To decorate cookies I mainly use Sugar Cookies and without a doubt this is the most frequent question.
Over the years I’ve used the same recipe but I tweaked it and learned what works and what doesn’t. Below you’ll find a recipe I use regularly.
It’s no secret Vanilla makes cookie taste better. I always use Vanilla Extract as my base flavor. Then I add almond and/or lemon. You can add other flavors but Vanilla is always there. I actually really like using 3 flavor combo – vanilla, almond and lemon. All together.
Video Tutorial with Step by Step Instructions
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HOW TO ROLL THE COOKIE DOUGH AND CUT OUT COOKIES ?
If you find that dough is hard as a rock, don’t panic. Quarter the dough. Take one piece and microwave it on high for 5-8 seconds to soften it up a little. It shouldn’t be soft, just soft enough so you can roll it out. You’ll still need to apply little bit of pressure when rolling it out. Cut up remaining dough into smaller pieces, set aside.
For even thickness use rolling guides. Place the cookie dough between them parchment paper or use DoughEz Rolling System (I highly recommend it, I’ve used it for year and it is a fantastic tool).
I use 1/4 inch wood rods or 2 painter’s sticks glued together, also about 1/4inch (2.54cm) thick.
Once you roll out the cookie dough between parchment sheets,or Dough EZ silicone mat run a spatula underneath the rolled dough. Cut out as many cookies as you can.
Gather scraps add one piece of fresh dough you set aside, re-roll and repeat.
HOW TO PREVENT COOKIES FROM BROWNING TOO MUCH ON THE BOTTOM?
Use light-colored baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. I use USA pan brand.
If your oven bakes unevenly, you might want to rotate the baking sheet half way through.
I bake my cookies at 380F(193C) for 10-11 minutes, thinner cookies I bake for 9-11 minutes, depends on the size of the cookies.
HOW TO PREVENT COOKIE FROM SPREADING TOO MUCH?
- BAKING
STORAGE AND FREEZING
HOW TO STORE DECORATED COOKIES?
WHAT BOXED TO USE TO PACKAGE/DISPLAY COOKIES?
I personally use boxes from www.brpboxshop.com , they sell their boxes in bulk, 100 pieces and I love them. I really like their brown boxes 10″x7″x1″ boxes, lid and bottom is sold separately. If you are not certain which goes with what, be sure to call. Folks at brpboxshop are very friendly, always willing to help out.
In case you don’t need 100 boxes, you can try Nashville Wraps. They sell these cookie boxes in the set of 50 pieces.
If you are a seasonal cookie maker you can use cookie tins that are available at discounted prices during holidays or visit your local bakery perhaps they’d be willing to sell you couple of their boxes for a small fee.
Craft stores carry small bakery boxes as well. You can also use Take-out Containers and Jars for smaller cookies.
CREATIVE COOKIE DESIGNS WITHOUT ICING
If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to decorate cookies you can still make them stand out from the crowd by using simple tools like:
Food grade silicone mats to imprint decorative designs in the cookie dough. I used this Silicone SugarVeil Mat to make the imprint on the leaf cookies below.
Letter Impression set – you can use these to create personalized or seasonal messages.
ADDING SPRINKLES TO UNBAKED COOKIES
I like to mist the cookies with little bit of water using a small spray bottle and then sprinkle them with decorating sprinkles and bake as usual.
In this video I show you step by step how to make the Sugar Cookies
Cross between sugar and shortbread cookies.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 450 grams
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter 1cup, 226grams
- 1 cup sgranulated sugar 200grams
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract vanilla bean paste or almond extract
- 1 tsp baking powder optional - check the notes
Sift together flour (3cups), baking powder (1tsp) add salt (1/2tsp), set aside.
In a small dish whisk together egg(1) and vanilla extract(1tbsp), set aside.
In a mixing bowl cream together room temperature butter (1cup) and sugar (1cup), about 5 minutes, scrape the bowl twice. Butter creamed with sugar should be light creamy in color.
- Gradually add vanilla egg mixture, beating anywhere from 30 seconds to minute until well mixed in.
Now gradually in 3 additions add flour mixture. Lower the speed of your mixer to low. Scrape the bowl well after the last addition and beat just until flour is combined.
- Scrape the cookie dough into a large bowl, and using your hands knead the cookie dough for about 20-30 seconds, until dough comes together.
- Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or 4hours(minimum) or speed up the process by cutting it in half and wrapping well and freezing for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375F
- If you find that dough is hard as a rock, don’t panic. Quarter the dough. Take one piece and microwave on high for 5-8 seconds to soften it up a little, it should be super soft, just soft enough so you can roll it out, you’ll still need to apply little bit of pressure. Cut up remaining dough into smaller pieces, set aside. Place microwaved piece between your rolling guides, either between 2 pieces of parchment or if you have large silicone mat you can use it also ( for the guides you can use 2 painter's sticks glued together on each side, or 2 pieces of 1/4inch wood rods will work great)
- Cut out as many cookies as you can. Gather scraps and to the scraps add a fresh piece of cut up down you set aside. Re-roll and repeat until you are done with all the cookies. Place the cookies on a light colored baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the cut outs in the fridge for about 10 minutes, or in the freezer for 5.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes, depending on the oven, turn the sheet once half way through the baking.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-7 minutes, transfer to cooling rack.
- Store in the airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze undecorated cookies between pieces of wax paper in a large freeze safe container, for up to 3 months.
- Decorate cookies as desired with royal icing or other medium that you use.
Troubleshooting
If you are experiencing inconsistent results, omit baking powder or use less of it and you can up the temperature to 380F.
If your cookies become soft after you decorate them, this is usually because of increased humidity. I'd suggest you bake the cookie for a bit longer, so they are crispier to start with.
Check if the cookies are baked, if you see a spot that appears wet, usually in the center of the cookies, continue baking for additional minute or 2.
Flavorings
Lemon Cookies – use 1 tbl fresh lemon zest and 1tsp vanilla and 1tsp lemon extract
Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies – ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar, micro chocolate chips (add these with flour), 1/4tsp baking powder
Almond Sugar Cookies - I add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract. I find almond flavor to be very strong and 1tsp does the trick for me but if you'd like to add even more extract you definitely can. Almond cookies pair really nicely especially with my Fresh lemon royal icing.
You can also add spices to this recipe, try cinnamon, cardamom or pumpkin spice to make them more seasonal.
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Analea says
May 24, 2019 at 1:55 pmCan your recipe for cut out cookies to be flooded be doubled? I have 150- 3 in. thick paw cookies to make for my grandson’s graduation. I have been baking for 70 years, so I have a long history of baking. Thank you. Analea
Hani says
May 24, 2019 at 3:26 pmHi Analea, recipe can be doubled or tripled.
Tammy Shed says
May 7, 2019 at 8:07 pmMy comment about the edges of the cookies is supposed to say sturdy not dirty LOL I apologize
Hani says
May 7, 2019 at 8:17 pmNo worries. 🙂
Tammy Shed says
May 7, 2019 at 8:06 pmI’ve been baking sugar cookies for a while and I cannot get them to look as dirty as yours with the edges the way yours are. My edges are always rounded and more flat. The cookie isn’t actually flat but the edges rounded off. Is there something I can do to make the edges of the cookies look like yours LOL is there a trick to that because that is what I have been trying to do
Hani says
May 7, 2019 at 8:17 pmDoes your recipe have baking soda in?
Danielle says
April 25, 2019 at 12:18 pmTo do the chocolate chip cutout cookies, do I just add the additional ingredients to the ones already listed for the sugar cookie? Will they take additional time to bake? What flavor icing would you recommend for them?
Hani says
April 27, 2019 at 11:13 amI haven’t posted the recipe for chocolate chip ones. I generally sub white sugar for brown sugar, 3/4 cup micro chips or mini chips. If you’d like you can also add a touch of nutmeg. I think they will go well with plain vanilla icing, but I like like raspberry, or even coffee is nice.
Danielle says
April 27, 2019 at 11:33 pmI was just going off of what you posted in the flavorings section for chocolate chip cut out cookies at the bottom of the sugar cookie recipe. Thank you for your feedback!
Michelle says
April 24, 2019 at 2:57 pmHi Haniela, how many cookies does your cookie recipe yields? Thank you!
Hani says
April 24, 2019 at 3:34 pmHi Michelle, depends on how thick you make them and how big of a cutter you are using.
1/4 inch thick, about 3 inch across about 20 pieces.
Renee says
May 17, 2019 at 10:02 pmI don’t know if this will be helpful for anyone else.. but I just made two batches of this dough, anticipating to get close to 20 per batch and it wasn’t even close! 🙁 So I’m going to scramble to make a third one.. I did 3″ rounds and them 1/4″ thick and only got about 14 per batch of dough..
Hani says
May 18, 2019 at 2:27 amHi Renee, sorry you had to make another batch.I have to double check my guides then. I better make the adjustment in the recipe. Hope they turned out ok.
Jocelyn says
April 18, 2019 at 1:00 pmHello again Hani 🙂
I forgot I had one more question..How long do I let the butter sit out for at room temperature to avoid it getting too soft? Want to make sure I do this right the first time!
Thank you!!
Jocelyn says
April 17, 2019 at 11:59 amHello Hani,
I discovered your blog after watching your sugar cookies video on You Tube. I plan on making these in a few days but I have never baked cookies from scratch before (testing them out to make Super Mario cookies for my son’s birthday next month). Here are my questions if you have a moment please:
1. Can I bake these on a stainless steel baking rack?
2. I plan to use ready rolled fondant since I will be using the Super Mario cookie cutter for it too (never attempted fondant either!). Once cookies have cooled & I add the ready rolled fondant, do I need to place the cookies in the refrigerator? I plan to wrap them up & tie them the morning of the party.
Thank you for your time & I cannot wait to make these 🙂
Hani says
April 17, 2019 at 12:25 pmHi Jocelyn,
thanks for stopping by.
1. It really depends on the of stainless steel baking sheet you have. Are they black steel? Black steel is a good heat conductor but cookies can brown rather fast. I’d suggest lining your pan with parchment and lower the temp by 10F.
2. You don’t need to place decorated cookies in the fridge. Keep them on a tray in one layer. You can cover them with a parchment paper.Then package them into bags.
Jocelyn says
April 17, 2019 at 4:31 pmThank you so much for responding! No the rack is not black steel & I think I should just go the safe route & use a light colored baking sheet or silicone mat instead as you suggest on this blog then, see what a newbie I am! 🙂 Appreciate your guidance!!
Hani says
April 17, 2019 at 6:28 pmNo problem, keep me posted how it goes. Happy Easter.
Dani says
April 9, 2019 at 12:00 pmHi Hani, I have a question about the flour. You list 3 cups/450 g. I use King Arthur Flour brand, which is 120 g per cup. Do you recommend I use my measuring cups to come to 3 cups or should I weigh out 450 g? I can’t wait to try these!
Hani says
April 10, 2019 at 8:40 amHi Dani,
I’d just use a measuring cup. And if the dough appears too soft add little more flour.
Mariella says
April 6, 2019 at 11:44 amHi. I am Mariella. I love your website and YouTube chanel. I have a question: How to fix cookies in a box 10x7x1″ so they do not move during delivery and transportation preventing and eliminate breakage? Thank You.
Hani says
April 17, 2019 at 12:28 pmHi Mariella,
are they being shipped via delivery carrier or just transported from one location to another, in the car ? I’d use crinkle paper or nest them into a tissue lined box.I’d use crinkle paper only if cookie are individually wrapped.
Amy Rosati says
February 16, 2019 at 4:40 pmHi. Can you share your frosting recipe? Mine seems to soft at times and runs together when I don’t want it to
Love watching all your cookie videos. I get inspired to do more 😁
Hani says
February 18, 2019 at 1:30 pmHi Amy here is the recipe I use the most. If you don’t like lemon flavor you can just use water.
If you find that icing is still too runny, you can add little more powdered sugar. Hope it helps.
To thin it down to the consistency you want to work with you a spray bottle with room temperature water.