change the level of holidayness around home…
Your cookies are gorgeous! Almost too beautiful to eat…ALMOST! Happy holidays 🙂
They’re gorgeous! You did an amazing job on them!
What a beautiful blog you have! And your photos are wonderful. Sugar cookies are a must have at Christmas. And yours are so lovely.
Wow! These are gorgeous. Nice work.
Those are beautiful! You did a great job decorating them.
These may be the prettiest cookies I’ve ever seen, with the piped details and silver balls!
These are absolutely adorable! Thank you for sharing them with us!
Your cookie recipes are amazing Shelby…you are an artist!! These look lovely and tasty – I could eat WAY too many.
Ok yours are the prettiesst I’ve seen all morning. I LOVE the blue and white colors you chose.
BEAUTIFUL!! Wow…love the detail! They look absolutely perfect 🙂
Those are some beautiful Tiffany blue snowflakes! Nice job.
Absolutely gorgeous and stunning!
What a beautiful cookies. Thanks for share this adorable treat
Hi HoneyB!
Gorgeous cookies a real pleasure for they eyes..these snow shapes are fabulous!!
I wonder what type of shape you’ll do for summer…;)
Gera .:. sweetsfoods
Those are beautiful! What color food coloring / brand did you use for that gorgeous blue color?
The sugar cookies look so pretty! I love the color!!!!
Wow! I’m floored… really speechless!
But with all those comments, you must know by now! LOL LOL
They’re simply AMAZING, HoneyB!
Oh they are just beautiful! So creative… I’m impressed!
Very pretty! I love dragees!
wow! those are so intricate and beautiful. wonderful job!! 🙂
I love the blue and white design
I wish I had taken the time to create such beautiful cookies. They almost look too good to eat…….almost.
Great job, they look amazing
Sue
Love your snowflake cookies! They look delicious, good job!
Wow fantastic ideas for my next lunch with my friends.
Bye from Italy by
Cakeitaly.com – A taste of Italian sweets
How cute. Did you use my icing tutorial? Yours turned out great! I love the blue and white color combo- those were my favorite from the snowflakes I made as well 🙂
Just saw your comment on my blog. I’m glad they turned out so great! If you look at the comments on my post people kept saying how hard it looked and that they could never decorate cookies like that – but it’s so easy, right?! Yours look totally professional and people don’t believe me. Maybe I need you to come write a testimonial for me! haha. Anyway, gorgeous snowflakes- enjoy eating them! Oh, and you’re welcome to link that tutorial if you want. Happy Baking!
You did the most beautiful decorating job ever on these! Decorating sugar cookies is one of my favourite holiday activities!
wow! these are gorgeous!
These are beautiful. I love how smooth you got the icing. So sorry you are not feeling in the holiday spirit.
You look so familiar to me….I know I’ve seen you somewhere before.
Have a pleasant evening,
Doreen
These are perfect! So gorgeous! Can somebody PLEASE tell me where to find those little silver balls!!!
Perfectly fluffly snowy cookies. The plate is absolutely the ideal accompaniment. Nice photos.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your trip to the Midwest is awesome….Christmas Trees, decorations and all. 🙂
AmyRuth
Perfection!
Those are gorgeous! I’d like to claim mine never look like that because I have toddlers but really I only decorate marginally better when there are no kids involved.
We stopped traveling for xmas when we had kids, but before then traveled every year for about a decade plus. I know exactly what you are saying. It does not exactly put a damper on things but it makes it hard to make your house very Christmas-y. We never got a tree either.
Your cookies are absolutely beautiful. Just looking at them, I can feel the snow and winter weather. Bet they’re great with a cup of tea!
These are the prettiest sugar cookies I’ve ever seen! I wish I had a dozen!
I love the color, it’s so beautiful! These are exquisite!
These are absolutely beautiful! i wish those silver balls sprinkles were available here. too bad they’re illegal in california (for who knows why?!)! 🙁
-kim
http://www.lovintheoven.com
These are absolutely stunning – I love them.
I WANT COOKIESS!!:)
How incredibly beautiful! I want to learn how to decorate cookies like you.
just gorgeous!
Whew sounds like you will be busy! Cheese ball is so classic around our house and I hope you post your recipe! Beautiful cookies.
Your cookies are absolutely beautiful! Almost too pretty to eat.
These are the most beautifully decorated cookies I think I’ve ever seen. You should be proud.
What lovely cookies. I could never make anything so professional looking. I’m in awe. You spent a lot of time on those and it shows. Great job!
OH MY GOODNESS! Those are some gawgeous cookies! And I love the cake plate!
Your cookies are so beautiful! I’m very impressed!
I am soooo not believing this is your first time decorating a cookie. ;o) They’re far too beautiful to be done by an amateur! They may be the prettiest cookies I have ever seen!
Woa!!! Those cookies are gorgeous!! You’ve got skills. I love the snowflake places and tablecloth too. Awesome!!
Those cookies look professional! Beautiful job with the frosting!
You did a marvelous job decorating your cookies!!! I love the colors!
~ingrid
Btw, I was wondering if you would mind me adding you to my blogroll? Thx!
How cute! Gorgeous cookies.
Lovely! And I can’t wait for that cheese ball recipe. Seeing all these cookies everywhere makes me crave cheese. 😉
Even without a Christmas tree, these cookies should put you in the spirit. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!
Sorry you are not in the holiday spirit 🙁 the cookies still look beautiful!
Great looking sugar cookies!
Honey, these are some of the PRETTIEST cookies I have ever seen.
Excellent! 🙂
Have fun visiting your bro’ and family. That will be such a special Christmas treat, I’m sure.
xo~m.
Wow, those are the best sugar cookies I have ever seen. Show-off! 😉
Gorgeous cookies! Did you know the link you posted is in German? My husband will have to translate…
Love the pictures, so beautifully taken. And the cookies look so yummy and festive.
These are adorable!
These are absolutely beautiful! Almost to nice looking to eat! Would you mind sharing your icing recipe?
Thank you EVERYONE for the wonderful compliments. It makes me feel so good! As I was decorating them I was thinking I was making a mess. lol.
The MIL is still in the hospital. I guess she’s going to be there a while. Thanks to those who are asking for thinking of her!
The food coloring I used was Betty Crocker classic food gel!
I used Sarah’s tutorial on icing (http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/tutorial-glace-icing-and-cookie.html). Check her blog out – she has an awesome blog and I find I’m making quite a few things from there in the near future tonight being one of the nights I’m copycatting her 😉
I heard there were some beautiful cookies on your site and had to take a look. Beautiful colors – simple and elegant.
I had fun decorating my cookies with food gel but everyone had blue teeth !!
Your cookies are stunning! Beautiful job! I love that plate too.
Your cookies are beautiful. I love the color that you used. Great job!
your cookies are absolutely divine! great job…
Your cookies are wonderful, so elegant
Thanks for joining TWD and baking with me
Ulrike from Küchenlatein
Beatiful cookies!
Shelby, your beautiful cookies inspired me to try and bake some of my own. 🙂
http://mydiversekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/eggless-snowflake-or-star-cookies.html
Thank you and best wishes for the festive season.
I baked yesterday and the cookies for once did not look like cake, but they still get the ugly award…yours however I pass on a beauty award!
Gorgeous!
It’s all about the details… these cookies look incredible! What a painstaking decoration job! These cookies are meant to be framed and placed on exhibit and not eaten… Very very nice.
The frosting on these is just gorgeous. I love the silver balls! I bought a really cool snowflake cutter at the tree farm but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. Maybe tomorrow. :0)