Delicious Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cut Out Cookies are sweetened with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon. These easy, buttery cookies bake up perfectly every time and make a great holiday cookie at Christmas time.
This recipe takes plain sugar cookies to a whole new level! Replacing the white sugar in traditional sugar cookies with brown sugar and adding cinnamon is what makes these the ultimate sugar cookies. They have a crumbly shortbread texture, crisp edges, notes of rich caramel from the dark brown sugar and a comforting cinnamon flavour. You won’t be disappointed with this easy cut out sugar cookie recipe!
This is a great sugar cookie recipe for cutting out because the cookies hold their shape when baked. And best of all the cut out shapes are easily customizable for many occasions. Make them tree shaped for Christmas, heart shaped for Valentine’s Day, leaf shaped for fall and Thanksgiving, or animal shaped for kids. Use whatever cookie cutter style fits your theme.
My favourite thing to do at Christmas time is to bake batches of cookies and share them at holiday parties or pack them up as gifts. These cinnamon cookies also make a beautiful addition to Christmas cookie boxes and are guaranteed to be a coveted cookie at any cookie exchange. I hope you will enjoy these warm and cozy Christmas sugar cookies as much as my family does!
Why you’ll love these cinnamon cookies
- Simple pantry ingredients: Easy to make sugar cookies with common pantry and fridge staples that blend together in minutes to create the perfect cookie dough.
- Cookies Don’t Spread: They never spread during baking and the cookie dough is effortless to work with; simply roll, cut out desired shapes, chill and bake.
- Make with kids: Ideal cookie recipe for little ones to help out with since they love rolling dough and using cookie cutters.
- For any occasion: Versatile, crowd pleasing sugar cookies are fun to cut out into many shapes to adapt for any season or holiday.
Ingredients Needed to Make Cinnamon Cut Out Cookies
- Butter – Use unsalted butter at room temperature.
- Dark Brown Sugar – Dark brown sugar (as opposed to golden brown sugar) for the best caramel flavour.
- Egg – Just one egg at room temperature is needed to help bind the dough.
- Vanilla Extract – Use pure vanilla extract which will give the cookies and intoxicating flavour.
- Flour – All purpose flour is best for these cookies.
- Baking Powder – Just a little touch of baking powder will help the cookies rise.
- Salt – Enhances the flavour of the cookie batter.
- Cinnamon – A main ingredient that gives the cookies warmth, flavour and an amazing aroma.
- Icing Sugar – Mixed with cinnamon to create the dusting for the cookies.
How to Make Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
(Ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post)
- In a mixer with a paddle attachment beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla, then add flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and beat until a uniform dough forms.
- Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a disk. Wrap each piece with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Let refrigerated dough rest for 15 - 20 minutes so it will be soft enough to roll. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to about ¼” thickness while sprinkling more flour as needed. Cut desired shapes and arrange them on baking sheets. Re-roll scraps. Chill cookies for 10 – 15 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes just until the bottoms are pale and lightly golden brown. Let cookies set on the baking sheet for 2 – 3 minutes before removing to a rack. Once cooled, dust the cookies with cinnamon sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Season-themed cookie cutters come in so many shapes, sizes and unique designs. Whether you are looking for festive holiday shapes, silly animals, or any other design, I recommend quality stainless steel cutters. Metal cutters will always give you the cleanest cut, are less likely to stick to the dough, and are dishwasher safe. Keep in mind that the size of cutter you choose may change the yield of cookies and may also affect the baking time; you just need to make the proper adjustments for that.
Ultimately you do want to reroll the dough scraps otherwise the recipe will not yield the right amount of cookies. If the scraps get too warm, just refrigerate them for 10 – 15 minutes before re-rerolling.
You won’t have to worry about the cookies spreading with this recipe as long as you follow the required chilling times and oven temperature given in the recipe.
Sugar cookies should be soft with lightly crisp edges. Always ensure the dough is not rolled out too thin and do not over bake the cookies which will guarantee they bake up soft and tender with a slight crunch and clean edges.
The beauty of this recipe is that the cookies don’t require decorating but simply need a dusting of cinnamon sugar on top and they’re perfect.
Pro-Tips for the best soft and moist cut out cookies
- Yield will depend on size of cutter used; with a 2 ½” cookie cutter and the recommended thickness, you should get 4 dozen (48) cookies.
- Refrigerate wrapped dough for 2 hours or overnight then let the refrigerated dough rest for 15 - 20 minutes so it will be soft enough to roll easily.
- Roll out cookie dough to ¼ inch thickness; the cookies need to be thick in order to yield the optimum soft and tender cookie with lightly crisped edges.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats so the cookies won’t stick when baked.
- Refrigerate cut cookies on the baking sheets for 10 – 15 minutes to chill the butter in them before baking to ensure they will hold their shape and won’t spread when baked.
- For best results, under bake cookies slightly; pull them out of the oven just when they start to look golden brown on the edges.
- If you choose to make smaller or larger cookies, adjust the baking time. Keep an eye on the first batch of cookies to determine the perfect bake time for the size and shape of your cookies.
- Ensure the cookies are completely cooled before dusting with cinnamon sugar and use a fine mesh sieve to sprinkle it.
Can I make cookie the dough in advance?
Yes you can! Wrap the dough disks in plastic wrap and transfer them to a zipper storage bag. The dough will last for three days in the refrigerator. Alternatively, freeze the wrapped dough for 1 – 2 months. Thaw frozen cookie dough in the refrigerator overnight.
How do I store brown sugar cinnamon cookies?
- Store: Store the cookies in an airtight container with a sheet of parchment paper between each layer. The cookies store well at room temperature for one week up to 10 days.
- Freeze: Freeze the cookies in an airtight container with a sheet of parchment paper between each layer for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove cookies from the container and arrange them on a rack to thaw for 2 – 3 hours.
More cut out cookies to try:
- Vanilla Cookies Dipped in White Chocolate and Pistachios
- Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
- Jam Filled Cut Out Cookies
Recipe
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cut Out Cookies
Delicious Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cut Out Cookies are sweetened with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon. These easy, buttery cookies bake up perfectly every time and make a great holiday cookie at Christmas time.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup butter at room temperature, 2 sticks
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour, plus ½ cup more for rolling
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
-
For the cookies, with a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat again until smooth and creamy.
-
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Reduce mixer speed to low, gradually add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until combined and a uniform dough forms.
-
Divide dough into two equal portions and shape into disks, about 6” wide. Wrap each piece tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
-
Remove dough from refrigerator; leave wrapped and let sit at room temperature for 15 - 20 minutes until soft enough to roll out.
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 3 large baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
-
Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out one disk at a time to a ¼” thickness. The cookies should be thick. While rolling, lightly sprinkle top and bottom with more flour as needed.
-
Cut desired shapes with cookie cutters and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheets placing them at least 1” apart. Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for 10 – 15 minutes. Baking cold cookies helps hold their shape. Repeat process with remaining dough and re-roll scraps as well.
-
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, just until the bottoms are pale and lightly golden brown; baking time may vary depending on the size of the cookies. Leave cookies on the baking sheet for 2 - 3 minutes to set before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
-
For the cinnamon sugar topping, mix icing sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. With a fine mesh sieve dust the cooled cookies with cinnamon sugar.
Recipe Notes
- Yield will depend on size of cutter used; with a 2 ½” cookie cutter and the recommended thickness, you should get 4 dozen (48) cookies.
- Refrigerate wrapped dough for 2 hours or overnight then let the refrigerated dough rest for 15 - 20 minutes so it will be soft enough for rolling.
- Roll out cookie dough to ¼ inch thickness; the cookies need to be thick in order to yield the optimum soft and tender cookie with lightly crisped edges.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats so the cookies won’t stick.
- Refrigerate cut cookies on the baking sheets for 10 – 15 minutes to chill the butter in them before baking to ensure they will hold their shape and won’t spread when baked.
- For best results, under bake cookies slightly; pull them out of the oven just when they start to look golden brown on the edges.
- If you choose to make smaller or larger cookies, adjust the baking time. Keep an eye on the first batch of cookies to determine the perfect bake time for the size and shape of your cookies.
- Ensure the cookies are completely cooled before dusting with cinnamon sugar and use a fine mesh
sieve to sprinkle it.
Leave a Reply