I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I have a tip for MAKING CUTOUT COOKIES EASILY: I put a sheet of baking parchment (now easily found in grocery stores) on my cookie sheet, then ROLL THE DOUGH OUT DIRECTLY ON THE PARCHMENT-LINED COOKIE SHEET. After making the 'cut-outs', appropriately spaced on the dough, I PEEL AWAY THE EXCESS DOUGH from around and between the 'cookies' and bake as directed. The parchment helps keep the bottoms of the cookies from getting too dark, eliminates any need for greasing the pan, allows you to remove the cookies from the sheet by simply sliding the parchment carefully off the side (which is especially helpful with extra large or delicate cookies), and CAN USUALLY BE REUSED IN BAKING THE REST OF THE COOKIES. I have also rolled dough out on the parchment without having it on the cookie sheet, done the cutting and trimming, and then slid the parchment onto the sheet for baking, which helps when you're short of cookie sheets -- the next batch is ready to pop into the oven as soon as the first comes out.

This recipe is excellent for its purpose of rolling and cutting cookies...i tried another sugar cookie recipe and hated it...it didnt roll and cut as well and the cookies were flat and crispy... i always come back to this one... this year i made ghosts for my son's halloween party/parade and a friend of my daughter's birthday is on halloween so i made him a cookie bouquet using this recipe.... these cookies make GREAT cookie bouquets... I add an additional cup of sugar and tsp of vanilla and my family liked them a LOT better...it didnt seem to affect the way they cooked either so that was good...this is still the best sugar cookie recipe ever for cutting out shapes and making cookie bouquets!! NOTE: i live in south florida where the heat and humidity is high - i always add between 1/4 - 1/2 cup more flour to all my cookie recipes Another NOTE: ....the dough, as you're rolling this particular recipe out does tend to be sticky ....simply keep dusting it with powdered sugar and you can continue to work with it...while adding additional flavor... Thanks!

This recipe is WONDERFUL. Make sure you: chill at least 1 hour to firm up the dough. Knead the dough before rolling out with pin. Use SUGAR instead of flour when rolling. There are many options with these cookies. They are great iced (and gorgeous using the sugar cookie icing on this site), yet they are still delicious when sprinkled with decorator coloured sugar ( available at your local "bulk barn" in LOTS of colours). If you like a chewier cookie, roll thicker, crunchier, thinner etc. Oh, and WATCH these CLOSELY, and remove from oven when edges just begin to brown. If you leave them in too long, get them off the cookie sheet FAST- they will cool faster. Lastly, use parchment paper to line cookie sheets for easy removal. Two thumbs up!!

I must add my voice to the hundreds before me. These cookies are a miracle! While I like to think I know my way around a kitchen, sugar cookies have always been disastrous for me. Not any more! The best advice I every received was from a review below-- I rolled them out on parchment paper then pulled away the scraps from around the cutout cookies. It eliminated damaging the cookies while transferring them to a cookie sheet. I used 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla as suggested. I made them for a wedding reception using the bride and grooms initials, frosted them with white icing and sprinkled them with irridescent edible glitter. They were beautiful and tasty. Thank you, Jill. I'm now thinking of reasons to bake sugar cookies...

WOW...these are great sugar cookies. Exactly what I was looking for. I made them for my son's preschool class using dinosaur cutouts and they turned out great. What I liked best was that they were nice and thick and held their shape well. I was worried about them breaking due to the dinosaur shapes but they really didn't! They are very "sturdy" cookies and I would highly recommend this recipe if you're using cookie cutters. I will say..I made the recipe as is for my first trial run and the taste was bland. Fortunately I added little mini m&m's so that helped. The second time I took other reviewer's suggestions and used 3 cups of sugar (instead of the recommended 2) and 2 tsps of vanilla (instead of 1) and this made a HUGE difference with the taste!! Tasted like the kind you buy at the mall!! A couple other tips that others have also said: Refrigerate the dough for a couple hours before using...this helps a LOT if using cutouts; definitely use parchment paper, and watch them when they cook! They cook fast! My dino cookies only needed about 5 minutes (with 5 cookies on a pan). Seriously, try these cookies with those changes and you'll love them!!!

I made these for my boyfriend on our anniversary. WOW! These were it. As an aspiring pastry chef, I am always in search of great recipes and ways to "doctor them" . I made 1/4 of the batch the first time and thought they were a tad bland. SO when I made the full recipe.... I added 1/2 zest of one lemon, and 1 c. confectioner's sugar, and 1 c. granulated, for sweetness (10x sugar has more sugar per cup)creamed it with the butter, and added 2 tsp. vanilla and I followed the rest of the ingredients and instructions ...and they were exactly what I was looking for... these are THE COOKIE BOUQUET COOKIES! The only thing is you only get 20 or so cookies if you want them 1/2" thick...so I would double the recipe.

Delicious! I tried this method I learned from a different sugar cookie recipe. You make little balls with the dough, then dip a glass into sugar and flatten cookie with the bottom of the sugared glass. Keeps you from having to roll them. I also refrigerate the rest of the dough and only make as many as we will eat in one sitting. This way you have fresh baked cookies every time.

These ARE the best! I didn't change the recipe at all, and I don't see the need to. I didn't have any problems at all with the dough being sticky. Matter of fact, I used only very little flour to roll them out. It was the smoothest, most cooperative cookie dough I've ever worked with. I only chilled mine for 1 hour and worked with a quarter of the dough at a time. I keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator until I was ready to use it. The cookies turned out soft and moist...WONDERFUL!!!!

Came out just as I hoped - the closest recipe to my grandma's I've found yet. Since some of the other reviews mentioned that they were perhaps a bit bland, I upped the vanilla a touch and threw in a dash or two of cinnamon and nutmeg. They came out very tasty and perfect for the holidays.

I thought this were the best sugar cookies I have ever eaten. I had no problems with the dough being sticky either. To those of you that did, maybe you mixed the flour with a mixer?? You should try it by hand. Will use this many times to come