This no spread sugar cookies recipe uses essential ingredients and is perfect for cut out cookies.
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Let’s be honest; when you find a recipe that works, you want to share it with the world. That’s how I feel about my no spread sugar cookies recipe. This simple recipe does not require many ingredients – no fiddling with the right amount of baking powder and baking soda.
When I am making sugar cookies that need to be cut with a cookie cutter, I do not want those to spread. I need them to hold their shape!
I have tried many sugar cookie recipes and this recipe does not disappoint! There is no need to chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator before cutting out the shapes.
In this post, I am sharing my no spread sugar cookies recipe and you will love it!
My son’s birthday is coming up so I decided to make some royal icing cookies for his birthday party. What I love about these cookies is that they are quick to make and can be flavored with extracts, emulsions, and powders. I flavored all the party cookies with vanilla extract because I feel vanilla is a universal flavor most people enjoy.
Since I decided my cookies would be vanilla, I made some vanilla royal icing. You can always flavor your icing differently from your cookies if you prefer.
Looking for a royal icing recipe? Click here to try the best royal icing recipe.
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Ingredients needed for cookies
Simple ingredients are needed for these cookies; you most likely have these already in your refrigerator and pantry.
- All-Purpose Flour – I have used bleached and unbleached flour
- Butter – I like to use off-brand kinds of butter, like Great Value. I noticed that off-brand butter does not brown on the bottom and sides as fast as the brand ones.
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Pure Vanilla Extract – Make sure no OIL is in the extract so you can use the same flavored extract for your royal icing. Royal icing needs oil-free extracts so it will not interfere with the consistency.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – This is optional but necessary, trust me.
How to make no-spread sugar cookies
Step 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2. Cream together butter and sugar until incorporated.
Step 3. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste. Mix at low speed until blended.
Step 4. At a low speed, add 2 cups of flour at a time until all the flour is added. Your dough will be ready once it pulls from the sides of the bowl.
Step 5. Roll the out dough, using an adjustable rolling pin, to desired thickness. ( I use 3/8” thickness). Using a cookie cutter, cut out cookies and put them on top baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 6. Bake for 10-15 min or until cookie edges are slightly brown. Bake similar size cookies on the same sheet.
Yields about, 24 cookies depending on size.
Baking tips
If you plan to put royal icing on these cookies, let them sit overnight and ice them the next day. You want to let all the oil from the butter settle and cool.
Everyone may not eat eggs or dairy, so we must keep them in mind. We want them to enjoy these cookies too! There is an easy way to make this a vegan sugar cookie recipe. Replace the butter with vegan butter. You will use the same amount of vegan butter as the real butter. It doesn’t matter if the vegan butter is salted or not. You can replace the two eggs with a 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. The taste of these cookies is the same!
As I said earlier I love vanilla cookies. (My sister tells me I’m boring!) But vanilla is a flavor you can’t go wrong with making. I like to use Watkins baking vanilla. But if you want to take a walk on the wild side, replace the vanilla extract with any flavoring you choose.
When rolling out dough, we have all used tons of flour to keep that dough from sticking to the pin. It can be wasteful and potentially add too much flour to your dough. To keep this from happening, I use two pieces of parchment paper. I put the dough on top of one piece of parchment paper and place another piece on top of the dough. Then I use a rolling pin on top of the parchment paper.
Chilling the dough is not necessary. I have been able to use a cookie cutter to cut cookies out right after I have mixed up this cookie dough. But you can if you choose to chill it before if you would like. More about this in the next section!
How to cut out sugar cookies with no cookie cutter
Sometimes when we are ready to bake we just don’t have the cookie cutter we need! And that’s ok, I can help you fix that. You can hand cut the cookie out using a template of the shape you need and a knife.
First, roll out your dough and place it in the refrigerator until it is stiff. This should take about an hour. When you are hand-cutting cookies, your dough should be stiff to where it keeps its shape as you cut around it.
You can find the shape you need on the computer and print it out. You can use regular computer paper to print on. Then after you cut the shape out, lay it on top of your dough. You can use your knife to go around the template.
How to store no spread sugar cookies
To maintain freshness, sugar cookies should be stored in an air-tight container in a cool place. If you have a cookie rack and plan to ice them the next day, they can be stored on baking pans on the cookie rack. You can also freeze these sugar cookies in a container. These cookies are good for three weeks after baking if kept in an air-tight container.
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The Best No Spread Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups salted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or puree
- 6 cups flour
Instructions
- Set oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream together butter and sugar until incorporated.
- Add eggs, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste. Mix at low speed until blended.
- At a low speed, add 2 cups of flour at a time until all the flour is added. Your dough will be ready once it pulls from the sides of the bowl.
- Roll dough out to desired thickness. ( I use 3/8” thickness). Cut out cookies and put on top baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10-15 min or until cookie edges are slightly brown. Bake similar size cookies on the same sheet. Yields about 24 cookies depending on size.
Notes
- If you plan to put royal icing on these cookies, let them sit overnight and ice them the next day. You want to let all the oil from the butter settle and cool.
- You can replace vanilla and add any flavor you like
- I use Watkins Baking Vanilla (sooo good— available at Walmart, Target, and Amazon)
- My favorite butter to use is off brand butter! (great value or winn dixie brand) I find it doesn’t brown as fast as a name brand butter so my cookies don’t come out too brown on the bottom
- Chilling dough is not necessary but you can roll out dough and chill for a few minutes to make it easy to cut out cookies.
- When rolling out dough, use 2 pieces of parchment paper one on the bottom of cookie dough and one on top. Use rolling pin on top of parchment paper. This way you don’t have to keep adding flour to rolling pin to prevent dough from sticking!
