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You’ve found the whole wheat sugar cookie that tastes scrumptious AND can easily be cut into perfect shapes.
Whether it’s a special occasion or you want to enjoy a delicious cookie made with whole wheat flour without a dense/hockey puck texture, this recipe guarantees lots of smiles.
Roll-Out Sugar Cookies with Whole Wheat Flour
The perfect whole-wheat sugar cookie (aka this one) should have a chewy texture with a buttery and not-to-sweet flavor. It should be soft enough to easily bite in and sturdy enough to handle being decorated without breaking or crumbling everywhere.
While this recipe can be made with traditional whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pastry flour is a game-changer. It gives cookies, pie crusts, bread, and other baked goods a delicate texture that tastes like a pro baked it and a little less dense than traditional whole-wheat.
Ingredients
Let’s take a trip to the pantry and grab the following items to make these sugar cookies:
- Whole wheat pastry flour: pastry flour has a finer texture. If you don’t have any, traditional whole wheat flour will work.
- All-purpose flour: using only whole wheat flour will make the cookies too dense; regular all-purpose flour is necessary for them to be soft and chewy.
- Salt: enhances the flavor and leavening.
- Baking soda: helps the cookie dough rise while baking and provides texture.
- Unsalted butter: make sure it’s at room temperature. If using salted, omit the added salt.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetness.
- Egg white: binds the cookie dough and makes a stiff icing.
- Vanilla extract: belongs in sugar cookies.
- Almond extract: optional and tastes incredible combined with vanilla extract.
- Powdered sugar: for the icing.
- Lemon juice: brightens the icing flavor, so it’s not overly sweet.
You’ll find the ingredient amounts in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to Make Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
Follow the step-by-step directions below, and you’ll have perfect sugar cookies ready to frost and eat!
- Sift the dry ingredients
Combine the flours, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; make sure to use the scoop-to-fill method and measure the flour correctly. - Combine the wet ingredients
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it’s fluffy. Add the egg white, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix until combined. - Chill
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 325F. - Roll out
Roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes and transfer them to a lined baking sheet. - Bake
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, remove them from the oven, and let them cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet. - Mix the icing
While the cookies cool, whisk the powdered sugar, egg whites, and lemon juice in a large bowl until smooth- the consistency should be a glaze. - Frost and enjoy
Ice the cookies with a small spatula or piping bag and decorate as desired.
All that’s left is to grab a glass of milk or cup of coffee and treat yourself!
Love it when you can watch how to make a recipe before attempting it yourself? Me too! Watch how it’s made in this short video:
Whole Wheat Sugar Cookie Tips
Making these whole-wheat sugar cookies is similar to making traditional sugar cookies. Here are some tips for the best results!
Room temperature butter and eggs
Are much easier to work into cookie dough without overworking the gluten.
Don’t skip the chilling
Cold dough rolls out without sticking to the rolling pin and will retain its shape in the oven.
Storage
If there are any leftover cookies, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Make Ahead
Prepare and refrigerate the dough for up to 5 days or freeze-wrapped in a freezer-safe container for up to 30 days.
Now you just need to make yourself a mug of homemade hot cocoa, and you’ll be ready to enjoy your cookies!
Whole-Wheat Sugar Cookie Recipe
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1 cup Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour
- ½ cup Unbleached All-purpose Flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
Icing:
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk flours, salt, and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the egg white, vanilla, and almond extract, beat until combined.
- To the butter mixture, add flour mixture, and mix until incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours.
- Once dough is ready, preheat oven to 325°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lightly dust a work surface with all-purpose flour and place chilled dough directly onto the work surface. Roll dough out to a ¼-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes in dough, and gently transfer them to baking sheets. Re-roll dough scraps into new large pieces of dough.
- Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until the edges look golden but not browned. Remove cookies from oven, and cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the icing, whisk together all the icing ingredients in a large bowl until completely smooth. Mixture should have consistency of a glaze. If you want a thicker glaze, add a little more sugar and any food coloring you like.
- Ice cookies by icing the edges first and then filling it in. Let icing harden before serving. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate dough for up to 5 days and freeze dough up to 30 days.
Dee says
I just made these cookies used coconut oil instead of butter an unsweetened applesauce instead of egg, raw sugar instead of granulated. Wow! thanks for this wholewheat flour cookies.
Sarah says
I love the nice compromise between whole wheat pastry flour and a little white. Too many other recipes are 100% one or the other. These are also a nice medium sweetness level.
I think I rolled mine a little too thin, so they were crispier than I wanted. But I have a feeling they’d be perfect if I do 1/4-1/2″ next time.
And now I know to literally roll them straight from the fridge! I let my first dough ball warm a little on the counter first, and those were nearly impossible to handle. Next batch straight from the fridge was perfect.
Donna says
My kiddos are going to love this whole wheat sugar cookie recipe! Love that its a healthier version of traditional cookies!
Tonya Shultz says
Made these last night, they were amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe.