This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe for all of the holidays! It cuts into shapes nicely, it doesn’t spread, and it actually tastes good. Like SOOO good! I find a lot of cut-out sugar cookie recipes to be bland and dry… but not these babes. My best tip is to roll them nice and thick (around 1cm) so they remain chewy and soft.
For Halloween there are so many different shapes you can go for – black cat, witch’s hat, jack-o-lantern, bats… you get it. I decided to stick to a monochrome colour scheme just because I was feeling lazy and I’m not a huge fan of mixing up a bunch of different colours of royal icing. So if you want to keep things simple like I did, this set is the way to go! All you need is white, grey, and black icing for these ghosts, gravestones, and spider webs.
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- ¾ cup butter softened (170g)
- ¾ cup sugar (150g)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste I use Nielsen Massey
- 1 egg
- 2¼ cup flour plus extra, for rolling out dough (313g)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp milk or milk alternative
Easy Icing (Option 1)
- 2-3 cups icing sugar
- 3-5 tbsp milk or milk alternative
Royal Icing (Option 2)
- 1 bag Royal Icing Mix
- 80-100 mL water
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 3 minutes, until white and fluffy. This can also be done with a hand mixer.
- Add egg and vanilla bean paste, mixing until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix slowly (so the flour doesn't puff up) until just combined. Do not overmix!
- Sprinkle countertop with flour. Gather the dough into a ball and place on the counter. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough ball with flour.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to be 1cm thick (about the same as the width of your pinky).
- Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter, and place onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Don't worry about how far apart they are – we are not baking yet!
- Gather remaining dough scraps into a ball, adding in 1 tablespoon of milk. Knead by hand on the countertop until combined, then roll out and repeat!
- Once all of the dough is used up, cover cookie sheets with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (or up to 2 days if fully sealed).
- Preheat oven to 350°. Re-arrange cookies on the cookie sheets so they are a few centimeters apart. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are golden.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
Easy Icing (Option 1)
- Whisk icing sugar and milk together to create a paste. Consistency is up to you! Add more icing sugar for a thicker icing, and more milk for a runnier icing. Add food colourings and brush on cookies with a pastry brush. Top with sprinkles if desired. Let cookies sit out for 2 hours to allow icing to dry before packing in air-tight containers.
Royal Icing (Option 2)
- Add bag of royal icing mix to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or to a bowl if using a hand mixer. The package recommends adding 56mL of water, but I find this is far too thick. Start with 80mL, mixing until combined. Check the consistency by pulling the whisk out of the bowl and watching the icing that runs off of it – it should form a line on top of the icing in the bowl, but disappear within a few seconds. Add more water and mix as required.
- Add food colourings and pipe onto cookies from a piping bag. Top with sprinkles if desired. Let cookies sit out for 2 hours to allow icing to dry before packing in air-tight containers.