I love all the gingerbread cookies this time of year, but sometimes, I want something a little simpler, lighter on the deep molasses notes, but with more emphasis on the spice flavours we crave.
Not into spices? Try this plain sugar cookie cutout recipe!
These spiced sugar cookies don't need any dressing up. The dough comes together and rolls easily, and they bake perfectly, without any loss of shape (probably because there's no egg in this recipe), yielding a crisp, buttery cookie with a lovely spiced flavour.
Decorating sugar cookies
I like to keep these cookies plain because I like to snack on them and dip them in coffee and tea. If you prefer to decorate them, use:
- royal icing, which will dry hard and make storing these cookies a breeze.
- powdered sugar (a.k.a. icing sugar), as I did for these honey sugar cookies.
- melted chocolate—you can dip half the cookie in melted chocolate as I did for these chocolate shortbread cookies and these matcha gingerbread cookies. It's easy and works well!
Storage
Store these cookies in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to one month. Make sure the cookies have cooled completely before packing them up!
📖 Recipe
Spiced Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 173 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 5 mL pure vanilla extract
- 281 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 5 mL ground cinnamon
- 2.5 mL ground ginger
- 0.625 mL ground cloves
- 30 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt until the mixture is creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and spices, then add to the mixer bowl, mixing on low. The mixture will be crumbly. Add the milk and beat until a dough forms. Divide the mixture into two and pat into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cutout shapes with cookie cutters. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until the edges just begin to turn golden brown, about 14 minutes.
- Let cool slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough and rerolling scraps.
Notes
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
- Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.
a. r. says
I just wanted to know that I tried this recipe, and it turned out amazing! Thank you very much for posting this. What kind of frosting would you recommend for this cookie?