These rollout sugar cookies are soft, thick, and my favorite to decorate for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween, or just a Tuesday!
Whether you frost them with buttercream, royal icing, or just add sprinkles, you'll love the light almond flavor in every bite!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Only 6 ingredients and taste better than classic sugar cookies!
- This cookie can stand alone! It's not dependent on frosting for flavor.
- These are not too sweet and not the fall-apart cakey kind of cookie.
- I've made these cut-out sugar cookies for 25 years!!!
- Roll out and cut these cookies for any holiday season, like Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine's Day!
Ingredients Notes
- Butter - do not substitute anything for the butter. Butter is important to the flavor of these cookies. If you were to substitute, say, margarine for the butter, your cookies would taste like margarine, and I'm not gonna lie, it will not taste good. Both unsalted butter and salted butter work fine.
- Powdered Sugar - Please note that this cookie recipe calls for powdered sugar, aka confectioners' sugar, instead of granulated sugar. Granulated sugar makes a crumbly, grainy dough and will not work for this recipe.
- Extracts - Do you need both extracts? If you're out of vanilla, that's fine, but the almond extract is very important to this recipe. It makes these sugar cookies more flavorful.
- Flour - all-purpose flour, never self-rising flour.
- Frosting - I frost my cookies with this Buttercream Frosting, but you can frost them with Royal Frosting as well. If you don't want to frost them, you can sprinkle sanding sugar or coarse sugar on the tops of the dough cutouts before baking. You will need to lightly press the sprinkles down to get them to stick to the cookies.
How to Make Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
- NOTE - This is an easy cookie dough to mix up. The main difference between this sugar cookie recipe and most others is that I use powdered sugar, aka confectioners' sugar, instead of granulated sugar.
- NOTE - This cookie dough does need to be refrigerated for at least an hour before rolling it out, so make sure you plan for that.
- NOTE - I've had a few people end up with crumbly dough. I've never been able to replicate the problem myself, but thanks to a reader, it's been suggested that perhaps some are firmly packing the flour in the measuring cup instead of scooping without packing. In baking, you NEVER firmly pack flour. See this article for how to properly measure flour for more information.
- Cream the butter and the powdered sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts to the butter mixture.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the flour well.
- The dough will be quite sticky at this point.
- Put the cookie dough in a container, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill for an hour in the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with non-stick cooking spray.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the cookie dough to about ¼ inch thick.
- Cut out shaped with whatever cookie cutters you like.
- Place them on the prepared cookie sheets with an inch of space in between each.
- Bake in your preheated oven (375 degrees) for 8-10 minutes. Err on the side of less baking time for soft cookies.
- The bottom edges of the cookies should be lightly golden brown, but the tops should not.
- Cool the cookies on a wire rack before frosting.
- Once cool, frost cookies with the desired frosting.
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
How long will this cookie dough last in my fridge, and can I freeze it?
I've made my cookie dough up to a week in advance. Just let it warm up just a bit before trying to roll it out. You may also freeze the dough. When you're ready to use it, plan time to allow it to thaw in the fridge for at least a day or on the countertop for a few hours.
How do you get sugar cookie cutouts to keep their shape?
Follow the instructions precisely. Substituting different ingredients changes the dough.
Use the amount of flour called for.
Chill the dough. Don't skip this step. If you're in a hurry, you can chill the dough in the freezer for 15-20 minutes instead of putting it in the fridge for an hour.
Check your cookie cutters for blunt edges. You want your cutouts to have sharp, crisp edges.
Why do I need to chill my sugar cookie dough?
Chilling the dough makes it easier to work with, rolls out nicer, and allows your cutouts to keep their sharp cut edges.
How to store?
Store these cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.
My dough is really crumbly. What should I do?
I'm not sure why the dough ends up being crumbly for some as I've never had that happen myself, but if your dough ends up crumbly after adding all the flour, you can add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time until your dough looks like picture #6.
Related Cookie Recipes
Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave me a rating and a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get my latest recipes sent right to your email! You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Favorite Almond Sugar Cookies Recipe
These rollout sugar cookies are soft, thick, and my favorite to decorate for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween, or just a Tuesday! Whether you frost them with buttercream, royal icing, or just add sprinkles, you'll love the light almond flavor in every bite!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Butter room temperature (2 Cups of Butter is 4 sticks)
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 5 Cups Flour
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and powdered sugar.
- Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts.
- Stir in the flour. The dough will still be sticky at this point.
- Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare baking sheets by either lining them with parchment paper or spraying them with non-stick cooking spray.
- Roll the cookie dough out on a floured surface.
- The dough may be a little sticky at first; just sprinkle the top of the dough so the rolling pin doesn't stick.
- If you are going to sprinkle the cookies with sanding sugar instead of frosting, do so before baking, pressing the sanding sugar down onto the dough slightly to make them stick.
- Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Larger cookies may take longer.
- The cookies shouldn't brown except for on the very bottom edges very lightly.
- Cool completely before frosting.
- Store in an airtight container with wax paper in-between the layers of cookies.
Notes
- I've had a few people end up with crumbly dough. I've never been able to replicate the problem myself, but thanks to a reader, it's been suggested that perhaps some are firmly packing the flour in the measuring cup instead of scooping without packing. In baking, you NEVER firmly pack flour.
- These sugar cookies are delicious on the first day but are absolutely perfect after sitting overnight.
- Butter - do not substitute anything for the butter. Butter is important to the flavor of these cookies. If you were to substitute, say, margarine for the butter, your cookies would taste like margarine, and I'm not gonna lie, it will not taste good. Both unsalted butter and salted butter work fine.
- Powdered Sugar - Please note that this cookie recipe calls for powdered sugar aka confectioners' sugar instead of granulated sugar. Granulated sugar makes a crumbly, grainy dough and will not work for this recipe.
- Extracts - Do you need both extracts? If you're out of vanilla, that's fine, but the almond extract is very important to this recipe. It makes these sugar cookies more flavorful.
- Flour - all-purpose flour, never self-rising flour.
- Frosting - I frost my cookies with this Buttercream Frosting but you can frost them with Royal Frosting as well. If you don't want to frost them, you can sprinkle sanding sugar or coarse sugar on the tops of the dough cutouts before baking. You will need to lightly press the sprinkles down to get them to stick to the cookies.
- Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutrition
Calories: 147kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 1gFat: 0.4gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 0.01mgSodium: 97mgPotassium: 10mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 0.1IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Lisa Geissler
Two questions for you. Just want to be sure that this recipe doesn't require baking soda, powder or cream of tartar. Also, have you ever baked, decorated and frozen the cookies? Wondering if they freeze well after being made. Thanks!
Mindee
Nope, no baking soda, powder or cream of tartar as the function of those ingredients is for rising and would cause spreading. I have frozen un-decorated cookies and they freeze and thaw out well. I haven't frozen them frosted before but cannot think of a reason why they wouldn't freeze and thaw out well. I would probably thaw them out in the fridge before having them warm to room temperature so the temperature change is more gradual though.
Lisa Geissler
Thank you so much for the quick response!! Much appreciated!!
Jersey Girl Cooks
Cute cookies and I love the almond flavor!
Anjali
What a fun cookie recipe for the holidays (or any time of the year really!) I can't wait to make this with my kids for Halloween! They will love it!
Jamie
My niece is going to love making these with me! Can't wait to get the ingredients to start decorating!
Tara
Oh how fun! I can see why these sugar cookies are a favorite. Look so good! I especially love the decorated ghosts too.
Keri Bevan
These were fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
Janice Spake
Do you use all purpose or self rising flour
Mindee
Always all purpose.
Susan
Made these today love how they turned out. Wish I had found the recipe sooner.
Molly
My dough looks like a fin crumble topping Not at all like a dough.. I didn't even add all 5 cups of flour. Will this change in the fridge? I am super disappointed and not sure what happened.
Mindee
That is really strange. I'm not sure why that would happen.
aryn
This happened to me too, any ideas to help rectify? What is the dough supposed to look like?
Mindee
I am truly baffled to be honest. I've been making this recipe for over 20 years and have never had that happen nor have I ever had it happen to the other people who've used this recipe. Can I ask if you are using a stand mixer or making these by hand? I am wondering if a stand mixer mixes the flour in better. Once I have all the flour mixed in I end up with a dough that still on the sticky side. You can try adding a little milk or water to bring the dough back together.
aryn
I used a stand mixer? Do you have to mix super slow or at a certain speed? I ended up adding quite a bit of water to get it back together, however, it now feels like a brick in the fridge?
Mindee
I use a medium-ish speed. I am going to make this recipe again myself today or tomorrow to see if I can pick up on what may have happened.
aryn
Thank you! I wonder if I added too much flour at once? I had added two cups relatively close together, but certainly not all the flour at once.
aryn
Did you ever remake these? Looking for tips and steps on how to make so I don't ruin them again. Thanks!
Regina
Hi I love how these taste! They are amazing. My cookies keep spreading though. Any tips or tricks? I refrigerate the dough for 2 hours then cut out into shapes then refrigerate for 10 minutes before baking. Not sure why they are spreading so much. I also have an oven thermometer to ensure the temp is exactly 375
Thanks in advance for the help!
mindeescookingobsession
So there's a couple things to consider. You may need to add just a little more flour. I would try an extra 1/4 cup and see what happens. Next thing...are you greasing baking sheets or using a liner of some sort. A greased cookie sheet opposed to one lined with parchment paper will cause cookies to spread more because they are baking on a slippery surface. Parchment paper allows the cookies to have something to grip to without them sticking to the pan. Lastly, if you aren't using a quality baking sheet that could be the problem. Baking sheets sheets from WalMart type places tend to be of poor quality because they don't conduct heat properly. They get hot spots while at the same time having spots that are too cool. These Nordic-ware baking sheets are my all time favorite. I've had a couple of mine for 20 years and they will probably still be good 20 years from now. Plus they don't cost an arm and a leg. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Kris
Salted or unsalted butter!?
mindeescookingobsession
Either is fine. I usually use salted butter.