These fall sugar cookies are cut into beautiful maple leaf shapes and are perfectly chewy. Wonderful served throughout the season with coffee or for Thanksgiving!
These fall sugar cookies always make our Thanksgiving Day spread. Not only are the pretty maple leaves easy on the eyes, the texture is out of this world chewy. Additionally, I love that I can prepare the dough days in advance, freeze it, and only have to focus on rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes on the big day.
In this recipe, you’ll learn all you need to know to not only make perfect fall sugar cookies, but also how to properly store it for later use. Who doesn’t love having a log of cookie dough in their freezer for a rainy day?
How to Make Fall Leaves Sugar Cookies
You only need a handful of ingredients to make these impressive fall sugar cookies. The kicker? You likely already have all the ingredients hanging out in your fridge and pantry.
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: Sift or stir the flour, cacao powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set it aside.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and egg together until smooth and creamy.
- Combine the Dry and Wet Ingredients: Slowly, combine the dry ingredients with the wet, being extra careful not to over mix the dough.
- Chill the Dough: Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Shape the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. While it’s heating up, roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it’s 1/4-inch thick. Cut out the cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges just start to brown. Let the cookies cool at room temperature for a couple of minutes and enjoy!
What is the Trick to Perfect Sugar Cookies?
Below, find a couple pro tips and tricks to help you make the perfect fall-inspired sugar cookies. What’s better? These rules apply to all sugar cookie recipes!
- Don’t over mix the batter. To prevent your cookies from turning out tough, refrain from over mixing the dry ingredients into the wet. Once the ingredients are combined, power off the mixer and let the dough be!
- Opt for pure vanilla extract. To get the best hint of vanilla flavor, use a pure vanilla extract versus a blend. It’s worth the couple extra dollars!
- Measure your flour correctly. Did you know most people don’t know how to measure flour correctly? Oftentimes, people think they are supposed to pack the measuring cup as tightly as possibly and end up with dry baked goods. On the contrary, you should use a spoon to loosely fill the measuring cup with flour just until it’s full.
- Allow the dough to chill. Allowing the dough to chill for 30 minutes before you roll it out and shape it makes it easier to work with and also promotes a nice, chewy texture.
Hot Tip: Get creative with decorating your cookies! Dip them in chocolate, followed by some crushed nuts or almond flour (we love using Bob’s Red Mill Super Fine Almond Flour).
Storing Sugar Cookies
- Room Temperature: Store leftover fall sugar cookies in an airtight container on the counter. They should keep fresh for up to a week before they start to turn stale.
- Freezer (Dough): To freeze raw sugar cookie dough, roll it into a log. Next, tightly wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap. To thaw it, place it in the refrigerator overnight. Roll it out, cut out the cookie shapes, and bake the cookies as directed.
- Freezer (Cookies): To freeze baked cookies, first allow them to cool down completely. Next, place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pop the sheet into the freezer. Once completely frozen, transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe bag and store for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, thaw them in the refrigerator for a couple hours.
FAQ
Are sugar cookies soft or crunchy?
Sugar cookies should be soft on the inside with a very light crunch on the outside. To achieve this texture, make sure you don’t over mix the batter.
What is the difference between butter cookies and sugar cookies?
Sugar cookies tend to call for less butter and more flour than butter cookies. As a result, the texture of sugar cookies tends to be chewier, while butter cookies tend to air more on the side of a biscuit.
Why are my sugar cookies hard?
Your cookies likely turned out hard if you baked them too long or didn’t keep them stored in an airtight container.
How thick should I roll out my sugar cookie dough?
You should roll out your dough to 1/4-inch thick to get a chewy inside and a nice outer crunch.
How do you get the perfect sugar cookie shape?
To get the perfect sugar cookie shape, always use a cookie cutter. You can also use the rim of a glass cup.
Other Tasty Cookie Recipes
- Kolaczki Recipe (Polish Cookies) – Jam-filled sugar cookies
- Madeleine Cookies – French tea cookies
- THE Perfect Sugar Cookies – Classic, fool proof sugar cookies
- Russian Walnut Cookies (aka Oreshki) – Circular cookies filled with dulce de leche
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cup flour
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cacao powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and egg together on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Slowly, blend in the dry ingredients to the wet until they are just combined. Be careful not to over mix!
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. On a floured surface, roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it's about 1/4-inch thick. Using a maple leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut out the cookie shapes and place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges turn a light shade of golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for a couple minutes. Enjoy!
Thanks a lot for this amazing and super easy to make sugar cookies recipe! It's really tasty and very flavorful! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Hi Alyssa - Thanks a mill! Appreciate the kind words. These cookies are so versatile. The best part? They are a cookie AND a decoration for your Thanksgiving Day spread all wrapped in one.
Oh my gosh! What adorable sugar cookies! LOVED the seasonal shapes that make them perfect for celebrating the autumn season!
Hi Lisalia - How sweet! The seasonal shapes are so fun. You can easily find the maple leaf mold online or at most craft stores. Let me know how they turn out if you decide to make them.
These are delicious! The cacao powder really gives them a unique and interesting flavor! Love them dipped in chocolate!
Right?! The cacao powder really elevates the flavor. I'm glad you enjoyed them. Chocolate dipped is my favorite way to have them too!
Is it going to be good if i cover them with powdered sugar?
Yes! I love that idea
Are these good when painted with chocolate on top? Or is the cookie gona get soft from that?
I think they would be great with some chocolate on top. Tell me when you try them, what you think of the cookies.
I made them yesterday & they turned out really good! My chocolate that I topped them with was a little too soft since I added a bit more liquid, but it still didn't make the cookie soft.
Olga, thank you for sharing. I want to try a chocolate glaze. What did you use?
I didn't follow any recipe. i just did "na oko" melted semil-sweet choc chips with a little bit heavy cream & little butter. For next time I'm going to try just melting the semisweet choc chips without anything else, bc the chocolate turned out a little too soft for a crunchy cookie
Oh, sounds mouthwatering already. Its similar to the chocolate glaze I have on drunken cherry cake. I love this idea, thanks for sharing 🙂
Beautiful cookies!
Thank you Marina. Sugar cookies are just perfect for any holidays 🙂 can't wait for valentines day 🙂