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Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The perfect amount of sweetness.
Texture: My favorite part, each bite is the ideal balance between soft and chewy.
Ease: Super easy 30-minute sugar cookie recipe with no chilling required.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Fun, simple, and perfect for holidays from Christmas to Valentine’s Day, even 4th of July. Everyone LOVES these cookies.
Not to boast, but everyone who has tasted or made this sugar cookie recipe has said it became their instant favorite!! It took weeks of testing to get it just right.
These Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies require NO CHILLING and are incredibly easy to bake up.
Reader Love
Delicious! Just made these with my 3 year old daughter. Easy to follow recipe and will be my go-to for sugar cookies! Only difference was adding rainbow sprinkles (the round ones) to the sugar to roll the balls in before baking.
Absolutely amazing cookies, A great recipe, and the cookies turned out so well too, just like your photos. Definitely a recipe to repeat.
I tested versions with cream cheese, but found they became too claggy. I also tested smaller sized cookies, but found they didn’t stay as soft and chewy in the center.
After many rounds of recipe testing, I finally nailed an easy sugar cookie recipe that’s soft and chewy (and STAYS soft) and has that perfect sparkly crackled top.
Recipe Ingredients
All-purpose flour – Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. This is KEY. If you add too much flour, your cookies won’t spread at all and won’t be soft or chewy.
Baking powder – This gives the sugar cookies lift, without adding too much spread or browning.
Fine sea salt – So important to balance the sweetness! I prefer the taste of sea salt over table salt, but you can use that too. Don’t use kosher salt, it won’t dissolve as readily and you might end up with salty pockets.
Unsalted butter – It’s important that your butter is at a cool room temperature (around 67°F), otherwise your cookies may spread. If using salted butter, reduce the salt added to 1/4 teaspoon.
Granulated sugar – The star ingredient! Don’t reduce the sugar – find out why here and peek the Sprinkle of Science section below.
Eggs – One whole egg with an extra egg yolk lends richness and chewiness to the texture. Make sure they’re at room temperature.
Vanilla extract – No sugar cookie recipe is complete without the flavor of vanilla extract. Feel free to experiment with other extracts!
How to Make Sugar Cookies (Step-by-Step)
Cream butter & sugar. Use butter at a cool room temperature (about 67°F) and beat with the paddle attachment (not the whisk) until lighter in color and larger in volume.
Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Room temperature eggs will incorporate more easily. Beat very well until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides & bottom of bowl and paddle as needed.
Add dry ingredients. Don’t overmix, this will create stronger gluten networks and may result in tough cookies.
Scoop into balls. A spring-loaded scoop makes quick and efficient work of this.
Roll in sugar. Don’t skip this step, it’s key to those crackly, sparkly tops! Only skip if you plan to frost the cookies.
Flatten slightly. Gently press down each cookie dough scoop with the bottom of a measuring cup or your palm. This ensures proper spread.
Bake. At 350°F for just 10-12 minutes. Don’t overbake! The cookies should be set at the edges but look just slightly ‘wet’ on top. They’ll continue cooking from the heat of the pan.
Let cool. For the chewiest texture and best flavor, allow the cookies to cool completely before enjoying.
Keys to SOFT Cookies
- Do not over-measure your flour. For best results, use a kitchen scale (I promise you this is a game-changer). If you don’t have one, use the spoon-and-level method. Too much flour is the #1 cause of dry crumbly cookies that don’t spread properly.
- 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 this sugar cookie recipe. They should still look ever so slightly ‘wet’ in the center when you pull them from the oven.
How to Prevent Cookie Spreading
To prevent flat sugar cookies that spread into little puddles, it’s important to make sure your butter is at a COOL room temperature.
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.
Crinkly Tops in Sugar Cookies
Besides rolling in sugar, baking powder is one ingredient that gives these cookies their characteristic cracks, so make sure your baking powder is fresh.
TIP: When the cookies are piping hot out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter to swirl around the edges of each cookie to re-shape into a perfect circle and enhance those crinkly tops.
Do You Need to Chill the Dough?
It’s not required, baking immediately after mixing will result in absolutely delicious cookies.
However, if time permits, chilling the scooped dough in an airtight container for 24-72 hours does result in cookies that are thicker, chewier, and more flavorful. Roll in sugar after chilling otherwise the sugar will absorb into the dough. Learn more about chilling cookie dough here.
Sprinkle of Science (open me!)
If your cookies spread too much, it may be the temperature of your butter. Many home bakers allow their butter to get too warm, soft, and even greasy before creaming. This leads to excess spreading, which can even can occur even after you’ve chilled the cookie dough! Butter is an emulsion of water and fat and once it breaks by getting too warm, it can wreak havoc. Learn more about butter temperatures on my Instagram here!
In experimenting with sugar ratios for this recipe, I found that reducing the sugar led to cookies that didn’t spread and were dry, crumbly, bland, and staled much faster. Adding too much extra sugar led to cookies that over-spread and were overly sweet.
Learn more about the science of sugar in baking here.
For cookies that stay soft but develop enough flavor, 350°F proved the best baking temperature in my testing. Any hotter, and the cookies became too crisp and hard. Any cooler, and the cookies had underdeveloped flavor and were more delicate. Not all ovens are accurate, so check yours with an oven thermometer to make sure!
Storage & Make ahead
How to Store to Keep Cookies Soft: Store 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.
Freeze: Freeze the uncoated, pre-portioned balls of cookie dough in a freezer-safe container, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, or in a Ziploc bag up to 6 weeks. Allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge or for 30-60 minutes at room temperature for best results, then bake as directed below.
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Ingredients
- 2½ cups (318 grams) all-purpose flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup (50 grams) for rolling
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Avoid dark-colored baking sheets, which may cause too much browning.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to combine.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed to beat the butter and 1¼ cups sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. The mixture should increase in volume and become paler in color.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat until combined, scraping the bowl down as needed. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Don't overmix.
- Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow dish. Using a large (3-tablespoon) spring-loaded scoop, divide the dough into balls, then roll in sugar to coat evenly. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, and flatten slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are set and very lightly brown, but the centers still look soft or 'wet'. Do not wait for the centers to brown unless you want a crisper texture.
- Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! A hand mixer will work just as well as a stand mixer.
No, this sugar cookie 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.
It makes quick and easy work of portioning the dough uniformly so no one fights over the biggest cookie. I love using a 3-Tablespoon size cookie scoop for this sugar cookie recipe. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!
Yes! Feel free to add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon almond extract for a fun twist.
Yes, reduce the amount of added salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon.
This is totally optional, as these cookies are so pretty by themselves – but if you want to make them a more colorful treat, here some ideas:
-Roll the balls of dough in colored sugar before baking.
-Fold in 1/4-1/2 cup of multi-colored jimmies or holiday jimmies or sprinkles as a last addition to the dough.
-Use my Best Buttercream Frosting recipe for decorating.
-Another favorite is my Best Cream Cheese Frosting recipe!
I prefer parchment paper for cookies over silicone mats, it’s easier and quicker to clean up. Learn about parchment vs. Silicone mats here.
Whatever you do, never use nonstick cooking spray when baking cookies. This will lead to too much browning and spread (hello, burnt cookie puddles).
Made these for my adult son’s birthday. They were a hit!
Hi Jeanette! So happy to hear that these cookies were a hit!! Happy belated birthday to your son!
Absolutely wonderful!!! This recipe was easy. Thank you for such clear instructions… Butter consistency etc.
Hi Rhona! So happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies, and also found our instructions helpful!
I was thinking of doing a fruit pizza with this think it will work
Hi Louise! We haven’t tried that, but it sounds delicious! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Perfection. Thank you for the best sugar cookie recipe I ever used in my 50 plus years of baking.
Wow, what a compliment, Joan!! So thrilled to hear you loved these cookies so much! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Hi there! I had a question. Is there a way to make these cookies bigger and thicker? I wanted to make them probably a half inch thick with 4inch diameter. Maybe adding cornstarch? Really wanna make these! They look amazing!
Hi Rachel! If you want thicker cookies, the #1 most important thing to do is chill your dough first! While this recipe doesn’t necessarily require chilling before baking, colder dough will retain a thicker shape better when it hits the hot oven. You can also try shaping your dough into taller shapes, rather than perfect spheres, to further discourage spreading. Tessa talks all about this, and more tips on achieving thick cookies, in this article here! I would also suggest using a large cookie scoop (or even an ice cream scoop) when portioning, so you can make them a bit larger, to your preference. Of course, this will increase the bake time, so just keep an eye on them and watch for the sensory indicators Tessa talks about in the recipe (“bake until set and beginning to brown”). As always, be sure to follow all of Tessa’s tips (in the pink box above the recipe) to ensure your cookies don’t spread while baking (especially the temperature of the butter before you even start!). I hope this helps, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!! Happy baking 🙂
Can I use salted butter and omit the sea salt?
Hi Umamah! You can do that – Tessa just prefers to use unsalted butter, and add her own salt, so she can control how much salt is actually in the recipe. There is no specified amount of salt that must be in butters sold in the US (and it’s likely the same in most countries), so one brand of salt could have double the amount of salt of the brand next to it. That being said, if it’s all you have, go for it – just know it may be slightly too salty or slightly under-salted, depending on your butter. Happy baking 🙂
These are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
My family are not a fan of sugar cookies, so I went ahead and made them, Omg they loved them, I will make sure to add this in my recipe box.
Woohoo, so excited you and your family loved these sugar cookies, Ivette!! 🙂
Ok. These are officially my new go to sugar cookie. Super doughy and sweet!!! And ridiculously easy to throw together and make! My only regret is not doubling the recipe!
Hi Melissa! So excited you love these sugar cookies!! Thank you for taking the time to let us know!! 🙂
These cookies are so delicious!! I followed the recepie exact! And the cookies came out AMAZING!!! SO DELICIOUS!! Definitely my new favorite cookie recepie!!! Thanks!!
Yay!! So wonderful to hear that you love these cookies, JoJo!! 🙂
These are AMAZING!!! I have made them a few times now; I make two batches at a time since it only makes 16 cookies per recipe. I probably need to make 3 batches at a time. I do let the dough sit in the fridge for about 48 hours. I also make your buttercream icing lol and I’ve also tried using a vanilla/almond extract (it tastes like wedding cake!! Fantastic!! They only last a couple days lol :-).. teenagers!! I will never use anyone else for my cookie and other special treats!!!
Wow, we’re so thrilled to hear you love these sugar cookies as much as we do! Sounds delicious about adding the almond extract!
I actually told my daughter to burn this recipe bc I can’t stop at just one! These cookies are OUTSTANDING! we took them to an Easter brunch today and the were the hit of the party. BEST EVER
haha don’t burn it! Make a full batch and freeze half of the dough 😉 So happy to hear how much you love this recipe!
Cookies tasted good but I didn’t really like the sugar coating on the outside as much as I thought. Next time I’m going to leave out that step.