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:
"Odds are, you are either shipping your cookies or delivering them by car..." I'm going to be eating them!!!
Nothing wrong with that either! Lol...
Hi! I just want to make sure that the recipe is correct when it says 4 cups of flour. I've made it twice and have found it very hard to get the dough to stay together with that much flour (I add 1 cup at a time), so just thought I'd reach out to see! It looks like a few others have said the same, so was wondering if it maybe should only be 3 cups? Thanks for your help!
Hey Emily! Thanks so much for reaching out and for the great question. I think it's a good idea to add one cup at a time. You may be able to get away with less but this is what always works for me. That said, I do use an electric stand mixer, and it's pretty powerful. It usually starts out looking very "sandy," but after a few minutes it does come together and form a ball. If I do less flour, the dough tends to be quite sticky and hard to work with. For me, it's worth taking the extra time to work in all 4 cups of flour. If you're using a hand mixer and it's not allowing the dough to come together, I know other readers have had success with just kneading it all together by hand. I hope this is helpful!
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I'll try kneading by hand! Thanks again!!
You bet! Good luck and I hope it all comes together for you.
I'm currently attempting to make these and I've hit a snag. The dough is sticking to everything. What have I done wrong and what can I do differently. It's even sticking to the parchment paper that I'm using to roll out.
You need more flour! Not sure what went wrong there, sounds like perhaps something was measured incorrectly. But if you add more flour you might be able to salvage it. Good luck!
FLAWLESSSSSS! pinning!
Aw, thank you so much! You are the sweetest, Kayle!
You're a bloody genius! Made these today and they are perfect! Thanks
Haha love it! Thanks Fiona- so glad you're happy with them 🙂
Hey Allie!! I'm sooo happy that I found your page! :)))
A lot of good ideas, tips and tricks that I will be using for sure! I will be baking those beauties in a few days, but I was thinking if I can use fondant instead of icing for decoration?
Thank you in advance and wish you a Happy Holidays 🙂
Elly
Hi Elly! I'm so happy too! You can absolutely decorate these cookies with fondant. That's such a fun idea and something I've been meaning to try. I adore that look! Good luck and enjoy 🙂
Allie, just made those cookies today and they turned out great! Thanks again :))??
Oh I'm so glad! Thanks so much for the feedback Esurbeva!
Loved the video, Allie! The cookies look amazing, so perfect! 🙂
Aw thank you so much Julia! xo
Hi, Allie! I have been on the hunt for the perfect cutout cookie for my daughter's birthday, and I have a feeling this may be the one! I was planning to use some almond extract instead of the vanilla bean paste. Would you recommend an even exchange of a teaspoon of almond extract for the teaspoon of vanilla bean paste? Will it being more liquidy affect the texture too much? Thank you in advance for your help!
Hey Bre! I think almond would make an excellent substitution! Definitely give it a try. I don't think it would be too liquidy at all, but in my experience almond extract does have kind of a stronger flavor, so you may want to decrease the amount just because of that. It's really up to you though! A little more or less won't disrupt the chemistry of the recipe. You can use your judgement, and "season" it to taste 🙂 Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
Hi Allie, I used your recipe for my Halloween cookies and they came out wonderfully. I have never made this type of cookie before and I was a little nervous ( I'm glad that I didn't read some of comments before trying the recipe because I probably would have chickened out ?) I found that my cookie dough came together nicely when I used my hands to mix it in the end. Thank you for sharing ?✌
That is such a great tip Esther, thank you for sharing! I use a stand mixer and it's pretty powerful, but I can imagine if one only has a hand mixer the dough might be a little too stiff for it. Kneading it together with your hands is definitely the answer. I'm so glad it worked out so well for you - thank you so much for sharing your experience here!
I have a quick question. To make the recipe above into the chocolate one do I just add cocoa powder? If so how much? Any other adaptions to the dry ingredients if i do this?
Thanks so much
That's a great question Andria but no I'm afraid it's not quite so simple. Cocoa is dry and actually a little fatty so just adding it to a vanilla cupcake recipe can really throw off the chemistry. You'll want to check out my chocolate cupcake recipe, which can be found here: https://bakingamoment.com/simply-perfect-chocolate-cupcakes/. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
Dough was too wet even at 1 3/4 cups of flour. Was it because of my peppermint that I added? Since I was going to chill the dough I did not add any more flour for fear that it would be crumbly but it remains a soggy mess even after chilling.... Help!!!!
Addie just go ahead and add additional flour- sometimes the dough needs more and sometimes less. Just add flour until it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Hope that helps; good luck!
Hi, I love your cookie recipe! I want to make faux dogie biscuit cookies with this recipe for my daughter's birthday party at her preschool (she's going through a puppy phase). While my daughter loves these cookies, I'm worried they won't be sweet enough for the other kids. Is this recipe good for little kids in your experience? Can I up the sweetness slightly? I used strawberry buttercream for the icing and I don't want to go too sweet. I saw the PBJ recipe you used for your child, which looked great, but my daughters school does not allow nut products. I'm sort of at a lose for how to proceed. If you could give me some direction, I'd be so grateful. This is my first class party as a mother and only my second batch of homemade sugar cookies ever. Thank you so much!
Hey Crystal! I'm so glad you like this recipe and it sounds like a really fun idea you have in mind. My kids have always loved these cookies but I do think they taste best when decorated with some kind of icing or glaze. I'm partial to royal icing (you can grab the recipe here: https://bakingamoment.com/iced-chocolate-peppermint-cookies/). Your strawberry buttercream sounds like another great option. If you'd like to try a nut-free version of the PB&J cookies, you can replace the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter. The taste is almost identical and you won't have to worry about tree nut allergies.
Some of the commenters said their dough was dry and crumbly. I find that if I "overwork" the dough it will do this. When you roll out the dough, gather the scraps, re-roll it, etc. your dough toughens and dries out - especially if you're using flour to dust the surfaces. I'm going to try your parchment paper method - love that idea!!
Thank you Allie for this recipe. I'm making cookies for a baby shower and want them to look professional. I'm a pretty good baker but I've always been disappointed with my sugar cookies looking like a blob after they were baked. I cut them from my cookie rotation because of it. Now I can add them back in.
Thank you so much for this Terrie! Excellent tips, and I would add, that if you accidentally overdo it with the flour and the dough becomes crumbly, you can moisten it back up with a few drops of cream. I'm so happy you are going to give this recipe a try! I hope it meets your expectations. Good luck with the baby shower cookies!
Hi Allie. I just wanted to pop back by & let you know that the Penguin cookies I made were a HUGE success thanks to your recipe. The cookies were delicious and looked great too. I covered them with a thin layer of marshmallow fondant (when they were fresh from the oven) and it was heavenly. I was making my Christmas cookie list and stopped back by to get the recipe so thought I'd let you know. Thanks again for sharing this.
Thanks so much for stopping back with an update Terrie! I'm so glad they worked well for you! Have fun with your Christmas cookies 🙂
I came across your website yesterday and decided to try your recipe for cutout cookies with neat edges. I am amazed. My cookies did not spread, even when I re-rolled the dough several times. I have just started a part time decorated cookie business working from home. I sell about 5 - 6 dozen per week. I was having trouble with my old recipe not holding shape and appearing flaky and bumpy on the top. Your recipe fixed that and it is much easier to make.
I am looking forward to trying some of your other recipes in the future.
I'm so thrilled they're working out so well for you! Thank you so much for the awesome feedback, and best of luck with your cookie business!
These worked perfectly! They did not spread out at all and look beautiful! I wish they tasted a little better. I should have read the comments first because I could have cut back a bit on the flour and amped up the flavors. They are like a dry shortbread and not very sweet. I'm planning to add icing so hopefully that helps, and if not, they may be good with tea or something. They do look great though!
I'm so glad they worked out for you Rachel! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I think you'll find that the icing really balances out the flavors. Hope you enjoy!
I had a hard time getting the dough to form at first, but your suggestion to add bits of heavy cream until it forms helped with that. I am so excited to find a dough recipe that actually holds its shape!! Thank you!!
Oh I'm so glad it worked out! I use a stand mixer and it's pretty powerful so that makes a difference I think. Next time just remember you may not need to add all the flour. Just until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Good luck and enjoy! 🙂