Last updated on May 28th, 2025

Ingredients to make Sugar Cookies
Dietary Substitutions
Related Recipes
More Thanksgiving recipes

These Thanksgiving Cut-Out Sugar Cookies are are a soft, tender butter cookie topped with royal icing that are easy to make for your Thanksgiving dessert table. Decorated sugar cookies are always popular during the holidays, however, this versatile recipe can be your “go-to” sugar cookie all year. My vintage inspiration for this recipe is from my great-grandmothers with the addition of a hint of bourbon and nutmeg to evoke the flavors or fall.

Ingredients to make Sugar Cookies

Wet Ingredients

Butter is made from churned cream that contains 80% butterfat. European butter is churned longer and has a higher fat content (82%-85%), which is why it yields more flavor.
Sugar is a made by processing the juice of the sugarcane plant. Cane sugar is a natural option that is less processed with a slightly courser texture.
Eggs are produced by female chickens and are important in baking because their proteins provide structure, they act as a natural leaving agent by trapping air that expands during baking.
Vanilla provides hints of caramel and spice, enhancing the depth of flavor to baked goods. The best quality is an all-natural and made from real vanilla beans containing at least 35% alcohol.

Dry Ingredients

All-purpose unbleached flour is made from ground wheat kernels with the bran and germ removed. It has a moderate protein content of 10-12%, making it a versatile option for most baked goods.
Instant ClearJel is a modified food starch used as a thickener, stabilizer, and gelling agent. When used in pie fillings, it produces a clear, smooth texture. In baked goods, it helps retain moisture, producing a light, tender texture.
Baking powder is a leavening agent that contains both an acid, like cream of tarter, and a base, like baking soda to help baked goods rise. Use a double-acting aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a bitter aftertaste.
Nutmeg is a warm spice that comes from the nutmeg tree in the Spice Islands. It is available as whole nutmeg, grated or pre-ground.
Pink salt is a type of rock salt found near the Himalayas, that is minimally processsed and contains trace minerals.

Homemade Ingredients

Vanilla: Purchase Grade B vanilla beans (also called extract-grade), which have less moisture and a more concentrated flavor. Place 8 oz. of bourbon (or vodka) in glass bottle or jar. Split 5-7 vanilla beans down the middle and add to bottle. Let it sit for 3-6 months in a cool, dark place. As you use it, continue to replace the bourbon and add more beans as it keeps for many years.

Baker’s Tips

For sugar cookies to keep their original cookie cutter shape and ensure less spread, it is really important to chill them 2 times during the process. First chill: After mixing the cookie dough, roll out immediately between 2 sheets of parchment paper into desired thickness 1/4″ or 3/8″ and place the stacks of rolled dough on a baking sheet to chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Second chill: Cut out the dough into shapes and then chill again for 5-10 minutes. To obtain an even cookie thickness, I roll out my cookies with a Joseph Joseph rolling pin.
Although my signature sugar cookie has vanilla, bourbon, and a hint of nutmeg, you can use other flavors such as fresh lemon zest with a bit of lemon extract. Another popular flavor combination is vanilla with a bit of pure almond extract. When adding flavors to your dough use the best all-natural quality to make a difference in the taste of the cookie. For other extracts such as almond or lemon, I use Frontier Organic pure extracts.
Use light-colored, aluminum cookie sheets to reflect even heat during the baking process. Dark cookie sheets conduct more heat off the surface, which may burn or darken on the edges before they are fully cooked through.
For even browning, place only 2 cookie sheets in the oven at the same time. Place the cookie sheet horizontally and rotate them halfway through the baking process. To rotate, spin the cookie sheets around 180° and swap the cookie sheets from top to bottom and vice versa.

How to decorate sugar cookies

Always color your plain white frosting first with white food color while it is still in the mixer. This will help set the royal icing so the color won’t bleed. My favorite food color brand to use is Americolor gel food color. I only use all-natural decorations like sanding sugar, jimmies or non-perils, read the ingredient labels on pre-made decorations (you’ll see most have artificial flavor) and stay away from those brands.

Dietary Substitutions

For the past 12+ years, I have owned an all-natural specialty bakery converting conventional recipes to gluten free, vegan, wholesome, etc. Read more about it here.

TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE

Here are some tips for gluten free baking

Use a premium gluten-free flour blend.
Be sure to let the batter rest to help eliminate grittiness. Even letting the batter sit 15 minutes will yield a light and tender baked good. You can let batter sit in the fridge overnight, and up to 3 days.
Add 1-2 tablespoons additional liquid (use the same liquid called for in the recipe) to help hydrate the flour.
Reduce the oven temperature by at least 25° to bake low and slow, since gluten-free flour is delicate and tend to burn before the center is cooked through.
Gluten-free baked goods have a shorter shelf-life than conventional baked goods and dry out faster. Store in airtight container on counter 1-2 days. The refrigerator tends to dry them out more, so it is best to freeze up to 6 months.

TO MAKE VEGAN/DAIRY FREE

Swap out the butter with vegan butter. I use Violife Plant Butter.
To replace the egg, place 1 tsp. of baking soda into your baked good and pour 1 T. white vinegar on top of the baking soda.

Apryl Niksch