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.
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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.
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This recipe is perfect for your Christmas cookie boxes or just enjoying with a glass of milk. If it’s a warmer time of year, it also makes a great base for ice cream sandwiches!
Originally, I had created a recipe with cream cheese that was ultra-soft. However, I found that it would become claggy, and each bite would get stuck to the roof of your mouth.
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.
Sprinkle of Science
Ingredients Notes
- All-purpose flour – Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. 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!
- Unsalted butter – It’s important that your butter is at a cool room temperature (around 67°F), otherwise your cookies may spread.
- Granulated sugar – The star ingredient! Don’t reduce the sugar – find out why here and peek the image 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.
Keys to SOFT 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 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.
The Best Baking Sheet for Cookies
The below photo features cookies from the same exact batch of dough, baked for the same amount of time at the same temperature.
2. Wilton Non-Stick: browned heavily with less spread
3. Walmart Mainstays: pale cookies, pan warped and rusted
4. Viking Ceramic Lined: cookies burnt on the bottom
5. Nordicware Unlined Aluminum: my favorite Goldilocks pan*
6. OXO Gold Nonstick: browned heavily with less spread
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. Check out my Baking Pans 101 post for all the surprising details.
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.
What Temperature and How Long to Bake
Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minute, or until the sugar cookies are set and are just beginning to brown around the edges, for classic thick & chewy sugar cookies.
The higher the temperature and/or the longer you bake, the crispier your cookies will be.
If you like really soft, almost dough-y cookies, bake at 325°F, adding a few minutes to the bake time.
How to Store Cookies to Keep Soft
Store sugar 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.
Freezing
This sugar cookie recipe freezes beautifully. Freeze the uncoated, pre-portioned balls of cookie dough in a freezer-safe container, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, or in a Ziploc bag. Allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge or for 30-60 minutes at room temperature, then bake as directed below.
FAQs
Can I Make This Recipe With a Hand Mixer?
Yes! A hand mixer will work just as well as a stand mixer.
Can This Recipe be Used For Cut-out Cookies?
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.
Why use a cookie scoop?
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!
Can I add almond extract?
Yes! Feel free to add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon almond extract for a fun twist.
Can I use salted butter?
Yes, either omit the salt entirely, or reduce the amount to 1/2 teaspoon.
How to Decorate Drop-Style Sugar Cookies?
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!
Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats for Cookies?
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).
Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
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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
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 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, 2 to 3 minutes. 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.
- 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 cookies set and begin to brown. 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.
I decided to make these cookies last minute and was worried that I wouldn’t have enough time until bed, but they were surprisingly easy. I did have a little bit of trouble cooking them, it probably took 15 minutes to cook the cookies, but after they tasted amazing. So sugary and delicious, I will definitely use this recipe again
The BEST sugar cookie recipe I have ever tried! Will never try another. I always have a hard time with sugar cookies for some reason. Either they are too hard or they have no flavor. These are sooo delicious! I just made normal circle ones and frosted for Christmas. But wow! I got so many compliments. Take out before they look completely done. Remember they cook more on the hot pan after you take them out. You won’t be disappointed. Softest and most flavorful cookies!
These were so easy and quick to make! And they were absolutely delicious! Definitely the best sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever tried! Highly recommend!
Made these with the kids and they came out excellent. I made a frosting for them instead of rolling in sugar so they could decorate it. Saving this recipe for next time.
I’d like to make these for family Christmas this weekend, but I don’t have a stand mixer or electric beater. Is there a way I can accomplish step 3 manually?
Hi Alex, thanks for your question! While we haven’t tried this recipe without a mixer, creaming the butter and sugar is key to achieving that soft and chewy texture. If you don’t have a stand mixer or electric beater, you can try doing it manually with a wooden spoon—it will take some elbow grease and more time than the recipe calls for! Just make sure the butter is softened to a cool room temperature, and mix vigorously until the mixture is light and fluffy.
If that feels like too much work, here are a few other delicious recipes you can try that don’t require a mixer: Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies, Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies, and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I hope you have a wonderful time baking for your family Christmas! Let me know how it goes!
The wife and I made these Christmas Eve and they were the best cookies we have ever eaten.
They needed a little longer in the oven because our flat came with an older oven that doesn’t keep heat as well.
Saved the recipe for next year can’t wait to eat them again. WOW!
Delicious 😋
This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe! Super easy, delicious, and moist. I don’t understand the negative comments below. I have made these multiple times and they come out perfectly every time!
So good
These are seriously the best sugar cookies! I also love rolling these in cinnamon + vanilla sugar and adding different extract/zest/toppings to make a variety of delicious sugar cookies. Everyone compliments this recipe, so I’ve shared it with so many people 🙂
If you add cinnamon, does that make them Snickerdoodles?
True snickerdoodles have cream of tartar, but honestly I prefer making “snickerdoodles” this way instead! My family didn’t realize they weren’t traditional snickerdoodles and said they’re the best they’ve ever had.
Hi Theresa! Snickerdoodles and sugar cookies are a little different. Check out Tessa’s amazing Snickerdoodle Recipe here – and see the info above the recipe for more about what makes Snickerdoodles special. Happy baking!
Came out great for 2 tablespoon drop cookies. Chilled the dough for 30 minutes before scooping and baking. Chilled another disc portion before rolling and cutting and they worked well for this also. Some spreading but not major. Delicious and soft with a crispy bottom.
Mine had zero spread mostly balls with flat bottoms.
Hi Dawn, thank you for your feedback. I’m sorry to hear the cookies didn’t turn out as expected! When cookies don’t spread, it’s often due to too much flour being added. For the best results, we recommend weighing your flour with a digital scale or using the spoon-and-level method explained here. I hope this helps, and I’d love for you to give the recipe another try! Please let us know if you have any other questions and how your next batch goes. Good luck!