I hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving with plenty of food!
I sure did, and we had great leftover turkey sandwiches for like, the entire weekend. It was perfection.
But now that Thanksgiving is over, all I’ve got on the brain is Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! I’ve already wrapped all my gifts (I know!), have hung up all the ornaments and decked all the halls, and I’m brainstorming what kinds of cookies I want to include in this year’s cookie tins for friends and family. And methinks these Best-Ever Cut-out Sugar Cookies are one of the top contenders!
If you should know one thing about me, it’s that I’m super impatient. I know, but patience is definitely not my virtue. I loathe waiting – it’s literally the worst part of life. That, and being broke. And the flu. And health insurance. But you know.
So when it comes to making sugar cookies from scratch, I always hated the recipes that required chilling the dough. Who has time for that?! And honestly, I *do* have some recipes on this site that do require mandatory dough chilling in order to make the cookies awesome, but sugar cookies shouldn’t be one you must chill. Sugar cookies should be no-chill, easy breezy, wham bam done. And these cookies are!
They only have five easy ingredients you probably have in your pantry – six if you count my special ingredient. I’ll tell ya all about it in a second. These cookies are such a cinch to whip up and taste amazing – they’re the perfect canvas for any icing and decorating, which was always my favorite part as a kid.
SO, secret ingredient time. Of course you know sugar cookies are made with vanilla extract, but what I add to mine to give it that extra edge and deliciousness is a Butter-Vanilla Extract which you can find at most craft stores like Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or online. It adds a richness and an amazing depth of flavor to these buttery, soft and tender cookies that straight up vanilla can’t provide (though vanilla is still in the recipe). If you can’t find the extract or would prefer a different flavor, might I suggest zesting a lemon or orange into the cookie dough for a citrus twist, or adding a hint of cocoa powder for something more sinful.
Either way you cut it out, you ought to make these cookies. They’re just dying to be a part of your Christmas cookie tray!
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp butter-vanilla extract (or plain butter extract), optional but recommended
- 2 & ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, and the extracts until blended. Lastly, add in the flour until a soft dough comes together.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough until it's about ¼" thick or so, or to desired thickness. Cut using floured cutters and place on the baking sheets. Bake, rotating pans halfway through baking time, for approx. 15-17 minutes, or until cookies are light golden brown. Cool completely, then ice and/or decorate as you desire.
Easy, fast and totally delicious, these sugar cookies will soon become a favorite in your house like they are in mine!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
This is very easy to make and it tasted really good and really addictive! I used a scoop to ensure a uniform size. My kids loved it and finished them all. This is for sure, a keeper. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe. 🙂
So glad you loved them, Christine! 🙂
I have absolutely no patience for dough chilling, so these are just perfect Hayley
Thanks Heather! I hate dough chilling too!
LOVE that this dough doesn’t require chilling—they kept their shape beautifully!!! Your posts are always so fun to read, Hayley. I’m a bit jealous that you’ve got all your gifts wrapped. I’m still trying to figure out what to buy!
Awh, thanks so much Liz! And hey, you still have time to buy! We’re only two days in 🙂
What?! Oh I am SO making these this Christmas! Fabulous recipe, Hayley!!
Thanks a bunch Stephanie! You’ll love them! xoxo.
This recipe is terrible. The cookies were very dry even when i under-baked them. Even after piping royal icing on them with sprinkles they were not edible.
I’m sorry you felt this way about the cookies, Kyla!
Do you need to use a hand mixer? I will not have access to one.
Caroline, do you have a stand mixer? If not, you can totally make these by hand – it will just take longer (and be quite an arm workout!) 🙂
I thought these sounded like great cookies for my daughter to make. However, these are very dry.
Can just spray the cookie sheets? No parchment paper on hand.
Hi Mary – you sure can!