No Spread Cut Out Cookies

No Spread Cut Out Cookies are delicious, soft sugar cookies that hold their shape perfectly when baked and look beautiful decorated with glossy sugar cookie icing. This cut-out cookie recipe is perfect for Christmas cookies or any special occasion. 

For more holiday baking ideas, try Pumpkin Blueberry Bread and Mini Pumpkin Pies with Graham Cracker Crust. 

This no spread sugar cookie recipe is my go-to for decorated cutout cookies. The cookies are thick, soft, flavorful, and delicious plain (dunked in coffee) or with a glaze of icing.

It's an easy sugar cookie recipe with simple ingredients I always have on hand and the cookies keep their shape beautifully no matter which cookie cutter I use. 

🍪Cut Out Cookies That Don't Spread

The secrets to perfect cookies that don't spread lie in both ingredients and technique. And they're equally important to achieve tender, soft, delicious cookies with straight, clean edges.

So, before you haul out the mixing bowl, check out all my tips on butter temperature, flavor extracts, easy rolling, and double-chilling for tender, beautiful, tasty sugar cut-out cookies with clean, crisp edges. 

🧈Ingredients

See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.

• Unsalted butter, room temperature. If the butter is too warm, it can make the dough sticky and difficult to roll out. Room-temperature butter is about 65-67 degrees and cool to the touch. Pressing it with your finger should leave an indent—it should not go all the way through it. You can also use salted butter, just omit the salt.
• Egg, room temperature. A room-temperature egg will mix more quickly and easily into the cookie dough. 
• Almond extract, optional. A little almond extract adds wonderful flavor to cookies that could otherwise be a bit flat. You can leave it out or substitute different flavors like maple, orange, or lemon extract. 
• Baking powder. Leavening agents are necessary to give cookies rise and create a lighter texture, but baking soda can cause cookies to spread. Baking powder adds the lift and texture we want without the spread.
• Powdered sugar, as needed. If the dough sticks when rolling, dust the parchment with a little powdered sugar. It works just as well as flour to prevent sticking but keeps from adding too much flour to the dough, which can make it dry or taste like flour. Note that powdered sugar can give the tops of the cookies a slight crackle appearance. I don't mind because they are covered with icing anyway. You can also use a little flour if you think this will bother you. 

🥣Instructions

Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar with a stand or hand mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg until completely combined, then the vanilla and almond extract. 

Step 2: Sift in the dry ingredients (or whisk flour mixture in a separate bowl before adding). Mix on low speed just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.

Step 3: Form the dough into two portions and roll them to ¼" thickness between two sheets of parchment paper. You may need to gently rock the rolling pin back and forth with your hands on the body of the rolling pin to get it started. If the dough sticks, lightly dust the surface with powdered sugar.

Step 4: To roll dough to an even thickness, use rolling pin guides, dowels, or whatever you can find—I place two cutting boards on either side. Stack rolled-out dough in parchment paper on a baking sheet or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least one hour up to two days. 

Step 5: Cut dough with cookie cutters, re-rolling and cutting the scraps.

Step 4: Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat and freeze for 10 minutes. 

Step 5: Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until the bottom edges start to turn light golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Step 6: Enjoy plain or frost the cooled cookies with buttercream frosting, glossy sugar cookie frosting (pictured), or royal icing and decorate with colored sugars and sprinkles. 

👉Top Tip: Freezing the cut out cookie dough shapes before baking helps keep the edges straight, clean, and crisp.  

🎁Storage & Make Ahead Instructions

• Store plain cut-out sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for 10 days. If frosted with buttercream, store at room temperature for one day or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.  
• Freeze sugar cookie dough in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator. 
• Freeze frosted or unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months. Before freezing frosted cookies, let the icing set until hardened, then place the cookies in a single layer between parchment paper or wax paper. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator. 

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