Introducing our Snowflake Cut-Out Sugar Cookies – a delightful blend of tradition and winter magic. These soft and chewy sugar cookies, expertly crafted to resemble intricate snowflakes promise a taste of seasonal joy. Despite their elegant appearance, these enchanting treats are surprisingly simple to create, taking just about 60 minutes to make.
These fun and festive winter inspired Snowflake sugar cookies are the perfect addition to your next holiday celebration or cookie exchange. They are easy to make and can be customized as you desire.
They key to a good cut-out sugar cookie is making a dough that won't spread too much (and loose shape) while it bakes. And these cookies hold their shape perfectly.
These cookies use a sugar cookie base similar to these Christmas Pinwheel cookies or these Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies.
🍪 Why To Try This Recipe
Festive - these cookies are festive, colorful and fit in perfectly for winter celebrations.
Customizable - you can easily customize the decorations on these cookies by adding sprinkles or changing out the icing.
Classic Flavor - these cookies are a classic sugar cookie flavor that everyone is sure to love.
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🥄Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Large spoon or Spatula
- Cookie sheet
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoon
- Rolling Pin
- Snowflake Cookie Cutter
- Piping Bags
📋Ingredients
- Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Butter - softened
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Powdered Sugar
- Meringue Powder
- Water
- Corn Syrup
- Blue Food Coloring
- Sugar Sprinkles
See recipe card for quantities.
📖Substitutions & Variations
Try out these ingredient substitutions and flavor variations to make these cookies suit your taste preferences and what you have available in your kitchen.
- Different Sprinkles - we used clear sugar sprinkles to just give a sweet, crunchy highlight to the cookies. But you can certainly use any type of festive sprinkle on these cookies, or skip them all together.
- Different colored icing - we went with blue and white icing to have a winter wonderland color theme. But, you can use any colored icing you prefer.
- Add a little flavor - if you want more of a flavored sugar cookie, you can add up to 1 teaspoon of almond, peppermint or lemon extract. You can also add the extract flavoring to the icing.
Looking for other decorated Christmas cookies? Try these Christmas Butter Cookies also.
⏲️Instructions
Follow along with these step-by-step instructions and process shots to easily recreate these delicious Cut-out sugar cookies.
Step one: Grease your cookie sheet (or line it with parchment paper), if it's not non-stick. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step two: Put 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of softened butter into the mixing bowl. Cream the together on medium high speed for 2 - 3 minutes or until smooth, light and fluffy.
Step three: Add in 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Then, mix on medium speed for an additional minute or two. It should be smooth and well combined.
Step four: Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly add in 3 cups of flour. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl regularly and may need to turn the speed up to medium as the dough starts to firm up.
Step five: add a thin layer of flour to the countertop or other surface. Then, roll the dough out in an even layer about ½ to ⅝ of an inch thick. Use the snowflake cookie cutter to cut the cookies out. Use scraps and reroll until all the dough is used.
Step six: Add the cut-out cookies to the baking sheet an inch or so apart and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are firm.
Step seven: add powdered sugar, meringue powder and vanilla to the mixing bowl. Use the paddle to mix at low speed for around 30 seconds, then add in 3 teaspoons of water and continue mixing until well combined.
Turn the speed on the mixer up to medium for another 2 - 3 minutes at which point the icing will become stiff. Then set that aside in a separate bowl.
Step eight: Add to the empty mixing bowl 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup. Whisk together on low speed until well combined.
Step nine: Combine both icing mixtures together and whisk until smooth. When scooped with a spatula and dropped back into the bowl it should reincorporate in about 12 - 15 seconds. This is how you know it is neither too thick or too thin.
Step ten: Split the icing into two bowls and add blue food coloring to one.
Step eleven: Add the icings to piping bags, snip the tips off and decorate your cookies as you like. Sprinkle sugar sprinkles on top before the icing starts to harden.
Hint: you can use a toothpick to help spread the icing on the cookies and get it exactly where you want it.
⭐Recipe Tips for Success
- Don't overcook - overbaking the cookies will lead to hard, crunchy cookies. When you remove them from the oven, make sure the centers are still a little soft, they will firm up as they cool.
- Icing consistency - make sure your icing is not too thin (it will run off the cookie edges) or too thick (you won't be able to spread it). Add a little water if it is too thick and a little more powdered sugar if it is too thin.
- Dough Thickness - make sure the when you roll the dough out it is an even thickness throughout or the cookies will not cook evenly.
- Mixing dough - this is a really thick dough (so that it will not spread while baking). If it is too thick to mix well after the flour is added, you can remove it from the mixing bowl and knead it by hand.
- Completely cool - allow the cookies to completely cool before adding the icing. Also, allow the icing to set for about 12 - 24 hours before stacking cookies together.
Storage
Store baked and decorated cookies for 5 - 7 days at room temperature in an airtight container. Or, place in an airtight container or freezer bags and freeze up to a year.
You can also store the dough in the refrigerator wrapped in cling wrap and in an airtight container for 3 days. Or freeze the dough, packaged the same way for up to 3 months.
Snowflake (cut-out) Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- Piping Bags
- Mixing bowl
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- Rolling Pin
- cookie sheet
- measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Snowflake Cookie Cutter
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
Snowflake Sugar Cookies
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Softened butter
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Cups Flour
For icing
- 4 Cups Powdered sugar divided
- 2 tablespoon Meringue Powder
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla divided
- .5 - .75 cups Water divided
- 2 tablespoon corn syrup
- Blue Food Coloring
- Sugar Sprinkles
Instructions
- Grease your cookie sheet or add parchment paper if needed. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In the mixing bowl, add 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of softened butter. Then cream them together at medium high speed for 2 - 3 minutes or until smooth.
- Add in the egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix on medium speed for a minute or two until well combined.
- Using a paddle attachment (if available), slowly add the 3 cups of flour in while mixing on medium speed. The dough will ball up when it is ready.
- Add a thin layer of flour to the counter and roll your dough out at about ½ - ⅝ of an inch thickness.
- Then, use the snowflake cookie cutter to cut the cookies out. Push the scraps together and reroll until all the dough has been used.
- Place the cut-out cookies on the baking sheet with an inch or so space between them and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are firm.
- Allow cookies to cool while you make the icing below.
Icing
- Combine 2 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoon of meringue powder and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for about 30 seconds.
- Add 3 teaspoons of water, mix until combined and then increase speed to medium for 2 - 3 minutes or until it becomes stiff.
- Transfer to a new bowl.
- Using the empty mixing bowl, add 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbs water, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoon corn syrup. Mix on low with the whisk attachment until well combined.
- Combine the two bowls of icing and which until they are smooth.
- Use a spatula to scoop a little icing up and drop it into the bowl. It should re-incorporate within 12 - 15 seconds. Faster means it needs a little more sugar and slower means it needs a little more water.
- Split the icing into two bowls and mix in blue food coloring to one of them.
Decorating cookies
- Add the icing to piping bags and snip the tips off the bags.
- Use the icing to decorate your cookies as you desire, you can use a toothpick to help move the icing around.
- Sprinkle sugar sprinkles on top.
- Allow icing to harden.
Notes
- Don't overcook - overbaking the cookies will lead to hard, crunchy cookies. When you remove them from the oven, make sure the centers are still a little soft, they will firm up as they cool.
- Icing consistency - make sure your icing is not too thin (it will run off the cookie edges) or too thick (you won't be able to spread it). Add a little water if it is too thick and a little more powdered sugar if it is too thin.
- Dough Thickness - make sure the when you roll the dough out it is an even thickness throughout or the cookies will not cook evenly.
- Mixing dough - this is a really thick dough (so that it will not spread while baking). If it is too thick to mix well after the flour is added, you can remove it from the mixing bowl and knead it by hand.
- Completely cool - allow the cookies to completely cool before adding the icing. Also, allow the icing to set for about 12 - 24 hours before stacking cookies together.
- Storage - keep cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 - 7 days. Or freeze up to one year.
Nutrition information provided is just an estimate and may vary based on specific ingredients used.
