Craving something sweet? Make these sugar cookies! Easy to make with 8 ingredients, they have lightly crisp edges and perfect chewy middles.
Hands up if you love soft and chewy sugar cookies! If you have your hand raised, this sugar cookie recipe is for you.
Adapted from my snickerdoodle recipe, it yields sugar cookies with perfect chewy middles, lightly crisp edges, and a warm, buttery flavor. Best of all, it’s super easy to make. You just need 8 basic ingredients…and you don’t even have to chill the dough.
You could totally make these cookies for a holiday—roll them in red and green sugar for Christmas, or top them off with pink frosting for Valentine’s Day. But honestly, we just love them as an everyday treat. They’re such a simple, delicious way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this sugar cookie recipe:
- All-purpose flour – It makes up the base of the dough. Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Granulated sugar – While I normally use natural cane sugar in my baking, I think these cookies have the best soft and chewy texture when they’re made with a fine white granulated sugar like Domino. You’ll use some in the cookie dough, and if you like, you can roll the cookies in more sugar before baking.
- Unsalted butter – It should be at room temperature before you start to bake. I usually let mine warm up on my kitchen counter for about 1 hour before I make the cookie dough. I tested this recipe with 365 and Kroger unsalted butter. Different brands may yield slightly different results.
- An egg + an egg yolk – The egg yolk gives the cookies extra moisture, keeping them soft and chewy.
- Baking powder and baking soda – They help the cookies rise as they bake. The baking soda also helps them spread. I originally tested this recipe with just baking powder and found that I really needed the baking soda to get the perfect texture.
- Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor. When I make these cookies around the holidays, I like to add a few drops of almond extract too.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Sugar Cookies
I’m sharing the full sugar cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:
Start by making the cookie dough. First, whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer or stand mixer. Beat them until they’re light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until a uniform cookie dough forms. You might need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure that everything is evenly mixed.
Next, shape the cookies. You have 2 options here:
- Option 1: Roll the cookies in sugar. Scoop the dough with a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, then use your hands to roll it into balls. Roll the dough balls in sugar before placing them on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Option 2: Skip the sugar. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough directly onto the baking sheets.
Both ways are delicious—the sugar just gives the cookies a little extra crunch on the outside.
Bake the cookies at 350°F until they’re puffed, spread, and just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 11 minutes. They might still look a little underdone when you take them out of the oven, but they’ll set up as they cool.
- Tip: Bake one sheet at a time. Different zones of an oven can run hot or cold. For the most even bake, bake one sheet of cookies at a time in the center of the oven. If you use multiple racks, some cookies could brown too much before others cook through.
Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Decorating Ideas
You don’t need to decorate these sugar cookies—they’re delicious plain!—but if you’d like to, feel free.
- Add colored sugar: Instead of rolling them in additional granulated sugar, roll them in festive colored sugar. Choose red and green for Christmas, black and orange for Halloween, pink for Valentine’s Day, etc.! No frosting required.
- Or frost them: Once the cookies are completely cool, slather them with my cream cheese frosting or any type of frosting you love. Feel free to top with sprinkles too!
How to Store Sugar Cookies
These cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. (Store frosted cookies in the fridge.)
They also freeze well. Allow them to cool completely before sealing them in an airtight container or bag and freezing for up to 3 months. They thaw within an hour at room temperature.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
If you love these easy sugar cookies, try one of these yummy cookie recipes next:
Easy Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks, at room temperature
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar, plus more for rolling (optional)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between cookies. Alternatively, for extra sweetness and crunch on the outsides of the cookies, roll the dough into balls and then roll in sugar before placing on the baking sheets.
- Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed, spread, and just beginning to turn lightly golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Years ago, I was looking through my niece’s Sesame Street Encyclopedia set and ran across a recipe for “Cookie Monster’s Cookie Recipe”. It is a sugar cookie recipe but calls for margarine instead of butter. The cookies are so good and I have baked them for over 40 years now for Christmas and sometimes just because we want them at different times of the year. I can’t wait to try these cookies and see how my family likes them to compare against the ones I have made for years. 😀
Can I substitute gluten free flour?
These are amazing cookies. So easy and simple to make. The sea salt just makes these extra good and yummy! I love that they are not crazy sweet. I followed the recipe exactly as written and found these to be my new favorite cut out cookies.
I’m so glad you loved them!
Just made these today as my first attempt at sugar cookies in several years. Not bad! Could be a touch sweeter, but then again, I don’t usually frost or ice cookies, and I imagine that’s where most of the sweetness would come from.
Can these be made dairy free by using vegan butter. We are ok with the egg
Hi Holly, I haven’t had success with vegan cutouts (vegan butters have a tendency to make cookies go flat when baked). Here’s a vegan sugar cookie recipe that I love: https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-sugar-cookies/
Would these be any good to make a gingerbread house? We don’t really like gingerbread so looking for an alternative biscuit…
Could you put fondant on top of these cookies? Do you have a recipe for it?
Hi Salina, I’m sorry, I don’t have a recipe for it.
How many cookies does this make?
Hi Ashley, it makes about 3 dozen cookies, though the exact number will depend on the size and shape of your cookie cutters.
P.S. I forgot to add, I made the cookies with country crock plant butter instead of regular and they were spectacular.
I made these (Halloween style) with my daughter today! I wish I could add a picture, they turned out perfect. I even made the royal icing, and it turned out wonderfully for my first attempt. Next time I’ll try to make it thinner! The cookies are only lightly sweet which perfectly balances with the sweet frosting.
I use baking stones so mine baked closer to 12 min. Skipped the almond extract cause it’s not my favorite flavor. Thanks Jeanine!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I think that this recipe is so incredibly delicious! Thank you for using at home ingredients, to help make this recipe easier.
Can you make the cookies without cream of tartar?
yessir
Just made these and they turned out great. I only had vanilla (no almond or lemon). More buttery/like shortbread than expected but the recipe worked well. I made the dough the day before, then left on counter to soften before rolling. Made 30 cookies. Gonna ice them soon! I think the flavor will balance well (adding the sugary icing).
The vegan sugar cookie has egg, I thought vegans don’t eat eggs
This recipe isn’t labeled as vegan.
Is it possible to make one Vegan 🙂 My son has egg allergies but I wish I could replace the egg buy something else without the dought behind too friable.
you can try and do a flax egg
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed)
2 1/2 Tbsp water
Instructions
Add flaxseed meal and water to a dish and stir. Let rest for 5 minutes to thicken. Add to recipes in place of 1 egg (as original recipe is written).
It’s not an exact 1:1 substitution in every recipe because it doesn’t bind and stiffen during baking quite like an egg does. But I’ve found it to work incredibly well in pancakes, quick breads, brownies, muffins, cookies, and many other recipes.
this is satisfying
I would also like to know if the dough is freezable, how long it can stay in the freezer and how long to thaw before using. Thanks for your response!
Hi Stacy, I haven’t tried freezing the dough, so I’m not sure.
LOVED this cookie recipe! Made them with my son and we both enjoyed them a lot. Even making the frosting was easy and delicious. I am not a big fan of sugar cookies, with these were perfect – not overly sweet, buttery, crumbly. Thanks!
Is it ok if I leave the dough, wrapped in the fridge 24 hours or so? Won’t be able to bake tonight but hope they will be ok tomorrow
What can be used to replace the merengue powder?
Hi ML, I don’t have a substitution, it’s what makes this particular icing stiff. You could make a glaze from this recipe instead: https://www.loveandlemons.com/shortbread-cookies/ or the (stickier) or frosting from this recipe: https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-sugar-cookies/
Corn syrup is what I use instead of meringue powder.
Now I need to look for our cookie stencils. This is a cool recipe.