How to Bake (Easy! and Delicious!) Cutout Cookies with Neat Edges
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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.
*Original published date: 12/15/2012. Updated: 12/4/2016.*
Jump to RecipeWith 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!
Why you'll love this cutout cookie recipe
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
- Measuring cups and spoons: For measuring ingredients accurately. Follow this guide: How to Measure Ingredients for Baking.
- Mixing bowl: In which to mix up the dough.
- Electric mixer: This recipe creates a very stiff dough, so you'll need either a stand mixer or a powerful hand mixer.
- Parchment paper sheets: You are going to roll the sugar cookie dough out between two sheets of parchment.
- Rolling pin: For rolling the sugar cookies out flat.
- Baking sheets: On which to bake the sugar cookies.
- Cookie cutters: For cutting out your cute shapes.
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.
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.
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.
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 ¼-inch to ½-inch.
Step 5: Cut
Cut into shapes, then carefully peel each unbaked cookie from the bottom sheet and flip it onto your baking sheet.
Step 6: Bake
You'll know your cookies are done baking when the edges feel set and the centers are still a little soft.
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
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.
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.
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 ⅜-inch and use cutters that are around 2 ½-inches in diameter.
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.
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!
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.
More cutout cookie recipes
- Chocolate Cutout Cookie Recipe
- Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Soft Cutout Sugar Cookies
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Vanilla Cutout Cookies that Don't Spread
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, (2 sticks) cubed, cold
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (88 g) eggs, large
- 3 ½ cups (437.5 g) all-purpose flour, (you may need as much as 4 cups)
- ½ cup (64 g) cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon (4.5 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla bean paste, (optional)
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 ¼-inch to ½-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 ½-inch, ⅜-inch thick cookies).
- Cool completely, then decorate with royal icing.
Notes
Author
Have a question about this recipe? Ask AI:
I really love your cookies and I would like to bake them. Could you help me with translating the ingredients in cups to gramms? Thank you in advance.
Thanks Agnes! If you google "cups to grams," you should come up with several helpful articles. Here's the top result: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/. Hope that helps!
The recipe looks great, I've been looking everywhere for a neat edges cookie! I'm wondering if you have any advice for a gingerbread alteration that would have the same clean edges just by substituting the vanilla and adding ginger and maybe cinnamon? All the gingerbread cookie recipes I've found use baking powder in them and I know from experience they spread all over. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hey Cassie! I don't think I have a gingerbread recipe on my site; however, I would certainly try using one that you like and just omitting the baking powder. I think it would probably make a big difference! Let me know how it all works out, ok?
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! Making Hello Kitty shaped cookies for my daughter's birthday and had tried a few others first with no success and was about to give up when I found yours. Now I have perfectly shaped Kitty heads :). Thank you thank you!
Oh, yay! I'm so happy you finally found success! Thank you so much for reading and for the awesome feedback. Happy birthday to your daughter!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this recipe. The cookies I made were perfect. Exactly what I have been looking for!!!
Thank YOU for the awesome feedback! I'm so happy they worked out so well for you 😉 Hope to see you here again soon!
Hi Allie thank you so much for this recipe, this is just what i was looking for!! 🙂 I just have one question, i was wanting to make strawberry flavored cookies and just wanted to know do i just substitute the stawberry extract for the vanilla bean paste and leave in the vanillla extract as a base or do i leave out the vanilla flavor all together? Also if im using multiple flavors in abatch about how much of each should i put in? Thank you for all of your tips, they are extremely helpful.
Hi there and I'm so glad you like the recipe! I think it's completely up to you whether or not you want to leave the vanilla in. It won't disrupt the "chemistry" of the recipe either way- it's only there for flavor and nothing more 😉 I would say a teaspoon or so of either or both should give a nice flavor. Good luck and have fun! 😀
Best cutout cookie recipe I've come across! Biscuits were delicious and kept their shape perfectly!
Wonderful web site. Plenty of useful info here.
I'm sending it to several buddies ans also sharing in
delicious. And obviously, thanks on your effort!
Thanks so much!
Hello! This post couldn't be written any better!
Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate!
He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to
him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks for forwarding along. 🙂
Allie, I cannot thank you enough for these tips! My husband laughs at me every time I try to bake cutout cookies...he knows i will be cursing in no time when they all turn into a blob:) cannot wait to try these this weekend ....scalloped hearts for my little ones . Thanks so much!,
Aw, I'm so glad to hear that! Scalloped hearts sound adorable and your little ones are so blessed! Thanks so much for reading and for the sweet comment. Happy baking!
They turned out perfect!! Thank you again!!
Yay! I'm so happy! Thank you so much for reading, Heather, and trying! I'm so glad you liked 😉
Hi Allie - found you on Pinterest and plan to give these a whirl today. Thanks for sharing your secrets! Monica
My pleasure, Monica! I hope you have lots of success with the recipe. I love making this kind of cookie, especially at the holiday season! So much fun. Thanks for reading and for the sweet comment! Happy Baking 😉
Hi, just wondering the weight of 2 sticks of butter in grams. In Australia we get butter in 250gm packs.
Thanks!
Hi Sim! Over here butter's sold by the pound, in four quarters. So, a pound is 453 grams, which means two sticks would be 226.5. Hope that helps! Good luck and thanks for reading! 🙂
I've just made these, Allie, and they worked perfectly with my cookie press! I added almond extract and vanilla paste and they were lovely with a cuppa 😉 But I think they would be even better if I frosted them...
Yay! That's great, I'm so happy you liked them! Almond and vanilla sounds lovely... but I'm sure a little extra sweetness from icing or even just a sprinking of sparkling sugar would really improve them. Thanks for letting me know, I never would have thought a cookie press! xoxo
ok, one more question now that I have my mixer out and all the supplies waiting- How many does this recipe make? trying to decide if I want to double it. Also, if I want to add a little flavoring to the cookie mix what stage would I do that? Does it matter?
Hi again! It's hard to say how many cookies you'll get, because it depends upon the size of your cutter. For a 2 1/2-inch or so cookie, I'd think you could easily get at least 2 dozen, if not 3. And adding flavoring to the cookie is strongly encouraged! I love vanilla bean paste, or citrus zest, or almond extract... the possibilities are endless! I'd add it in at the very end. 😉
So I just made the chocolate recipe (the bar recipe you linked), and it turned out to something more like crumbly sand? I could see how it could be pressed into a bottom of a pan- but not sure how it would even be able to be rolled out for cookies. Any ideas on how to fix?
I'm so sorry you didn't have better luck! No, it's not supposed to be like crumbly sand. You can see by that one photo in the post the way it should gather itself into a ball and not even stick to the sides of the mixing bowl. The only thing I can think of is, did you mix it long enough for it to come together? Or maybe it's just a really low-humidity day where you are, and you could have lightened up on the flour a little? If you didn't already toss it, could you maybe try mixing in a drop or two of heavy cream, just to bring it together? A lot of times if I don't have time to roll it out right away, and I want to chill it for a bit first, I add a little less flour, because it will dry out as it sits. But if it does get too dry, I can bring it back with a little cream. Just don't overdo it or your cookies will spread! Again, I'm so sorry it didn't work out right...
My dough came out crumbly too but I put it on my stand mixer with the paddle and I added water a teaspoon at a time and it came together nicely. Great recipe!
I'm so glad it all worked out! Thanks so much for reading and trying one of my favorite recipes!
Excited to try this recipe! Where can I find the chocolate version!!?? Thanks!
I'm such a bad blogger, Teresa! I know, I should have a dedicated post for the chocolate version, it's so easy to work with and the taste is like whoa... I do have it on the site, but it's kinda hidden. It's within this post: https://bakingamoment.com/chocolate-mint-cookie-bars/. I used it as the base for these bars, but it's actually my go-to chocolate cut-out cookie recipe, minus the chocolate chips. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Thanks!
I had found the link to LilaLoa: End-All for Chocolate Cookies-but will check out the one you just linked as well.
I am going to make the vanilla and chocolate cut outs tomorrow! I am sure they will NOT look nearly as amazing as yours 🙂
I will vouch for Lila Loa's End All Chocolate Cut Outs (and her Vanilla, too), but I will try the adaption you've posted here. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Laura! I hope you enjoy!
Aw, you're sweet! LilaLoa's are amazing, and my recipe is just an adaptation of hers. I like a little less sweet, and a little more chocolatey, and of course, cornstarch, but other than that it's her recipe. Wishing you lots of cookie success! 😉
Do you have your frosting recipe\tips anywhere? I'd love to get the glassy smooth surface you've achieved!
Hey Crystal! I learned a lot about how to decorate wtih royal icing from http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/ & http://sweetopia.net. They have excellent recipes and really great tutorials too. I've found that it's all about the consistency of the icing. Too thick, and it won't lay smooth, too thin, and it runs off the cookie. I thin it out with just a drop of water at a time, until it's just right. Definitely check out those tutorials, and it'll all make sense. Good luck!
Hello Allie:
Love this post! Who would've thought, hun? Great advice. I am not much of a baker but this post makes me want to bake some cookies, lots of them!
Thanks again,
Amy Kelsch
Ha ha, thanks Amy! Well if you ever get the cookie baking itch, this is a tried and true recipe! Thanks so much for reading and for your positive feedback. 🙂
Great post. Thanks for sharing your recipe and tips. I have made all the recipes you mention but Katrina's. And, playing with flavor combinations is a must. If/when it is strictly vanilla it has to be vanilla bean paste -- love those flecks! I look forward to putting your recipe to the test this week to compare to my own that also includes a bit of cornstarch because I cannot resist that shortbread meltaway texture.
Yay! I hope you enjoy it, Laura! So nice to hear from a like-minded baker! Thanks so much for the awesome comment! 😉
hey allie, i read another blog also, and it said to refregrate the dough before you bake it, and i was wondering if i should refregrate this dough? P.S sorry if i miss spelled something or had bad grammar, im only 10? thanks for the recipe!!!!???
- marley
Hey Marley! Sorry for the late reply. This dough does not need to be refrigerated. It's one of the things I love about it!
Hi does this biscuit stay crispy. I am looking to make a cake box out of biscuit is this recipe good enough for that I was hoping to get the box prepared ready for the Christmas cake to go in.
Hey Carol! What a fun idea! I would say it's more of a tender texture than crispy. It's a bit like a sturdy shortbread. Not quite as crumbly though. It's sturdy but not really crisp. I hope that helps! Good luck with your cake box!
I loved that this recipe used vanilla bean paste and the cornstarch made the dough great and easy to work with. The only problem I had was my cookie still had a slight dough/flour taste to it, any suggestions or tips to prevent that?
Hey Chelsea! I think if you baked them just a little bit longer, you might like the taste better. The texture could be a little more crunchy, but it would probably cook the "raw" flour taste out more. Hope that's helpful!
Thanks for your reply, it did help to bake them a little longer and I also modified a little using only 3 cups of flour and a 1/2 teaspoon more of vanilla bean paste. Thank you so much for your recipe, I was always scared to make cookies from scratch cause I could never find a good recipe and now I have (: my cookies came out great and even better with the icing, my family loved it and I'm excited to show it off at my daughters 1st birthday party !
I'm so happy they worked out for you! Don't you think the icing is so necessary? Happy birthday to your little one!
I see Chelsea mentioned she used 3 cups of flour instead of 4...I had the same experience when I first used the recipe today..Will the 3 cups still be ok?
Hey Stacy! If you're using a hand mixer rather than a stand mixer, it's not as easy to get all 4 cups of flour incorporated. You can either knead the last bit in by hand or just use a little less. As long as your dough has gathered itself into a ball and doesn't feel sticky, it should be just fine!