How to Bake (Easy! and Delicious!) Cutout Cookies with Neat Edges
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.
**This post for cutout cookies with neat edges originally appeared on my old blog, YinMom YangMom, and has now been updated with the above video, as well as brand-new, pretty pics!
Everything else is exactly the same as it’s ever been.**
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 I’m spilling my best cutout cookie baking secrets to you all, in the spirit of giving…
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???” It was not too long ago that I was myself searching for the answer to this age-old cutout cookie question. And when I want something, I do not rest until I’ve nailed it! After much research, and much experimentation, I’ve decided to put everything I’ve learned on this subject into one comprehensive post.
I do realize that after reading this post, there is a very good chance that your cutout cookies will now be as pretty, if not even PRETTIER, than mine. But I have learned SO much from the many talented baker/bloggers out there, and they’ve given so generously! It’s because of them that I’ve been able to build this hobby that I’m so fulfilled by! It simply would not be fair for me to keep this stuff to myself. It’s too good! And what’s the point of a site like this anyway, if not to inspire???
So, let’s dive in!
I developed this cutout cookie recipe myself, but based it on a few of my favorite cookie bloggers’ recipes.
LilaLoa: End-All for Chocolate Cookies
Sweetopia: Gingerbread Cookies
Bake at 350: Biscoff Cutouts (which I sometimes sub peanut or sunflower seed butter for the Biscoff- either way, hello, YUM!)
In Katrina’s Kitchen: Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle: Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe
The changes/tweaks/modifications I’ve made to their formulas produce cutout cookies that are kinda soft, but a little crunchier around the edges, with a mouthfeel somewhere between a sugar cookie and a shortbread. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this post, for my basic vanilla recipe.
But first, some of my best tips:
- Don’t Bother Softening the Butter: I like to use cold, cubed butter when I make the dough. Two reasons: 1) I’m lazy, and impatient, and I don’t always plan ahead. I don’t want to wait for the extra step of softening the butter. When that cookie baking urge strikes, I just want to go for it! 2) It also saves the step of chilling the dough before baking, which is another trick a lot of 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 all over the baking sheet.
- 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 heavier, but in this instance, you kinda want that. Odds are, 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 is going to 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 that you won’t find on any other blog out there (that I’ve seen, anyway). THE CORNSTARCH. It’s pure witchcraft. I discovered it totally by accident, when searching for a way to make my gluten-free cookies less grainy and sandy textured. I had read that cornstarch can give shortbread a “meltaway” texture, and I thought I’d give it a go in my GF flour mix. It really does help, incidentally, but I also noticed that it made 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! Now I use it in every kind of batch, in every flavor. I just can’t live without it. Try it, you’ll see! Just sub out a little of the flour for cornstarch, in any recipe. It’s like magic!
- Make Parchment Your Bestie: Also, definitely try rolling your dough between two layers of parchment paper. It is absolutely no-muss no-fuss! Between the silky, UNcrumbly texture of this dough, 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 bake 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.
- 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 it’s shape during baking, so again, less melty-slidey.
I hope these tips and tricks inspire you to get out your mixer and create some beautiful holiday cookies. Honestly, there was a time when I felt daunted by the idea, but thanks to a lot of inspiration from the talented ladies I mentioned above, and now that I’ve worked out my recipe and this system, it’s totally painless!
Do you like to bake and decorate cookies at this time of year? What is your favorite kind to make? Have you struggled with too-spread-out cookies and sloppy edges? Do you have any sanity-saving tricks to make it easier? Please share!
I also have a chocolate cutout cookie recipe, that’s every bit as good as this one, if not even better! And a gingerbread one! Now be sure to grab my favorite royal icing recipe– it’s the perfect way to decorate your cutout cookies.
Frequently asked questions:
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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 you find your dough has become too dry and crumbly to work with, it can be moistened back up with a few drops of heavy cream.
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How long will these cookies last?
The shelf life on these cookies is about the same as any other homemade cookie recipe. 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 at room temperature.
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Can the cookies be frozen?
Again, wrap the cookies tightly so they don’t become dry. They should last in the freezer for several months. I would recommend freezing them un-iced, as the freeze/thaw process could cause your icing colors to run.
For even more great cookie recipes, be sure to follow my “Cookie Recipes Galore” Pinterest Board!
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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 eggs
- 3 1/2 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, (you may need as much as 4 cups)
- 1/2 cup (96 g) cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon 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.
- 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 will 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.)
- Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of parchment paper, to a thickness of 1/4 inch.*
- Cut into shapes, and bake for 9 to 12 minutes (for appox. 2 1/2 inch cookie).
- Cool completely, then decorate with royal icing.
Hi, I followed the recipe and my cookies turned out dry and a bit tasting like flour. I used 3.5 cups of flour. Could I not have mixed the dough long enough in the mixer?? And the flavor was masked by a chalky taste. Please help. This recipe is AWESOME!!!
Thanks Allie for the recipe! I tried to make it and like the texture, however, there’re still a few issues to my perfection.
1. The recipe calls for cold butter and I tried my best to incorporate well with the sugar in the beginning. The cookies turned out to have little bumps on top, is that because the butter not being mixed properly? If so, do I need to mix longer? Won’t the butter get too soft over time?
2. My cookies seem to spread a little, I used cold butter and even chill my dough:(
3. How do u keep ur cookies so sharp even after cutting right after kneading and transferring to the cookie sheet? Mine would be soft and if I transfer, the shape would be ruined
4. How come when u crank up the cooking temperature, ur cookies don’t have a slight bit of browning but stay all white?
Thank u:)
Hey there! So sorry to hear you had trouble. It sounds like your cookie dough might be a little too soft and that would be because you haven’t added enough flour. Be sure that the dough gathers itself into a ball and pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, keep adding flour until it does. A few bumps are normal and are probably just a result of air bubbles in the dough. You can knead that out before rolling, or use a toothpick to pop them before baking. The cookies should be pulled from the oven before they become brown. It’s ok if they’re golden on the bottom but you probably don’t want brown edges. Remember that they’ll continue to firm up as they cool. Hope this is useful info!
My wife and I just made these and holy crap! I had all but given up hope of being able to make cut-out cookies. I have tried for years with different recipes, different ovens, and different techniques to make cookies that wouldn’t spread and nothing seemed to work. I started thinking maybe it was me. I felt like such a failure as a baker/ decorator. This was our last shot. As soon as I read that you didn’t use a leavening agent it clicked, like a light bulb! It made total sense. I was sure this would be it and this recipe prevailed straight out the gate. Stars, trees, bells, all held their shape! We even threw our most intricate cutters at it like gingerbread men, snowmen, and snowflakes, and they all held their shape. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Thank you so much for coming up with this and posting it!
This is a wonderful recipe. I’ve used it to make large, multi-star shaped cookie trees for our neighbor’s kids both last year and this one. Because of the pandemic, I wasn’t sure about this year but thought, if nothing else, they could serve as a reminder of familiar things, that we’re resilient creatures and that life will go on. The trees were a tremendous hit and my friend’s three year old grandson asked her, amid cookies and puzzles after Christmas Eve dinner, to thank Amy for the cookie tree. So I’m passing the thank you on to you, Allie, the source of a recipe that has brought many smiles. Peace and plenty in 2021!
This was my first attempt at cut out cookies and this recipe couldn’t have been any easier. The cookies held their shape and tasted wonderful.
These came out great! I would make one suggestion, however; use plastic wrap to roll the dough instead of parchment. It was a slippery, slidey effort with the parchment. Once I put down plastic wrap (on a damp counter so it would stick) it was a piece of cake. Vanilla paste worth the effort and expense…great recipe!
Great recipe for cookie cutter cookies! The dough was so easy to work with and tastes great. Saving this one!!
Hi there, these look beautiful! Can the dough be premade and frozen before baking it? I’d like to make the dough now and then take it out to bake just before Christmas. If it can be, would you recommend freezing the dough in a disk to be rolled out when thawed or should I roll out & cut out the cookies and freeze them ready to be baked?
I was wondering if we can Substitute cornstarch for anything else
What did you have in mind?
This is a very good recipe in taste and performance. I made a number 1 cookie – 4″ in length and a 3/8 inch thickness. I did use all 4 cups of flour. These cookies were very easy to handle, rolling between parchment proved genius. Rerolling the dough did not alter the appearance of that batch which usually rerolling dough does affect the cookies even slightly. The dough cut out beautifully and the number of cookies I got from this dough was a pleasant surprise. Total cook time, for my rather large cookies, 16 minutes. I did freeze 1 tray for 15 minutes waiting for the first tray to be done and those took 18 minutes to bake. A wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing. I’m looking forward to all your site has to offer. Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving.
hi, Allie! I have tried your wonderful recipe and the result is prefect! Just one question. I have difficulty in dissolving the granulated sugar in the cold butter using the standmixer. I can’t get a smooth batter before adding in the egg. The cookies are good but I can still see some spots which are sugar in the cookies. How long do you beat the sugar and butter together until the former dissolves? If it’s very long, how should we avoid incorporating too much air in it? Thank you again 🙂
Hi there! The sugar doesn’t need to dissolve, but it should be mixed into the butter until completely incorporated. It should be a homogenous mixture, but it will look a little gritty from the granules of sugar. It is a good idea to not try and whip too much air in, as that air will expand in the oven and cause spreading. I hope this is helpful!
I love your cookie recipes! They have worked out great and my new go to! I do have an old family cut out cookie recipe, and I wanted to know if there is a way to adapt that to your method? Is it straight swap of the cornstarch by weight or volume for flour?
i’ve made this recipe before and really liked it, but i’ve recently moved, and was wondering about any high altitude adjustments i should make? any suggestions? i’m at about 5k ft
Can u substitute gluten free flour for the regular flour?
Hi Allie! I love all of your recipes – I’ve made your “simply perfect” chocolate AND vanilla cake MULTIPLE times now! I am excited to try this recipe – and I’m wondering if I can somehow can an earl grey flavour, would I be able to just add some ground earl grey tea leaves? Or will that make the cookies dry?
Sounds delicious! Can’t hurt to try it. I’d love to hear about the results. Good luck!
I just made some cookies with this recipe and they turned out great! I converted the 375F to 190C and they were done after 5-6 minutes. My cookie cutters are cat formend so lots of little legs\tail bits but the dough was wonderful to work with and they turned out with nice crisp outlines.
Can I freeze this biscuit mixture?
Yes!
I love this recipe. I make large batches so I do chill my dough after cutting them out for probably the the last few minutes of the batch in the oven. Perfect every time. Does anyone have different flavor combinations?
I’ve been looking for a recipe for sugar cookies that don’t spread. This one is great! It reminds me of a shortbread, which I love!
Question…How do I prevent air “bubbles” from popping up in the middle of the cookies? Thanks!
I used this cookie recipe yesterday and I’m sold. I didn’t have vanilla bean paste, so I cheated by adding extra vanilla. That’s beside the point. The point is that these cookies did NOT spread, they look great, no chilling was required, it was a fast recipe, and they’re tasty! I’m so happy with this recipe and it’s my new go-to for frosted sugar cookies. Thanks so much!