No Spread Sugar Cookies (Perfect Cut Out Cookies)

4.72 from 7 votes

Perfect homemade sugar cookies recipe for decorated cookies.

Prep Time30

Cook Time10

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 3656kcal

Line baking tray with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 175 °Celsius.
Place butter in a clean bowl. Add the granulated sugar and cream both until the mixture turns creamy. Do not over mix.
Next, add the egg and continue beating until it is well incorporated into the creamed mixture. Add vanilla extract and mix again.
Finally, add the flour in batches and mix until the dough comes together. Place the dough in a covered bowl and refrigerate until it is slightly firm (see Note 1).
Remove dough from the fridge and roll it between parchment paper or plastic sheets. Use dowel rods as a guide for the thickness of your cookies (see Note 2). Cut the dough into desired shapes and refrigerate them again until they are firm (see Note 3).
Bake the cookies for about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies) until they have turned golden brown (see Note 4).
Remove cookies from the oven and cool them on a wire rack. Keep cookies in an airtight container until ready to be decorated. The cookies can also be served plain.

Do not chill the dough too long before cutting as it will be too hard and difficult to roll. If it becomes too hard, leave the dough at room temperature for a few minutes until it softens before rolling again. It is ok to let the dough chill longer after cutting (before baking).
To ensure you get uniform thickness for all your cookies, place dowel rods on either side of the dough and roll it with the rolling pin resting on the rods on either side of the rolling pin. Also make sure you roll the dough on a flat surface. That way, the thickness of the rolled cookies will be uniform all over and so will your cookies, after cutting them out.
Chill the cut out cookies before baking for perfect results. This is the key step to making no spread sugar cookies. Place the cutout cookie dough onto a tray and refrigerate them until they are firm, before popping them into the oven. That way, the cookies will come out in the exact shape you put them in.
This recipe makes crumbly cookies. If you wish to make chewy cookies, reduce the baking time by at least 2 to 3 minutes. If you wish to make larger or smaller cookies, adjust the baking time accordingly.