Soft Sugar Cookies

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The ideal sugar cookies that are soft and sweet, and perfect for any occasion!

I’ll be real I’m a bit nervous to share this recipe. I have always wanted and dreamt about sharing every single one of my recipes, but when I started my little Bake Shop things got very tricky. As RuthAnne’s Bake Shop has taken a back seat until my girls are older I felt like there was no time like the present to share these amazing recipes. I’m not sure what’s in store for RuthAnne’s Bake Shop in the future (pun intended haha), but I do know I want to share my recipes and let others have tried and true recipes that will leave you with bake shop results that you made right in your own home.

These soft sugar cookies are seriously amazing. I’ve used this recipe for years, made countless cookie kits, had dozens of orders year round for different shaped cookies, and given loads away to friends and family and they are a crowd favorite!

For best results we roll our dough to 4 mm or 1/6 inch thick. You can eye ball it, but with THIS amazing rolling pin that has adjustable thickness rings, it makes it so easy! HERE is another option on sale now! We have loved rolling out all the dough on THESE baking mats, that can also be used in place of parchment to cook things on in the oven but we always just roll our dough on it. For February you obviously need the best heart shaped cookie cutters! I use THESE precut parchment papers to bake the cookies on and LOVE them!

I’ve learned the hard way to make sure they are the correct thickness. One February I had a big order of Valentine’s sugar cookie kits. I was still finding the thickness that I liked and we rolled and baked ALL the cookies for the order. Seriously dozens and dozens, all the wrong thickness. They were HUGE! Delicious but huge. I had to remake all the dough and start from scratch. My neighbors loved that mistake. haha

Some lessons I’ve learned in my years of making sugar cookies:

• Refrigerate your cookie dough after making for at least 1 hour before rolling out. I opt to break up my baking into doable time slots that fit into my schedule. So I make the dough the night before and refrigerate, then the next day we can focus on rolling, baking and decorating. The next day is usually my event or ideal delivery date so I don’t have to be rushed or have a time crunch all in one day.
• This dough freezes well!! I just recently realized when you store the dough correctly, wrapped in plastic wrap, then in a gallon resealable freezer bag, this dough can be kept in the fridge for at least a month. This works so well for big holidays like Christmas, birthdays, Halloween and Valentine’s Day. Thaw overnight in the fridge and roll the next day as normal.
• Separate the dough into 2 dough balls before refrigerating. I always eyeball this and I’m not the most accurate and that’s ok. I just made a batch the other day and I put one dough ball in the fridge and one in the freezer for birthdays next month. You want to separate it so you’re not working and rolling all the dough at once. Try not to overwork the dough. If you do you won’t have soft cookies, they’ll be hard and too chewy.
• Extracts go a long way! I love almond extract so I usually do an equal mix of vanilla and almond in my frosting and dough. I think it blends so well when you use the same extracts in both parts of the bake. I’ve also used coconut and vanilla in the buttercream and it is just as delicious! So be adventurous! You never know what you’ll love!
• Buttercream can be tricky but with butter that has been at room temperature for 30 minutes and whipping until spreadable it will be alright! You’ll get the hang of it in no time!

These sugar cookies hold a special place in my heart. I’ve made them for so many events, baking orders and for my family. They really are delicious! I found the recipe from I Heart Naptime years ago, then adapted the buttercream frosting and fine tuned the recipe techniques for my favorite results! Make sure to check out her original recipe because it’s slightly different than mine and has another frosting option!

I love to use a gel food coloring to achieve a pretty pink, THIS one is my favorite. Over the years I have opted for a light pink rather than a bright pink but you can achieve so many different shades with this set!

You can always frost cookies the classic way with a knife or icing spatula. I really enjoy to pipe the buttercream on my cookies for a fast, easy, clean and consistent look. I use different tips to achieve different looks! For most of my sugar cookies I opt for a large round tip, Wilton 2A (Seriously checkout this set!! It has all of my favorite tips that I use all the time!) has always been my favorite! Paired with disposable piping bags (I love these they are thickened and won’t burst. It does take a little bit to get use to and warm up the buttercream but they are seriously the best of the best!) this makes a super easy and clean way to frost your cookies!

Here is a video of the whole process of making my sugar cookies! Grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy. Hopefully this video will be relaxing and informative! This will show what I mean a little easier by having the dough come together, whipping the buttercream, baking the cookies until they’re puffy and not shiny and so much more! Also including a clip of how I quickly frost my cookies but still get a consistent and beautiful look!

I start piping my buttercream by outlining my cookie and working towards the center. You can apply more pressure on the piping bag if you want a thicker coating of frosting or you can apply a thinner coat really easily too!

You can’t forget the cute Valentine themed sprinkles! I do like to leave some frosted cookies with out sprinkles in case there are aversions to sprinkles. While making my buttercream I like to quickly measure my powdered sugar with a food scale. It makes measuring powdered sugar so easy and fast, I included the measurement in grams below! Remember to switch up the extracts in the buttercream for fun combos! I’d always use vanilla as the constant but I’ve gotten creative with replacing the almond. I’ve used coconut extract with vanilla and it was so delicious too! Lemon, peppermint, etc. would be so delicious!

I hope you try this recipe out! It is seriously my very favorite! It would mean so much to me if you pinned, shared, tagged me if you make this, and follow along as I share all my bake shop and family favorite recipes!