Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

What to Put on the Table With Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

• Milky tea
• Hot chocolate
• A tin, ribbon and somebody else

How to Make Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Beat the butter and sugar for 2 minutes only — until combined and slightly lightened, but not fluffy. Air is what makes them puff.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

2. Beat in the egg and the extracts.

   Mark done

3. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar and salt together, add in two additions, and mix only until no dry flour remains.

   Mark done

4. Divide in two, flatten each into a 2 cm slab between sheets of baking paper, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

   Mark done

5. Roll each slab to 6 mm between the papers — rolling cold dough between paper means no extra flour, which is what makes re-rolled cookies tough.

   Mark done

6. Cut your shapes, lay them on lined trays, and freeze 15 minutes while the oven heats to 175°C / 350°F.

   Mark done

7. Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are barely tinged and the tops are matte. They should look pale.

   Mark done Start 9 min timer

8. Cool completely on the trays. A warm cookie will melt icing straight off the edge.

   Mark done

9. For the icing, whisk the egg whites to loose foam, add the icing sugar in three additions, then the lemon juice, and beat 4 minutes to a smooth, glossy icing that holds a ribbon for 8 seconds.

   Mark done

10. Thin a portion with water a few drops at a time for flooding, and keep the rest stiff for outlines. Ice, then leave uncovered 6 hours to set hard.

    Mark done

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

Notes From the Method

Re-roll scraps once. Twice and the gluten wins, and the third batch is a biscuit rather than a cookie.

Bake shapes of the same size together. A tray holding both stars and gingerbread men will burn one and underbake the other.

If the icing cracks as it dries it was too thick; if it runs off the edge it was too thin. The eight-second ribbon is the target.

Leftovers

Iced and fully set, airtight at room temperature for a week, layered with baking paper. Un-iced they keep 2 weeks. Raw dough slabs freeze for 3 months.

Questions and Answers

What's in a Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. Garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted. How the figures are worked out.