This sweet, buttery no-spread sugar cookie recipe is perfect for cut out cookies! It’s super simple and quick to make, and you’ll love the crisp edges and soft chewy center! You can use your favorite cookie cutters and icing recipes to decorate them as well!
This cookie dough holds its shape as you bake it, and it’s perfect for Christmas and holiday cookie swaps! Before finding this recipe, our cookies would be a little domed, just a tad flat, or downright hard. Now this is our go-to, no-fail cookie recipe!
Why We Love These Cut Out Sugar Cookies
- They don’t spread!
- The middle is soft and thick with a crisp outline.
- The buttery, sweet flavor is amazing.
- It’s easy to customize with spices or icing!
- They’re easy to decorate!
- They’re freezer-friendly!
How do you make sugar cookies keep their shape?
Cut out sugar cookies hold their shape and don’t spread when you use fresh eggs and real butter, mix the ingredients thoroughly, and chill the dough. Then you also want to bake the cookies on parchment paper and make sure your oven temperature is accurate (if they bake lower than 350 they may spread).
More Tips to Baking Sugar Cookies That Don’t Spread
These are just additional ideas if you’re trouble shooting your cookies. Don’t stress about doing all of these ideas!
- Avoid overly mixing your dry ingredients. As soon as they’re mixed, stop stirring to help them be tender.
- Add cornstarch to the dry ingredients (like we did in our recipe)
- Don’t skip chilling your dough!
- Separate your dough into 2 chunks and work with 1 chunk at a time to keep each one cooler longer.
- If you have room, go ahead and roll the dough onto parchment paper before chilling it in the fridge.
- Roll your dough 1/4 inch thick
- Pull your cookie cutter straight up versus twisting it up. This helps the cookies stay tender.
- You can now add your cut out cookies to the freezer for an additional 10 minutes then place in the oven,
- Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as they’ve gained some color. They should look raised and slightly crackled around the center.
How do you keep sugar cookies from breaking?
Sugar cookies typically break when they’re rolled too thin. You want to aim to roll your dough to an even 1/4 inch thickness.
Why did my cookies come out hard?
Hard cookies usually happen because there is too much flour being added. Remember to use a scale, spoon the flour in, or use a sifter when measuring it out.
Why should you chill cookie dough before baking?
Chilling the dough helps the fat solidify in the cookies which helps the cookies keep their shape and not spread.
How Thick Do I Roll Sugar Cookies?
Roll out the cookie dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
How to Freeze Sugar Cookies Dough
This no spread sugar cookie recipe is freezer-friendly! You can make this dough the night before or even 4-6 weeks ahead of time. Just make sure to cover the dough completely and allow the dough to defrost completely before you unwrap them to keep them moist!
You may also like our Sushi Cookies that use this recipe or our Peppermint Christmas Sugar Cookies!
Best No Spread Sugar Cookie Recipe
This sweet, buttery no-spread sugar cookie recipe is perfect for cut out cookies! It's super simple and quick to make, and you'll love the crisp edges and soft chewy center! You can use your favorite cookie cutters and icing recipes to decorate them as well!
Ingredients
- 1 cup melted butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1.5 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract or vanilla extract
- 1 cup of flour
- 2.5 cups of corn starch
Instructions
- First melt the butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk in butter, eggs and your choice of extract.
- Stir in sugar and powdered sugar until mixed through.
- Stir in corn starch and flour.
- The mixture should come together easily in a ball. If it is too wet, just add in another ¼ cup of powdered sugar
- Chill for 1-2 hours in the fridge
- Roll out to ¼ inch thick and cut out cookies
- Place on parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes
- Enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 68mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 0gSugar: 15gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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