No Spread Sugar Cookies

The best no spread sugar cookies for decorating! These are no chill, soft no spread sugar cookies with powdered sugar -- includes an easy recipe for sugar cookie icing! This is my go-to cut out sugar cookie recipe! If you like this no spread cookie recipe, check out my Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies, my Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies with Cinnamon Sugar, or my Key Lime Cookies!

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No Spread Sugar Cookies for Decorating

These aren't just any sugar cookies -- these are the easiest, no-chill, no-spread cut-out sugar cookies you can ask for, with festive sprinkles and a super simple dipped icing! The perfect cookies for holiday gatherings or any celebration!

Growing up, my family would always make a cut out sugar cookie recipe and watch movies on Christmas Eve. And it's a tradition we keep alive today! These no chill, no spread sugar cookies continue that tradition -- and make it even better! These cookies are made with simple ingredients, with the vanilla and almond flavors of a classic sugar cookie recipe, with just the right amount of sweetness. They're firm, yet tender with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, and crisp edges. Best of all, they keep the exact shape you cut them into, with NO spreading in the oven!

How do these sprinkle sugar cookies have such great texture while keeping their shape so well? Well, one of the secrets to the best sugar cookie recipe is the type of sugar we're using in the dough!

How do you make sugar cookies not spread?

For these soft no spread sugar cookies, we're using powdered sugar instead of regular granulated sugar, which adds a lighter, and more tender texture to our cookies, making them soft instead of chewy. This is because powdered sugar contains cornstarch, which means these cookies have less gluten.

Typically, granulated sugar in sugar cookies will make the cookies more likely to spread while baking, because the sugar melts in the oven, and also contributes to more browning. Using powdered sugar minimizes both of those effects because it dries out your dough a bit more. So your cut out sugar cookie recipe will come out perfect every time!

Now that we know what sugar to use in this cut out sugar cookie recipe, let's keep going with the rest of the ingredients!

Ingredients for these Foolproof No Chill, No Spread Sugar Cookies

• salted butter - you guys know I almost always use salted butter. It just cuts out that one extra step and brings out the flavor in baked goods in a way that really works for me. If you prefer unsalted butter, feel free to use it and then add ¾ teaspoon of salt to your dry ingredients. Either way, make sure your butter is room temperature: it should indent to the touch, but not be greasy or overly soft. You want it to be just soft enough to work with, but still slightly cool to the touch.
• powdered sugar - measured by weight using a kitchen scale (see tips below).
• egg - your egg should also be room temperature - I like to let my eggs sit in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes to get them to room temp quickly.
• vanilla & almond extract - to me, the best combination of flavors for sugar cookies with sprinkles! Make sure you're using pure vanilla and almond extracts! Check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
• all-purpose flour - like the powdered sugar, I'd recommend measuring your flour by weight with a kitchen scale for the best accuracy. See tips below for more details!
• baking powder - baking powder gives our cookies a bit of a lift, especially since we're only using one egg.

Equipment

So to make this no spread sugar cookies recipe, you'll need a few basic cut-out cookies tools, like cookie cutters, a baking sheet, and either parchment paper or a silicone baking liner. You'll also want an electric mixer to cream your butter and a rolling pin to roll out your dough, either a stand mixer or a hand mixer and a large bowl. Another great tool I love for rolling out dough is a pastry mat. This is the one I use: it's nonstick, nonslip, and has measuring lines up to 16 inches, which really comes in handy for pie crust! Here are all my equipment recommendations for these cutout sugar cookies with sprinkles!

How do you make sugar cookies not spread?

These no chill no spread sugar cookies are an easy treat any time of year ! The full detailed instructions are in the recipe card below, but to make sure you have no trouble making these cookies look and taste perfect, here are a few of my best tips:

Measure your flour and powdered sugar by weight

One way this cookie dough works without chilling is that there's a higher amount of flour and we're using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. Unfortunately both of those ingredients are difficult to measure accurately by volume, so there's a chance you'll end up with too much flour or sugar and your dough will have a hard time coming together. To be on the safe side, I always measure flour and powdered sugar by weight using a kitchen scale for best results. I highly recommend picking one up if you love to bake! Otherwise, you can improve accuracy by using the spoon-and-level method for both your flour and powdered sugar.

Minimize handling of the dough

Because we're not chilling this dough, it's even more important to avoid warming it up, so that the butter can say as cold as possible. So try to bring the dough together after mixing with as little kneading as possible. Also, you'll be using a rolling pin to roll it out (I recommend this marble one), but you might also want to use a bench scraper to pick up your cookie pieces after they've been cut and transfer them to your cookie sheet.

Coat everything in flour

Whatever you're touching your dough with should be dipped or coated in flour. So you'll want to dust some flour on your work surface, then on your hands before you knead your dough together, and then some on your rolling pin before you roll out the dough. You'll also want to dip your cookie cutters and bench scraper in flour. This will keep your dough from sticking and prevent any related mishaps.

Check your oven temperature

I mentioned this in my White Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Recipe, but one factor that contributes to cookies spreading in the oven is the oven temperature. The higher heat helps to solidify the outside of the cookie before the butter on the inside has a chance to melt, thereby keeping their shape. We're baking these sugar cookies at 375 degrees, but many ovens run a little cold, so an oven thermometer will let you know the accurate temperature of your oven so that you can adjust if necessary.

Don't overbake your cookies!

Assuming your oven temperature is accurate to 375 degrees and your cookies are rolled out to ¼-inch thick, then 8 minutes should be great for this no spread sugar cookie recipe. I would say as little as 7 or as much as 9 minutes. Anything more than that will brown them too much and affect the tender texture of this cut out sugar cookie recipe.

How to decorate cut out sugar cookies

We're making a super easy, 3-ingredient vanilla icing for this sugar cookie recipe. And to make it even easier, we'll dip our sugar cookies right into the icing before dotting them with sprinkles. It's so simple:

1. This is true for most baked goods, but to ensure a neat look you'll want to let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before dipping them in the icing.
2. Once your icing is all mixed, just grab a cookie by its outside edges, and dip it face down into the icing. Make sure all corners of the face of the cookie come into contact with icing.
3. Bring the cookie out of the icing. Then hold it face down for about 20 seconds to let the excess icing drip off.
4. Quickly and carefully flip the cookie over so that the icing is on top. Lay it on parchment paper to set. Now's the time to add your sprinkles!

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Last Updated on November 20, 2022 by Chenée Lewis