How to Make the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients for easy sugar cookies:
- All-purpose flour – make sure to weigh your flour accurately. If you add too much flour, your cookies won’t spread at all!
- Baking powder – this gives the cookies lift without adding too much spread or browning.
- Fine sea salt – so important to balance the sweetness!
- Unsalted butter – it’s important that your butter is at a cool room temperature, otherwise your cookies may spread into little puddles. Your sticks of butter should give slightly when pressed with your finger but still hold their shape. To be precise, your butter should be 67°F.
- Granulated sugar – the star ingredient!
- Eggs – one whole egg with an extra egg yolk lends richness and chewiness to the texture, just make sure they’re at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – no sugar cookie recipe is complete without vanilla extract.
How to make SOFT sugar cookies:
The extra egg yolk helps to add more moisture and richness for a soft and chewy texture. The other trick is found in the size of the dough ball…. a whole 3 tablespoons in each!
This creates larger cookies that spread out perfectly with ultra-soft centers. Whatever you do, don’t overbake your cookies. They should still look ever so slightly ‘wet’ in the center when you pull them from the oven.
Roll your cookie dough balls in sugar before baking!
Roll each ball of dough in a shallow dish filled with granulated sugar. This creates that slightly crispy exterior and beautiful sparkly appearance.
If you want to make your cookies festive and pretty without extra work, roll the balls of dough in colored sugar before baking. I like to have one bowl filled with green colored sugar and a separate with red for easy Christmas sugar cookies!
Can I make sugar cookies with a hand mixer?
Yes! A hand mixer will work just as well as a stand mixer.
What kind of baking sheet is best for sugar cookies?
A light colored aluminum half sheet pan is my favorite for baking cookies. Avoid dark nonstick pans altogether, they brown too much and may burn the bottoms of your cookies. The below photo features cookies from the same exact batch of dough, baked for the same amount of time at the same temperature. The only difference was the baking pan!
Check out my Baking Pans 101 post for all the surprising details. Or, just click here to score my favorite baking pans for cookies (and everything else!).
Should I line my baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats?
I prefer parchment paper for cookies over silicone mats. Parchment is easier and quicker to cleanup. Silicone mats like Silpats can actually lead to more spreading and browning. Check out the details here.
Whatever you do, never spray your baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray when baking cookies. This will lead to too much browning and spread (hello, burnt cookie puddles).
How long to bake drop style sugar cookies:
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies set and are just beginning to brown around the edges. The longer you bake, the crispier your cookies will be.
Can this recipe be used for cut-out cookies?
No, this recipe was designed for simple drop-style cookies.
If you want cookie-cutter sugar cookies instead, check out my Cut Out Sugar Cookie recipe here.
How to make frosting for sugar cookies:
I love my Best Buttercream recipe for these cookies. It’s perfect because you can get creative with the flavor suggestions in that recipe post or even with gel food coloring for a festive flair. Another favorite is my Best Cream Cheese Frosting recipe!
How to store sugar cookies:
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store cookies with a tortilla, apple wedge, or piece of bread to keep them soft for longer!
Can you freeze sugar cookies?
Yes! Freeze the uncoated balls of cookie dough in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag. Allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature, then bake as directed below.
You can roll the cookie dough balls in the sugar before freezing. However, the dough will absorb some of the sugar, and it won’t have quite the same visual or texture impact compared to rolling in sugar right before baking.
Check out my How to Freeze Cookie Dough article for step-by-step instructions.
Just wondering, what does cream of tartar do to a sugar cookie recipe?
I have one that I’ve been making ever since I was a little girl and it has cream of tarter in it.
Why would someone add it and why would someone not add it for their recipe?
Just curious?
Thanks!
Hi Grace-Anne 🙂 Cream of tartar is more classic to the taste and texture of a Snickerdoodle than a Sugar Cookie in our experience. We try not to call for harder-to-find ingredients when possible and didn’t find it necessary for this recipe. Hope that helps! Please let us know how this recipe compares to your favorite sugar cookie recipe!
Hi! These looks amazing. Do you know what I can use in replace of butter and eggs to make it vegan?
Hi Priscilla! Please check out our article here regarding our views on Baking Substitutions. I would suggest searching instead for a sugar cookie recipe specifically designed to your dietary needs. Sorry we can’t help further!
OMG seriously delicious! My go to sugar cookie recipe.
So happy to hear that!
Do I bake them right away or chill the dough for 24-48 hours?
Hi Karen! You can bake these cookies up right away, no chilling required 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think!
I made these and they tasted delicious, but mine turned out super cakey/fluffy. Could this have been caused by my butter not being cool enough or too much flour? Thank you!
Hi Lida! So happy you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 Cakey cookies can happen due to too much flour being added. Do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients?
Would this recipe be good with adding m&ms or Funfetti sprinkles?
Hi Tully! We haven’t tried adding m&ms, but you’re welcome to experiment! I’ve personally made these with about 1/4 cup of multi-colored jimmies, and they taste delicious 🙂 Let us know what you think!
easy to execute and I was eating cookies within an hour! Love it. Can’t resist a good sugar cookie.
thanks!!
Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Monica!
Oh my wow…these are AMAZING! Great flavor, slightly crispy sugar ‘shell’ created by the sugar on the outside, the cookie is actually kind of soft in the center but slight crisp on very edge. Recipe days to use a 3Tbsp sized dough ball per cookie, this definitely gave a better chew to the cookie than a smaller amount of dough but the cookie is quite large.
So glad to hear that, Kim! Crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center is just what you want with these cookies! I’ve actually got a batch in my freezer ready to go whenever a craving strikes 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I just want to say your recipe is a Keeper in my house 🙂 we all loved it! My boys each needed more then one cookie at a time!! … I will definitely be making them allot this winter and I look forward to trying more recipes from you
So happy to hear they were such a hit, Laura!! I agree, I’ve actually got an extra batch in my freezer right now for when the craving hits during the week haha! These cookies would be so pretty and festive during the winter holidays/season with rolling the balls of dough in different colored sugars! Thanks so much for the rave review 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that this recipe is a keeper in our home 🙂 its perfectly delicious, my husband and boys loved it!! I will definitely be making it quite often this winter
Ive made these so many times and they are my ultimate FAVORITE sugar! Easy and the perfect balance of everything I want in a sugar cookie!
So glad you love these cookies! Thanks for the kind words, Brianna!
Hi there! Do you think a cream cheese frosting Would be good on these cookies?
Absolutely, that would be delicious! You can find Tessa’s cream cheese frosting recipe here: https://handletheheat.com/best-cream-cheese-frosting/