(Post Updated 26th July 2025)
Do you find your beautiful sugar cookies lose their shape in the oven? Imagine your delicious sugar cookies emerging from the oven with sharp, defined edges, the same size and shape as they went in, ready for you to transform into a decorated masterpiece that will truly impress!
If you’ve ever been frustrated by your cookies spreading or your new to sugar cookies, and you’re looking for the perfect recipe, then this one is for you. This week, I’m so excited to share my tried and tested no spread sugar cookie recipe, designed to give you perfectly shaped, flawless sugar cookies every single time.
Step by Step – No Spread Sugar Cookie Video Tutorial
Hit play on the video below for a full guide to making and baking your perfect sugar cookies. You’ll learn every step, from mixing the dough to chilling your cut out shapes for flawless results. If you’d prefer you’ll find the full recipe and detailed written instructions just a scroll away at the bottom of this post.
Why Your Sugar Cookies Spread (and How to Stop It!)
If you’ve created your sugar cookies especially to decorate with royal icing or to use with the popular fondant cutters and you’ve found when baked your sugar cookies have spread and lost their shape, this can be so frustrating. Understanding the science behind cookie spread is the first step to preventing it.
The importance of using the right butter
The main reason cookies spread in the oven is down to the fat content, specifically the butter in your dough. When butter melts quickly in a hot oven, it causes the dough to flatten out before the other ingredients have a chance to set, leading to the your cookies looking like a bit of a blob.
Real dairy butter is a must (the kind that comes in a block). Avoid baking spreads or margarines which often come in tubs. These products have a higher water content and different fat compositions that stops them from going hard in the fridge, and this is the key!
Chilling your dough for the perfect no spread cookie
In this recipe I use room temperature butter. You want it soft enough to indent with your finger as this will help it cream beautifully with the sugar. If it’s too warm it can make your dough oily and hard to work with.
To stop your cookies spreading we then need the butter to firm up and solidity. Chilling the dough once you have cut out your shapes in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or even longer!), will mean that when the cookies enter the hot oven, the butter will take much longer to melt. The longer the butter remains solid, the more time the flour and other ingredients have to set and create the cookie’s structure. Less melting equals less spreading, leaving you with those beautifully defined, perfectly shaped cookies!
Salted or unsalted butter?
I get asked this question a lot. Should you use salted or unsalted butter for your sugar cookies? I personally prefer to use salted butter as I find it enhances the flavour, but unsalted butter works perfectly fine too. If using unsalted butter, you might want to add a tiny pinch of salt when mixing the ingredients to balance the sweetness and deepen the flavour, but it really is down to personal choice.
Decorating Your Cookies
Once your cookies are baked and cooled the real fun begins. You can certainly leave them plain, but adding beautiful designs is what makes these cookies truly shine. Two of the most popular methods for decorating your cookies is to use either Royal icing or fondant.
Royal Icing vs Fondant – Which to choose
Deciding between royal icing and fondant often comes down to your skill level, desired look, and time.
- Royal Icing: This classic choice offers endless possibilities for intricate piping. Some cookie artists achieve mind-blowing designs with royal icing (I wish I had a fraction of their skill!). However, it does require a little practice to master.
- Fondant: If you’re new to cookie decorating or looking for a quicker method, fondant is an excellent choice. It provides a smooth, clean finish and there are so many stamps and cutters you can use for for instant professional results.
Creative decorating ideas with fondant
As you’ll see in my video tutorial, fondant offers incredibly easy ways to create stunning cookie designs.
Here I’ve used the ‘Made with Love’ Outboss stamp by Sweet Stamp, these type of stamps make it so easy to add fun messages onto your cookies. Just push the stamp into your fondant and paint the letters with a little edible paint. There are also so many designs to choose from and these look great on any shaped cookie.
Alternatively Sweet Stamp recently brought out a collection of Stamp ‘n’ Cut cookie cutters . These come in 2 parts, a shaped cookie cutter and an Outboss stamp. You first use the cookie cutter for cutting out your dough, before combining the Outboss stamp and cutter to emboss the design in fondant to add to the top of your cookie. Just like the cute cherry cutter I featured in the tutorial!
Get 10% off Sweet Stamp Products
Sweet Stamp have kindly given me a 10% off voucher code for you to use. This can be used on any purchases made on their website. To receive the 10% off all you need to do is visit their website sweetstamp.online and enter the code CAKESBYLYNZ at the checkout!
Tools & Equipment I used
To make these sugar cookies, here is a list of the tools I used in the video tutorial:
Kenwood Mixer: Amazon – https://amzn.to/3g7tKIY Kenwood World – https://tidd.ly/3ubb57e
Cherry Stamp ‘n’ Cut by Sweet Stamp: https://bit.ly/3s3SPtN (Get 10% off with code ‘CakesbyLynz’)
Made with Love Outboss stamp: https://bit.ly/3o8wVUO (Get 10% off with code ‘CakesbyLynz’)
Circle Cookie Cutters: https://amzn.to/3AJeCdW
You can also find all my favourite cake decorating tools and equipment over in my Amazon Shop here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/cakesbylynz
~ Please note that the links above are affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase items through the link, I will receive a small commission from the website but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog x ~
No Spread Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g Room Temperature Butter
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 360 g Plain Flour (All purpose flour)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Or flavouring of your choice)
- 1 Medium Egg
Instructions
- Cream the sugar and butter together in your mixer (this can also be done by hand).
- Add your medium egg and 1 tsp of your favouring and mix this through until fully combined.
- Slowly add in your flour a table spoon at a time, giving the flour time to absorb the butter in the mixture. Mix until you have a dough that clings together.
- Roll out your cookie dough on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of 5mm. Then cut out your shapes placing your cookies on a sheet of parchment paper.
- Place your cookies in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the butter in your mixture to firm up.
- After 30 minutes place your cookies onto a chilled baking tray (still on the parchment paper) into a preheated oven at 180°C (356°F) on the middle shelf (Please note this is a normal oven setting, not a fan oven setting). Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until the edges start to go slightly golden in colour. If you have multiple batches make sure your baking tray is completely cool before adding your next batch of cookies.
- Place your cookies on a wire rack to cool. Once cool they are ready to decorate. You can then decorate them with royal icing or fondant. Watch the video above to get some ideas!
- To store your cookies place them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. This will keep them fresh for around a week.
Notes
I really hope you’ve enjoyed my no spread sugar cookie tutorial and that you have fun making and decorating your own cookies. They are such a delicious treat, perfect on their own or as an addition to a treat box alongside cupcakes and cakesicles!
If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel for even more free cake decorating tutorials. I’m always sharing new recipes, techniques, and creative ideas to help you on your baking journey!
Happy baking!
Plus why not save this tutorial for later and pin it to Pinterest
20 Responses
I am saving you I love your recipe
Hi Jill, I’m so pleased you love the recipe. I love making these cookies!
Are the oven temperatures fan forced?
Hi Vicki, I always bake with a normal oven setting, without the fan option. If you are using a fan oven you will need to reduce the temperature and bake for a little longer as a fan oven can bake the outside a lot faster than the inside of the cookies.
Hi, I have been following your baking advice for a long time. Love all that you do. Do you re-roll any leftover dough to make more cookies and does this cause cookies to spread aswell
Hi Ivana, Yes I always roll back up the leftover dough and roll it again to cut out more cookies. Because you add the cookies into the fridge before they are baked this stops the dough spreading as the butter in the mixture gets cold and firms up before baking.