Learn the secrets to baking cutout cookies with neat edges that won’t spread as they bake!  You’ll fall in love with baking and decorating cutout sugar cookies.

I make these vanilla cutout cookies every year, and they never disappoint! So easy to make, the dough is great to work with, and they absolutely, positively, DO NOT SPREAD when you bake them. Perfect for decorating with royal icing. food desserts cookies

*Original published date: 12/15/2012. Updated: 12/4/2016.*

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With less than a few weeks left ’til the most cookie-centric holiday on the calendar, I’m sure all my baking peeps are knee-deep in flour, sugar, and butter right about now!  

So in the spirit of giving, I’m spilling all the secrets for my best cut-out sugar cookies recipe!

Almost every baking blog I visit has a post or a FAQ devoted to the subject, “How do you bake cutout cookies that don’t spread all over the place in the oven, hold their pretty shape, and have nice, neat edges???”  

I searched for the answer to this age-old question not too long ago.  

And when I want something, I do not rest until I’ve nailed it!  

After much research and experimentation, I’ve decided to put everything I’ve learned on this subject into one comprehensive post.

This easy recipe produces cutout cookies that are soft but a little crunchier around the edges, with a mouthfeel somewhere between a sugar cookie and a shortbread.

They’re perfect for decorating!

I make these vanilla cut-out cookies every year, and they never disappoint! So easy to make, the dough is great to work with, and they absolutely, positively, DO NOT SPREAD when you bake them. Perfect for decorating with royal icing.

Precise shapes: You can create intricate and precise shapes with this no-spread cutout cookie recipe. Whether you’re making holiday cookies, special occasion treats, or just fun designs, these cookies will maintain their intended shape during baking with crisp, clean edges.

Beautiful presentation: Cookies that hold their shape offer a visually appealing presentation. This is especially important when decorating with icing, sprinkles, or other embellishments, as the designs stay clear and distinct.

Great for cookie decorating: These cookies are perfect for decorating with royal icing, fondant, or edible markers. Their flat surface is a blank canvas for your creative designs, making them great for cookie decorating parties or edible art projects.

Ideal for gifting: When you’re giving cookies as gifts, you want them to look as good as they taste. These cookies retain their shape, making them an excellent choice for packaging and sharing with loved ones.

Balanced flavor: These cookies bake up just sweet enough, with the aromatic fragrance of rich vanilla. They are intentionally a little less sweet, to balance the sugary taste of the royal icing or sparkling sugar they’re decorated with.

Ingredients and notes

Butter: I like to use unsalted butter because it lets me control the amount of salt in the dish.  Different brands of butter can contain different amounts of salt, so this way you get a more consistent result.  Use cubed cold butter to make the dough. This allows you to skip the step of chilling the dough before baking. For a vegan or dairy-free cutout sugar cookie recipe, use a plant-based butter that can substitute for dairy butter 1:1.

Sugar: Sugar adds sweetness (obvs!) but it also aids in browning and keeps things moist, since it’s hydrophilic (this means it loves water, in other words, it draws moisture in).  Regular white sugar is fine, or sub for another type of sweetener if you like.  As long as it swaps 1:1 for granulated sugar it should work.

Eggs: Use large eggs. It’s best if they’re at room temperature, but I don’t find this to be critical. For a vegan cutout sugar cookie recipe, swap in your favorite plant-based egg substitute. As long as it can sub 1:1 for chicken eggs, it should work just fine.

Flour: This is the primary dry ingredient that provides structure to the cookies. All-purpose flour is my go-to, but you can swap it out for any kind of whole-grain option if you like.  You may need slightly less if you go that route.  A gluten-free flour blend that can sub 1:1 for regular flour should also work just fine, if you’d like to make gluten-free sugar cookies.

Cornstarch: The secret ingredient to achieving cutout cookies that don’t spread! It is what creates a really workable cookie dough, and the edges turn out perfectly! Cornstarch is a colorless, odorless, and flavorless starch.  Make sure you’re using cornstarch, which is white and powdery, and not cornmeal, which is yellow and gritty and tastes like corn chips.

Salt: Salt carries the flavors and intensifies them.  The end result won’t taste salty, but it will make everything so much more flavorful!  I like kosher salt best because it doesn’t have any additives (table salt usually contains iodine which can leave a bitter taste), so the flavor is pure.  It’s also inexpensive and easy to find in a regular grocery store.

Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds a subtly sweet flavor without being at all sugary.  For a more pronounced flavor, try using vanilla bean paste.  You could also split a vanilla bean down the center lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and add those.  

Or you could try this with an altogether different type of extract or flavoring, such as:

See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements.

Variations and substitutions

Different flavoring: You can also use almond extract or citrus zest if desired.

Spices: Add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger for different flavor variations.

Food coloring: If you want to color your cookies, food coloring can be added to the dough. I recommend using gel paste color, since you only need a tiny bit to get a vibrant color. But liquid can work in a pinch too.

Tools and equipment

How to make cutout cookies that don’t spread

Step 1: Mix butter and sugar

Start by blending the butter and sugar together until smooth.

Blending butter and sugar together in a stand mixer.

Stop as soon as you have a homogenous mixture. Unlike a lot of other cookie recipes, you don’t want to whip in a lot of air here. That will just expand when it gets hot and cause your cookies to spread.

Step 2: Add eggs

Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.

Butter, sugar, and eggs, blended together in a large glass mixing bowl.

Allow each egg to mix in fully, before adding the next. This will prevent lumps!

Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients

Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt, and mix on medium-low speed.  

Stiff no-spread sugar cookie dough, in a large mixing bowl.

The mixture will initially seem very dry and sandy, but after 3 to 5 minutes in the mixer, it will gather itself into a ball and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

Step 4: Flavor

Stir in the vanilla. (If you do not have an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, you may have to knead the dough by hand to bring it together fully.)

Step 5: Roll

Working with a manageable amount of dough at a time, roll it out between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch.

Rolling sugar cookie dough out between two sheets of parchment paper.

Step 5: Cut

Cut into shapes, then carefully peel each unbaked cookie from the bottom sheet and flip it onto your baking sheet.

Peeling unbaked cookie from parchment.

Step 6: Bake

You’ll know your cookies are done baking when the edges feel set and the centers are still a little soft.

I make these vanilla cut-out cookies every year, and they never disappoint! So easy to make, the dough is great to work with, and they absolutely, positively, DO NOT SPREAD when you bake them. Perfect for decorating with royal icing.

The bake time is going to depend upon how big and thick your cookies are. Larger, thicker cookies will need more oven time than smaller, thinner ones.

Recipe FAQ’s

Can this dough be made ahead?

You can make this dough ahead and keep it in the refrigerator for a day or so, but if you do, you may want to add less flour because the dough will become drier as it sits. If your dough has become too dry and crumbly to work with, it can be moistened with a few drops of heavy cream.

What is the difference between drop cookies and cutout cookies?

The dough for drop cookies has a soft and sticky consistency. It’s typically spooned or scooped onto a baking sheet, and the cookies maintain the shape they take when dropped onto the sheet. Cutout cookie dough is firmer and more structured. It’s rolled out to a specific thickness, and shapes are cut out using cookie cutters.

How many cookies does this recipe make?

The answer depends on how thick you roll the sugar cookie dough, and how big your cookie cutters are. I typically get around 30 cookies from a batch, if I roll the dough to 3/8-inch and use cutters that are around 2 1/2-inches in diameter.

How long should I bake cutout cookies for?

This answer will also depend on the size of the cookie. Larger, thicker cookies will need more time in the oven than thinner, smaller cookies. You’ll know your sugar cookies are done baking when they are set around the edges but still a little soft towards the center. Remember that they will continue to cook for a few minutes, even after they’re removed from the oven. This is called “carry-over cooking,” and if you don’t account for it then your cookies could end up dry.

Can I freeze my cutout sugar cookies?

Absolutely! Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and they should keep in the freezer for several months. Pop them out and thaw at room temp, and decorate!

I make these vanilla cut-out cookies every year, and they never disappoint! So easy to make, the dough is great to work with, and they absolutely, positively, DO NOT SPREAD when you bake them. Perfect for decorating with royal icing.

Expert tips for making cutout sugar cookies that don’t spread

  • Don’t bother softening the butter: I like to use cold, cubed butter when I make the dough. It saves the step of chilling the dough before baking, which is another trick many bakers use to help their cookies keep their shape.  If you work quickly, the butter is still pretty cold when it goes into the oven, so the dough holds its shape better and doesn’t get all melty and slide over the baking sheet.
  • Mix until just combined: Try not to whip a lot of air into the butter. This can cause spreading.
  • Leave out the leavening: Now, you may notice that my recipe contains no leavening of any kind.  If you think about the purpose of baking powder in a recipe, it’s to help things puff up and spread out (hello!?) and be light and fluffy.  Light and fluffy is great in a muffin or a pancake, but we are talking cookies here, people.  They are meant to have a little bite to them.  Perhaps they are a little bit more dense, but in this instance, you want that.  Most likely, you are either shipping your cookies or delivering them by car, and if they are too light and delicate, they’re more likely to break.  So, this will give you a more durable cookie, and I promise you, they are still every bit as delicious.
  • The magic ingredient: This is the biggest key to the whole business and maybe the only thing you won’t find on any other blog (that I’ve seen, anyway).  THE CORNSTARCH.  It’s pure witchcraft.  Not only does it lend added structure to the sugar cookies without making them tough, but it also makes the dough SUCH a pleasure to work with!  It is NOT sticky at all, nor is it crumbly.  It just stays right where you want it.  And those edges!  I about died…!  SO clean and perfect!  
  • Make parchment your bestie: Also, definitely try rolling your dough between two layers of parchment paper.  It is absolutely no-muss, no-fuss!  Between this dough’s silky, UNcrumbly texture and the parchment thing, I barely even need to wipe my countertops after making these cookies!  **No bench flour!**  (Which, by the way, can also make a tougher, less tender cookie.)  I also line my baking sheets with it, and besides keeping things from sticking, it keeps the pans cleaner, too!  My cookies are baked on parchment, and then I lay them on the same sheets to dry after decorating, so each sheet gets double duty.  Here are the baking sheets I use, and here is where I order my parchment.
  • Use rolling pin rings: These are a great way to make sure you’re rolling your dough out to a consistent thickness. Which is important for even baking!
  • Crank up the oven temperature: Finally, you may notice that I recommend baking the cookies at a higher temperature for a shorter time.  This allows the cookie to “set up” more quickly and hold its shape during baking, making it less melty-slidey.

How to serve

Plain and simple: Enjoy the cookies just as they are. Their precise shapes and wonderful flavors can stand alone as a delightful treat.

Decorated masterpieces: Decorate the cookies with royal icing, fondant, or colorful icing gels. Let your creativity run wild by adding intricate designs, patterns, and even personalized messages.

Cookie sandwiches: Make cookie sandwiches by spreading a layer of frosting or jam between two cookies of the same shape. Peanut butter, chocolate ganache, or cream cheese frosting can be excellent fillings.

Cookie pops: Insert sticks or colorful paper straws into the cookies before baking to create cookie pops. These are great for kids’ parties or as edible party favors.

Dipped in chocolate: Melt chocolate (white, dark, or milk) and dip half of each cookie into it. You can even sprinkle crushed nuts, sprinkles, or edible glitter on the chocolate while it’s still wet.

Coffee or tea companions: Serve alongside a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate for a simple pairing.

How to store and keep

Cover the cookies with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container at room temperature.

If you keep them tightly wrapped so they don’t dry out or become stale, they should last for at least a week or two (if not longer!) at room temperature.

I make these vanilla cut-out cookies every year, and they never disappoint! So easy to make, the dough is great to work with, and they absolutely, positively, DO NOT SPREAD when you bake them. Perfect for decorating with royal icing.

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4.16 stars (322 ratings)

Vanilla Cutout Cookies that Don’t Spread

Servings: 30 cookies, approx.***
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Learn the secrets to baking cutout cookies with neat edges, that won’t spread as they bake! You’ll fall in love with baking and decorating cutout cookies.

Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and line baking sheets with parchment.
  • Cream the butter and sugar, just until smooth and combined (try not to whip in any air).
  • Mix in the eggs until incorporated.
  • Add the flour**, cornstarch, and salt, and mix on medium low speed.  The mixture will seem very dry and sandy at first, but after 3 to 5 minutes in the mixer it should gather itself into a ball and pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
  • Stir in the vanilla. (If you do not have an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, you may have to knead the dough by hand to fully bring it together.)
  • Working with a managable amount at a time, roll the dough out between 2 sheets of parchment paper, to a thickness of 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch.*
  • Cut into shapes, peel away from the bottom sheet of parchment carefully (see the video below), flip onto the prepared baking sheets, and bake until set around the edges but still a bit soft in the centers (approx. 9 to 12 minutes for 2 1/2-inch, 3/8-inch thick cookies).
  • Cool completely, then decorate with royal icing.

Notes

*Rolling pin rings will help you get an even thickness.
**If you live in a very dry environment, or if you don’t have a very powerful mixer, you may not need all the flour. Add about 1/2 cup at a time, and stop adding when the dough gathers itself into a ball and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
***Yield varies depending on the size of your cookie cutters.
©Baking a Moment
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 146kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 64mg, Potassium: 22mg, Fiber: 0.4g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 205IU, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 1mg
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert, Snack
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