Get the best ever sugar cookie dough recipe and baking tips right here. Use this dough to make tasty cut out cookies for Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's Day or any occasion.

This cut out cookie dough comes together in minutes using a food processor. No stand mixer required. The dough rolls out smoothly, holds its shape perfectly in the oven, and bakes up with a tender, buttery texture that works beautifully under royal icing or any decoration you have in mind.

The snowman cookies in the photo came out perfectly after decorating - see my snowman cookies post for inspiration. Whether you're making Christmas cookies, birthday shapes, or Valentine's Day hearts, this is the one dough recipe worth keeping on hand all year.

Ingredients You'll Need

All purpose flour, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg (optional spices)

Ingredient Highlights

Cold butter: Unlike most cookie recipes that call for room temperature butter, this recipe uses cold cubed butter. The food processor can handle cold butter easily and it helps the dough come together without overworking the gluten.

Optional spices: The cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg are completely optional but highly recommended. They add a subtle warmth that makes these cookies taste more interesting than a plain sugar cookie without being overpowering. You can use all three, just one, or none at all.

All purpose flour: Measure carefully here. Too much flour and the dough will be crumbly and difficult to roll. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff the flour first, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level it off. Never scoop directly from the bag.

What else do you need to make sugar cookies?

In addition to flour, salt, baking powder, butter, vanilla, optional spices and an egg, you will need a rolling pin, cookie sheets, a food processor, and two ¼ inch thick 12 inch long wooden dowels.

My favorite food processor is the Cuisinart. It's a true workhorse in my kitchen. A food processor is actually ideal for this type of dough for a few reasons:

It handles cold butter effortlessly. Cold butter is key to a dough that rolls out cleanly and holds its shape in the oven. A stand mixer struggles with cold butter but a food processor processes it in seconds.

It's faster. The whole dough comes together in under 5 minutes with minimal cleanup. There's no creaming, no repeatedly scraping down a tall bowl.

It's harder to overmix. Overmixing develops gluten which makes cookies tough. A food processor works so quickly that it's easy to stop at exactly the right moment. Pulse until the dough just comes together and stop. If it doesn't fully come together in the processor, turn it out and finish by hand. A few kneads is all it needs.

I also highly recommend parchment paper. I always keep flat sheets on hand - you'll use them for rolling and again on your cookie sheets when baking.

How do you make sugar cookies that keep their shape? 

Chilling the sugar cookie dough is essential to making sugar cookies that keep their shape. If you follow this recipe and method, you will only have to chill the dough once!

I chill it after I roll it out, but I am ready to cut quickly and put them directly in the oven. If cutting takes you too long, you will have to chill it again because the dough will become warm and spread in the oven.

Yes, there are rolled sugar cookie dough recipes out there that say "no chilling" but I have found that home bakers still have problems with these recipes either because their flour measurements varied or they have a slightly different oven temperature or they just live in a warmer environment. So...bottom line...just chill your dough! 

How do you make cutout sugar cookies?

First, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk and set it aside. I like to add in spices to give my cookies some extra taste but this is completely optional. You can add some, all or none of them!

Next, mix the butter and sugar in the food processor until it becomes light and fluffy. You may have to stop to scrape down the sides at least once in between mixing. Then add the egg and vanilla and process until combined.

Finally, add the dry mixture in three batches pulsing each until just combined. Do not over mix! This will activate the gluten and make a tough cookie.

Troubleshooting Tip: If you find that the mixture is not coming together in the food processor, return the dough to your mixing bowl and finish mixing with your hands. Remember, you don't want to over mix in the food processor.

After the dough is made, it's time to roll it out. I roll it out first and then chill it. Chilled dough is difficult to roll and it's not necessary to chill it first as long as you chill it again. You will want to separate the dough into two batches to make it easier to roll. 

Pro Tip: The Dowel Method for Perfectly Even Dough
Place two ¼ inch thick wooden dowels on either side of your dough before rolling. The rolling pin rests on the dowels rather than the dough, which prevents you from rolling it any thinner than ¼ inch. The result is perfectly even cookies that bake at the same rate - no thin edges burning while the centers stay underdone. This is the same technique professional pastry chefs use and it makes a noticeable difference.

Also, to avoid the rolling pin sticking to the dough, I place a piece of parchment on top of the dough and then roll. Don't worry about waste, you can reuse all this parchment on your cookie sheets when you are ready to bake your cut out cookies!

Finally, chill the rolled dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until cold and firm. Preheat your oven while the dough is chilling if you are going to bake right of way. 

Cut out your cookies and place the cutouts right onto a baking sheet covered with parchment. Then bake until just slightly brown on the edges.  

If you find that the cookies are getting too soft while you are cutting then place the cut out cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.

This is usually not a problem if you are quick and efficient. But sometimes you can get distracted and this can give the dough a chance to get too warm! Remember, the softer and warmer the dough, the more it spreads in the oven.  So keep it chill!

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

This dough is ideal for making ahead, especially during the busy holiday season.

Refrigerator: The rolled out dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Keep it between two sheets of parchment and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. When ready to bake, cut your shapes straight from the fridge.

Freezer: The dough freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. You can freeze it as a ball wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, or already rolled out between parchment sheets. For detailed tips on freezing both dough and baked cookies, see my complete guide on how to freeze cookie dough.

Baked cookies: Baked unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or frozen for up to 2 months. Frost after thawing.