How to Make Decorated Sugar Cookies

Step 1: Cream sugar and shortening until fluffy. Add the eggs and combine, then add the vanilla and combine.

Step 2: Add three cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Stir together the milk and vinegar, then mix into dough. Add four more cups of flour and mix until dough is tacky and not gloopy.

Step 3: Roll out ¼ of the dough on a generously floured surface until ¼-1/2″ thick. Cut out with cookie cutters and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Step 4: Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Cool and decorate as desired.

How to Decorate Sugar Cookies

Baking preparations with baked sugar cookies shaped like stars, trees, and candy canes on a tray, a bowl of powdered sugar, icing bottles, vanilla extract, food coloring, and a small cup of milk on a marble countertop.

A glass bowl with white batter and green food coloring drops, next to three smaller bowls with batter and red food coloring. Yellow and purple food coloring bottles, and a measuring spoon are on a white countertop.

Step 1: In a bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients including your chosen extract. Gradually add more milk, a little at a time, until the icing reaches the right consistency.

Step 2: Once the consistency is the right thickness for your use, separate into multiple bowls and add your choice of food colorings.

Four bowls on a counter contain colorful batter: green, yellow, red, and blue. Each bowl has a mixing spoon. Measuring spoons and food coloring bottles are nearby, suggesting a baking or cooking activity.

A kitchen counter with a baking scene: Christmas cookies in the shapes of stars, trees, and candy canes are freshly baked on a tray. Bowls of colorful icing, sprinkles, and squeeze bottles are ready for decorating.

Step 3: Mix in the food coloring, adding more to adjust colors. Place icing into bags or squeeze bottles for decorating.

Step 4: Use the icing to decorate completely cooled cookies by piping, spreading, or dipping. Add sprinkles right away if desired, before the icing sets.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Yes! The dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to 2 months.

How do I know when the cookies are done?

The cookies should be set but not browned on top. The edges should be just barely starting to turn golden. They will continue to set up as they cool.

Can I use this recipe for drop cookies instead of cut-outs?

This dough is specifically formulated for cut-out cookies. For drop sugar cookies, you’ll want to use a different recipe with slightly different proportions.

A collection of decorated Christmas cookies on a cooling rack. The cookies are shaped like trees and stars, adorned with colorful icing in red, green, and yellow, and topped with sprinkles. Additional cookies and bowls of icing are nearby.

Expert Tips

Make Ahead: You can make the dough in advance and let it sit in the fridge a few hours or overnight until you are ready to bake them.
Easy Decor: You can press sprinkles or colored sugars into the uncooked cut cookies before baking and then bake as directed. This is a simple way to add a few decorations without much work on your part.
Cookie Cutters: Because we make this cookie recipe all year long, we LOVE this 101 Cookie Cutter set. It has it all! Plus, you can’t beat the price (around $10). It makes a fun gift idea, too.
New Flavor: Want to change up the flavor just a bit? I love to add 1 teaspoon vanilla and then add ½ teaspoon almond extract and ½ teaspoon coconut extract. Delicious!
Thick or Thin: For thicker and softer cookies, roll the dough out into a ½ inch thickness. For thinner cookies that are crispier, roll it out to ¼ inch thickness.

Decorated Christmas cookies in tree and star shapes on a cooling rack. The cookies are iced in red, green, and yellow with sprinkles. Nearby are bowls of sprinkles, red icing, and green icing, with red and white icing bottles on the side.

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days
Freeze baked undecorated cookies for up to 3 months
The dough can be frozen for up to 2 months – just thaw overnight in the refrigerator

Perfect for Every Occasion

These versatile sugar cookies are perfect for:

Christmas cookie platters
Valentine’s Day treats
Birthday parties
Wedding or baby shower favors
School bake sales
Holiday gift giving

The dough handles beautifully for intricate cutters and holds its shape while baking, making it ideal for any shaped cookies you can imagine.

Whether you’re planning to decorate them elaborately or enjoy them plain, these soft cut-out sugar cookies will become your go-to recipe for every occasion!

Assorted Christmas-themed sugar cookies on a cooling rack, decorated with green frosting and colorful sprinkles shaped like Christmas trees and stars.

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Christmas-themed cookies on a cooling rack, including trees with green icing and colorful sprinkles, and stars in red and yellow. The cookies are decorated festively and displayed on a marble surface.

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5 from 1 vote

If you're wondering how to make decorated sugar cookies, then you're in the right place. This Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe has been handed down through several generations in my family. They really are the most delicious sugar cookies!

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time45

Servings: medium cookies

Calories: 73kcal

Author: Melissa Griffiths

Ingredients

1 cup butter flavored shortening
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
7-8 cups of all-purpose flour +1 more for rolling
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup of milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar

For frosting:

½ cup butter at room temperature
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ½ to 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Cream shortening and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add your eggs and mix to combine. Add the vanilla and mix again.
Add 3 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and mix well to combine.
Mix the milk and vinegar together and add it to the cookie dough mixture. Mix well to combine.
Add the remaining 4 cups of flour and stir until well combined. The dough should be tacky but not gloopy. If you pick it up in your fingers it shouldn’t stick to them though it’s a very soft dough. Add up to 1 cup additional flour as needed.
Working with ¼ of the dough at a time, roll it out on a well floured surface to ¼ to ½ inch thick. Be generous with your flour on the rolling surface since the dough is very tender, it will stick easily.
Use cookie cutters to make shapes and transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.
Repeat with remaining dough, gathering and re-rolling the scrap dough as you go along.
Decorate cooled cookies with icing and sprinkles, the messier the better.

To make the frosting:

Add the butter and cream to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment, until the butter and cream combine.
Increase the speed to high and mix for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides a time or two.
Add the vanilla and 2.5 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined, and then increase speed to medium and whip for 1 to 2 minutes.
The consistency of the icing is important if you are going to ice sugar cookies with it. It should be a soft-medium consistency and firm, but soft enough to spread with a butter knife.
If the icing is too thick, mix in a little cream. If it needs to be a little thicker, add a ¼ cup of powdered sugar, and whip to combine until it’s sturdy enough.
Use icing to frost around 2 dozen medium sugar cookies. It also pipes well, if you’d like to put it in piping bags with tips.

Notes

Place baking sheet with the cut out sugar cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes and then bake your cookies and the cookies will hold their shape better.
If you want to make the dough and let it sit in the fridge a few hours or overnight until you are ready to bake them, that works great.
You can press sanding sugar or sprinkles into the dough before baking for an way to decorate.
Store these cookies very carefully: place them on a tray or container and stack them no more than two high. Because they are so fluffy, they can break easily

Nutrition

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Comments

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)