Grandma Davis’ Sugar Cookies

These Frosted Sugar Cookies are the kind of easy, dependable recipe that has been passed from one kitchen to the next for decades. The dough comes together in minutes, chills overnight, and rolls out beautifully for your favorite cookie cutters. They’re the nostalgic cookies at the center of our family’s Christmas tradition, the ones we’ve made year after year with our kids and now our grandkids, with giggles and sprinkles scattered across the table.

​If you like soft, chewy frosted sugar cookie cut-outs, these are for you!

These Frosted Sugar Cookies are the heart of our family cookie day. Soft, chewy sugar cookies, iced with a simple frosting, and dusted with sprinkles. No royal icing, no fancy piping bag. Just the kind of wholesome, well-loved Christmas cookies we’ve been making for 30+ years. And the funny part? Grandma Davis isn’t even my grandma. But her recipe has been part of our family for so long, it feels like it should be written on an old, butter-stained recipe card tucked into a church cookbook.

Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

Many years ago, I sank my teeth into one of these soft sugar cookies, and I never looked back. My friend, Tonja, had shared them with me over the holidays, her grandma’s recipe and the one she made every year. Now, I need to tell you that when I was growing up, our cutout cookies never had frosting. My Mom always used my Great Aunt Vern’s recipe, and we did a little egg wash and colored sugar over the top. Those same cookies still get made for me by my Mom every Christmas (minus the rolling), and they hold a very special place in my heart. But on our cookie trays, we have made room for two old-fashioned sugar cookies. 

Rolled Sugar Cookie Recipe

I want to say that those people who make those gorgeous sugar cookies with the intricate piped icings have a real talent. Kudos to them! We are a simpler household, and we love to just have fun with the decorating! For years, our kids helped decorate, and now, our grandkids come, and we have a cookie day on the Sunday before Christmas! We usually order pizza and crank up the Christmas music, and some of us are cutting, and some of us are decorating, then we switch. 

But these cookies aren’t just for Christmas! I make them for Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, you name it. Of course, it doesn’t even have to be a special occasion – any ol day is a great day for a sugar cookie!

Ingredients in the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

These cookies bake up soft in the center, lightly crisp on the edges, and absolutely perfect for frosting. They’re the cookies you make with kids perched on stools, friends gathered around the table, and sprinkles scattered everywhere. They hold their shape, stay tender, and taste like pure nostalgia.

You’ll need a handful of pantry staples to make these old-fashioned Christmas sugar cookies. Find the complete measurements and instructions at the bottom of this post in the printable recipe card. 

For the Cookie Dough:

• Shortening or butter – gives the cookies their soft, tender texture and helps them hold their shape when baked. I always use butter-flavored Crisco for this recipe.
• Granulated sugar – sweetens the dough and helps create that light, chewy bite.
• Eggs – add richness and structure, keeping the cookies soft instead of crumbly.
• Vanilla – brings warmth and classic sugar-cookie flavor. Almond extract also works!
• Flour – the backbone of the dough, giving the cookies their soft-but-sturdy structure for rolling and cutting.
• Baking soda – helps the cookies rise slightly so they stay thick and tender.
• Salt – balances the sweetness and brings out all the buttery, vanilla flavors.

For the Icing and Decorating:

• White Frosting in a can – I use this simple trick to make quick batches of icing in lots of colors for decorating these rolled sugar cookies. Use the buttercream kind – NOT the whipped one. If you prefer to make a from-scratch recipe without corn syrup, this is an easy cookie icing recipe that works great.
• Extracts – vanilla extract, almond extract, or even lemon extract all work nicely. We prefer almond. 
• Food Coloring – I use little bowls and mix up lots of vibrant colors for decorating.
• For Decorating: Assorted Sprinkles, sparkling sugars, and jimmies for decorating. 

How to Make Frosted Sugar Cookies

Remember to mix your dough up the day before so it gets a good 8 hours of chilling time in the fridge before you plan to roll it out. 

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside. 

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a large bowl with your hand mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Mix in the dry ingredients until a soft dough forms.

Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.

Dust your counter with flour, roll out the dough, and cut into festive shapes.

Bake at 375°F on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 7 minutes. Watch them closely! They should look set but not brown. Leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, it’s time to decorate!

Now, as I mentioned, I take the easy route. I have small bowls, and I drop a couple of heaping tablespoons of canned white buttercream frosting into each bowl. I zap it in the microwave for a few seconds, until it’s a pourable consistency. Color each bowl with a different food coloring, and leave one white. Flood icing over the whole cookie, sprinkle with sparkling sugar or sprinkles while they are wet. The icing will dry and not be sticky. If you want to pipe frosting on and get fancy, go for it!

Storing & Freezing Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

These cookies stay soft for several days when stored in an airtight container. They also freeze beautifully. I freeze them without the frosting and decorate them after they defrost. Making them perfect to bake ahead for Christmas trays or cookie exchanges.

Love it? Pin it!

If you want to make the best sugar cookie cutout recipe, this is it! Pin this to your favorite Pinterest recipe board before you go to find it when you’re ready to bake!

Tips for the Best Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

• Don’t overbake. The pale color is what keeps them soft and tender.
• Chill really means chill. Overnight makes all the difference.
• Keep it simple. A butter knife, a bowl of frosting, and a bunch of sprinkles are all you need.
• Almond or vanilla works. Whichever you like – use that.

More Christmas Cookie Recipes To Love

Above you will see my Aunt Vern’s Sugar Cookies, the recipe that I grew up with. They are a light, melt-in-your-mouth, slightly crisp cookie. I also can’t let the holidays slip by without baking up these Old Fashioned Spritz Cookies! I have a plethora of Christmas cookie recipes here on my website. Some of my favorites include these Chocolate Mint Candy Cookies, Iced Molasses, Gingerdoodles, and these Christmas Dipped Oreos are always a fan favorite!

You can find all of my Cookie recipes here and all of my Holiday Baking ideas here.

However you celebrate the season, I hope these simple, time-honored sugar cookies find a place in your kitchen the way they have in ours. They’re the kind of cookies that bring everyone back to the table, year after year. Soft, sweet, and made with the kind of love only a family recipe carries. Enjoy every bite, and every memory they help you make.

This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an event I participate in every year for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. You will find more information under the recipe card on this amazing event and how you can help us raise money for kids with cancer. Thank you!

This recipe was originally posted on December 21, 2011. It has been updated to improve user experience and reshared on December 1, 2025.

This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.

Each year, we raise money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative, and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.

Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.

Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2025, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!