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Wondering how to make soft and chewy sugar cookies? Then you have to try this easy cookie recipe. These simple sugar cookies don’t need to be chilled and stay wonderfully soft & chewy for DAYS! It’s my best sugar cookie recipe!
MY FAVORITE SOFT SUGAR COOKIES
So I feel like I’m a tad bit late with these cookies, since I just missed Christmas and all, but the truth is that sugar cookies are good all year round. In fact, next to a good Snickerdoodle, chewy sugar cookies are a total favorite of mine any day of the week. I feel like Cutout Sugar Cookies are the Christmas version of a sugar cookie while a classic drop cookie, like this one, is the year round version, you know?
And as with any classic, simple cookie that doesn’t hide behind frosting or anything, it really needs to be just right. Soft and chewy for days, my friends. I don’t want some cookie that’s great for a day or so and then you have to toss them. No, these will call to you from the kitchen counter until they’re all eaten – and it could be 4 or 5 days later (if they last that long).
WHAT MAKES THESE THE BEST SUGAR COOKIES?
I tested SO many versions of these sugar cookies, I’m pretty sure my mother in law (who watches the twins while I work), thought I was losing my mind. I’d be all, “Just one more version!” and then a week later there’s still new batches on the counter.
But seriously, I love a good old fashioned soft sugar cookie. Like, for reals. So it just had to be right. And I’m happy to say these are it. These sugar cookies are:
- Not too thin
- Not too thick
- Soft and chewy
- Delicious!
- And they stay good for DAYS.
In fact these soft sugar cookies are dangerous because you want to keep eating them all! Let’s talk about how to make them.
WHAT MAKES A COOKIE SOFT & CHEWY?
Baking Soda + Baking Powder
Sugar cookies can easily turn out dry or too cakey. In all my testing, I found that my favorite sugar cookies were ones that used a combination of baking soda and baking powder – and just a bit more soda than powder. Nothing wrong with using just one or the other – I have done both in other cookies. In fact, I have an all baking soda Coconut Sugar Cookie that is delicious! But for the straight up vanilla bakery-style sugar cookie, the combo works best. Baking powder only = thicker and cake-y. Baking soda only = chewy and thin. A combo = just right.
White Sugar + Brown Sugar
The other big thing here is the sugar. Naturally a sugar cookie is going to use white granulated sugar. It’s just how it is. But part of what makes a cookie chewy is a high moisture content. Brown sugar has more moisture than white sugar, because it contains a little bit of molasses. You don’t want to overdo the brown sugar here, but I swapped out two tablespoons of white sugar for brown sugar and the result was fantastic. It makes a much softer and chewier cookie that stays fresh longer.
And just a little tidbit about baking cookies – it’s amazing how much of a difference such a small change can make to a cookie. Just two tablespoons! When I used all white sugar, the cookies didn’t spread as much (less moisture). When I used just a bit of brown sugar, they spread just enough AND stayed soft for DAYS! And when I used just a bit more brown sugar, the flavor started to get a bit too off track and they spread more than I wanted, leaving me with a little thinner cookie with less defined edges. So I totally suggest sticking with it as I have it. The best!
The Right About of Flour
The other important part of a chewy cookie is having enough flour. You have to have enough flour to support the moisture content, but not too much to make it dry. A tight balance, but it’s well achieved here.
HOW TO MAKE SOFT SUGAR COOKIES
So one of the best parts of these cookies is that they are quick and straight forward to make.
- Start by creaming the butter and sugars together until it’s light in color and fluffy. You’ll actually be able to see the lighter color, so don’t quit mixing until you see it.
- Next you’ll add the egg, then the vanilla extract.
- Now add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Mix it until it’s all combined, but don’t over mix it. Over mixing any batter or dough can lead to toughness.
- Divide the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls of dough and roll them in a little bit of granulated white sugar. Place the balls onto a cookie sheet (I like to line my cookie sheets with silicone baking mats) and bake them!
This is a No Chill Sugar Cookie Recipe
That’s right – there is no need for chilling the cookie dough or even pressing the balls flat. They spread perfectly on their own. These two features make these cookies perfect for spur of the moment baking!
How Long to Bake Soft Sugar Cookies
Mine baked just enough at 7 minutes, but keep an eye on them to see how they do in your oven. I removed mine when they had spread nicely, looked just done enough without looking undercooked, and the edges weren’t quite golden.
These sugar cookies are the perfect example of a treat that doesn’t have to be fancy to be awesome. In fact, I think something simple like this is one of the most impressive things when done well and right. And these are SO right!
HOW TO DECORATE YOUR COOKIES
- If you’re looking to make sugar cookies for a holiday or an event, these cookies would be great rolled in sprinkles, instead of sugar. Use any color you like!
- If you simply can’t have a sugar cookie without it being frosted, check out my royal icing or my vanilla buttercream frosting. Even my cream cheese frosting would make a tasty addition. Any of them would be delicious!
- For another fun spin on the sugar cookie, add some sprinkles for a confetti sugar cookie!
TIPS FOR THE BEST COOKIES
Although this soft sugar cookies are super easy to make, there are a few simple tricks you can use to make sure that your cookies come out perfectly. Here’s what I recommend:
- Make sure your butter is the right temperature. Room temperature can be a little misleading if your house is too warm or too cool. Your butter shouldn’t be so soft that your finger goes right through it if you press on it, but it should also be able to make an imprint. If it won’t, or it barely does, it’s likely too cold still.
- Be sure to use just two tablespoons of brown sugar. It adds just enough additional moisture to the cookies to help them spread correctly and stay soft and chewy for days!
- Don’t over mix the dough after you add the flour. It can over develop the gluten and cause the cookies to not spread as nicely or be tough.
- Make sure your cookie dough balls are 1 1/2 tablespoons each or you’ll want to adjust the baking time. I also found that size to be just right for spreading well.
How to Freeze These Cookies
These cookies freeze nicely too! Just let the baked cookies come to room temperature, then pack them in a ziplock bag and freeze them. Thaw them in the fridge or on the counter when you’re ready to eat them.
Whether you’re looking for an alternative to a cutout sugar cookie, or simply looking to cure a craving for a good soft and chewy Sugar Cookies, these are sure to be your new favorite easy sugar cookie! They stay soft for days and have the ultimate chewy-factor!
NOTE 5/16/19: Due to feedback about the cookies not spreading well, the recipe has been slightly changed and updated.
Print
Best Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 37 minutes
- Yield: 30-32 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
If you’re wondering how to make soft and chewy sugar cookies, then you have to try this recipe. These cookies require no chilling, are easy to make, and stay wonderfully soft and chewy for DAYS!
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups (358g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (233g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp (28g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sugar (additional for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the egg and mix until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. It will be thick and shouldn’t be sticky. Do not over mix. Once it’s well combined, use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.
- Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll into a ball, then roll each ball in the additional sugar to coat. Set the balls on the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will spread and the centers will look soft, but should look done. Remove just before the edges begin to turn golden. Don’t over bake. The cookies will be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven but will fall a bit as they cool.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
The sugar amounts are important for these cookies. If you chose to use all granulated sugar, rather than a little brown sugar, the cookie won’t spread quite as much and will be a little thicker and a little less soft.
Be sure to measure the flour accurately. The best way is by weight with a food scale, but if you don’t have one, give your flour a stir, then scoop it out with a measuring scoop. Do not pack it into the measuring cup.
Keywords: soft sugar cookies, how to make sugar cookies, best sugar cookie recipe, easy sugar cookie recipe, homemade sugar cookies
Enjoy!
This is by far the best soft and chewy sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever come across! If you follow these directions to the letter, you get exactly what is pictured here, & they are just perfection with the right amount of sweetness, chewiness, softness, and they really do hold up to the test of time with freshness, but in my house, with the hubby’s midnight sweet tooth + my teenaged cookie monster, they’re gone the very next day! Admittedly, I scarf a few right when they slightly cool, LOL! 😊😍😋
★★★★★
I was wondering if I could make these cookies into shapes. My little sister loves shapes, and she learns with food! I hope you can get back to me.
I’d recommend cutout cookies. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/cutout-sugar-cookies/
Absolutely the best sugar cookies EVER!! Easy to follow recipe & I like the way you explain things. You must have gone through a lot of cookies to get it this good. Thank you.
★★★★★
These are amazing and truly soft and chewy like the recipe says. I live at high altitude, didn’t change anything and they turned out perfect! I also didn’t have vanilla and substituted almond extract and I don’t think I’ll make them any other way! They were SO good! 😚🤌
★★★★★
These are incredible. I had to make a few adjustments in my oven (340 for about 10 minutes). But once I figured that out, WOW!!!
The trick for me honestly is (a) butter at the right temp, and (b) creaming it the right amount of time. This is the third time I’ve made this recipe and I’ve finally got it just right!!
This was a really great recipe and the cookies were nice and soft! I do recommend being careful with the flour measurements if you don’t have a weigh or baking cups. Overall great cookies and i’ll definitely bake them again.
★★★★★
Can you use salted butter?
Yes, you just might want to leave out the additional salt so that they aren’t too salty.
I am a vegan and I made this recipe with egg replacement and Earth balance butter and they came out FANTASTIC!!! Super soft and no one in my family could tell they were vegan. I’ll definitely make this again!
★★★★★
I am anxious to use this recipe for Volunteer week. Our Women’s Hospital Association is packing these up for all Volunteers working at the Vaccine clinic.
After reading many of the comments, I am thankful I do have a scale …. My question is … Can I add lemon extract to them? If so what should my lemon to vanilla pure extract be?
I wouldn’t normally recommend lemon extract because it can have kind of a weird artificial taste to it. But if you want to use it, I might just use half to 1 teaspoon, depending on how strong you want it.
Thank you, everyone said they were perfect! This is a great recipe. Saving this for all future cookie making!!!
★★★★★
I was wanting to make a larger sugar cookie, 5-6 inches with sprinkles as teachers gifts. How would I do that with this recipe?
I haven’t tried it, so it’s hard to say.
Best sugar cookies ive ever made/had
★★★★★
I did not like this recipe. We can’t even eat them. Way to much butter. The butter flavor is too overpowering
★★
I tried this recipe three times. Finally, it turned out as it should the third time. I am not sure what is the reason. but if you do it right and follow the recipe, it should turn out awesome.
★★★★★
I just got the cookies out of the oven! They look amazing and I cannot wait to taste them! The dough was too flour-y so if yours is like mine I suggest using a little bit of milk or water to fully combine them! As a young amatur baker and cooker this was easy to do and follow! I rated 4 stars because of the flour-y situation. I would suggest to any baker of any level to try these amazing cookies out!
★★★★
Mine turned out great! I think some people are confused that weighing ingredients versus using a measuring cup is not the same. I don’t have a scale, so I used a measuring cup. I started with 2 cups of flour and added a little more with a tablespoon until it was the desired consistency. I think I used a total of 2 1/4 cup. It was a little dry so I added a teaspoon of milk. Once I started rolling them into balls with my hands they softened up a ton. They cooked perfect and are amazing! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
★★★★★
I love a soft sugar cookie and these were delish. I weighed the ingredients and ended up with 3 cookie sheets worth of doughballs. I put the first two sheets in at the same time and flipped them around halfway thru baking and that batch ended up underdone. The last cookie sheet, cooked all on its own for 8-9 minutes, was the winner. Deliciously crisp on the bottom and edge but still soft in the middle and top. Threw that tray’s cookies in a gallon bag in the freezer – they were quick to thaw and texture was great.
I weighed the first 1.5 Tbsp doughball (it was 30g) and used that weight to make the balls at the end rather than messing around with tablespoon measures.
★★★★
These cookies saved my life, lol. I was down in the dumps and didn’t know what to do and then I saw this recipe and tried it and it instantly lifted my spirits. This recipe must have fallen from Heaven. Thank you!
★★★★★
Can this recipe be used to make sugar cookie cups or is it to soft?
I made these. As suggested, I measured the flour using my kitchen scale. I added an extra egg, and ran just a little short of vanilla (those bottles are so small).
The extra egg added a little more liquid, so I had no trouble with these being dry or crumbly. the texture was just right.
Baked 1 sheet at 7 minutes, the others at 8. In my oven, 8 minutes gave just a little brown along the edge and across the bottom, which helped the cookies hold their shape and boosted the flavor.
I did not bother with icing. A good sugar cookie is perfectly delicious on its own and these certainly pass that test.
Maybe not quite as good as my mother’s recipe, but close–and a whole lot faster and easier (no chilling, no rolling, no cutting). I will be making these again.
★★★★
Can I use gf flore
Need to know if can use Gluten-free flour
I haven’t ever tried it.
Not sure, I haven’t tried it.
Amazing recipe!!
★★★★★
The best sugar cookie I have ever ate they Literally melt in your mouth .. thanks for sharing this amazing Recipe !!!😀
These are now my go-to sugar cookies. I keep getting requests or them. Delicious!
★★★★★
I just finished making these, they are very yummy and very easy to make. Exactly what I wanted!
★★★★★
Absolutely love this!
★★★★★
I’ve made these cookies 100 times but they haven’t turned out right since I moved to a new house. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ll make sure I’m measuring the flour properly, next time, but wanted to ask do you use a beater or a whisk attachment? Thank you!
I use the beater attachment. I’d also check out your oven and see if that’s different.
okay thank you lindsay.
-Eden
Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe! Just finished making them for a second time–these came out perfect, just like when we made them last week! So easy and so delicious!
★★★★★
I don’t often leave reviews but for this recipe I MUST. This is by far my favorite recipe I’ve ever ever made, I’ve made it so many times over the past year I’ve lost count! I’ve been reading through the reviews and thought since I’ve made these so many times I may be able to help with making sure this recipe comes out as good as possible! I’ve found that the only way I was able to make them look like the cookies in the picture was to use an ice cream scoop and level it out in the scoop – then all the cookies are small and uniform (making them larger causes them to be pretty tall and not look like the picture). I’ve also found they last best if left out (I’ve left them out in an air tight container for 2 weeks and they lasted super well) – when I put them in the fridge they get super hard and are not as good, but when leaving them out they are the softest and gooiest cookies even if they end up taller/ not looking like the cookies in the picture. I also bake them a few minutes more since I make the dough balls larger than they should be, but regardless of size if you leave these cookies out they will be so soft and amazing! I hope this helps because these cookies are AMAZING!! :):)
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Delicious! They are a keeper!
★★★★★
Can these be made with gluten free flour? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it, but I assume that’d be fine.
I have made this recipe twice and the cookies come out chewy but not soft and a little thick.
I measured ingredients exactly according to this recipe with the same results both times. Reading the other comments here I agree this recipe uses too much flour, still very tasty though.
HI!
I really really love you sugar cookie recipe.
One thing that i saw is that i should use sugar for the rolling but can i use flour as well??
-Eden
I’ve never used flour for rolling. Technically you could, but it might prevent them from spreading as well.
Can I freeze before cooking?
★★★★★
Sure. They may not spread quite as well after thawing, but you could definitely try it. If it’s a problem, maybe just press the cookie dough balls down a bit before baking.
These cookies are AMAZING!!! Best sugar cookies I’ve ever made.
★★★★★
Super easy
I was always a chocolate chip cookie person.i came across this recipe somehow and now this is the only cookie I want.
Absolutely delicious.
So glad to hear that!
I made these yesterday and I loved the taste. I will weigh the flour next time because I had the same problem as others with the dough being too dry and crumbly. Also, they did not spread, so I hope weighing the flour will fix this problem too. Thanks.
★★★★★
I love this so much! I halved it because 30 cookies is too many, but great recipe! It tastes so good and came out perfect! Small baker’s trick: grate your butter with a cheese grater. It’ll come down to room temp faster.
★★★★★
I made these cookies and had the same issue as other people. After some tinkering I was able to get these baked and delicious, my hope with this post is to save someone some time and effort! I weighed everything on a kitchen scale to the gram. I measured the 1 1/2 tbsp for the cookie – I got 24. Other than the bake time being too low, my best guess is that because of the amount of butter in the dough it should probably be cooled in the refrigerator before baking.
1st Batch: after 8 minutes at 350 the cookies hadn’t spread, but the directions say they will be puffy and to take the cookies out. They cooled on the sheet for 4 minutes and then on the cooling rack. The flattened out, but they were raw. You couldn’t pick the cookie up in one piece.
2nd Batch: 11 minutes at 350, rested for 5 minutes on the sheet before completely cooled on the rack. These look a lot better, they are very soft and can almost be picked up without falling apart. Yummy, but you have to want a very soft and pale cookie to stop here. I enjoy a soft cookie and I’d bake it for longer.
Third Batch: 13 minutes in the oven at 350, 5 minutes of resting in the pan before cooling completely on the cooling rack. If you’re not resting the dough in the fridge, this is a great soft cookie.
Fourth batch (because why not try something else): 12 minutes in the oven at 350, 5 minutes on the sheet and then fully cooled on the rack. I liked the 13 minutes better, but this works too.
If you look in the oven at 8 minutes and see mounds of raw cookie dough, add 4-5 more minutes to the timer and you’ll get a great soft cookie!
★★★
I made these as written and they came out perfectly! Really strange thing happened though- the first and last batch were made on a regular cookie sheet with a silicone liner and they came out perfect. The second batch I made on an air bake sheet with parchment paper and they spread out too thin. I can’t attribute it to the batter being out longer since the last batch was good on the silicone. Maybe something to consider if they don’t come out as desired
★★★★★
I had to google the air bake sheet, lol. But after looking at that, it actually makes sense. The baking sheet you use can make quite a significant difference. Lighter colored ones tend to produce cookies that spread more, and darker ones tend to spread less. I used one that’s kind of in the middle. Since the air bake sheet reduces the heat of the top of the cookie sheet, the cookies will spread more because there isn’t that high heat to prevent the spread from happening more quickly while they bake. Does that make sense? It’s all about the way the cookie sheet handles heat and there’s HUGE variety. It’s actually on my list of things to do a blog post on this topic because there are so many variants with cookies in particular that can really make a difference. Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
I prefer soft and chewy cookies and these cookies did not disappoint. May slightly increase the vanilla fIavor or search for a stronger brand. I enjoyed baking and eating these and looking forward to baking them again.
★★★★★
How would you recommend to add some freeze dried strawberries to the recipe? I tried another recipe for strawberry sugar cookies – not what we had hoped. These sound delightful and will be trying them today!!
I’ve never tried adding freeze dried strawberries, so I’m not sure. But I’d try grinding them into powder and adding it that way. You might just be able to add it without other adjustments.
This recipe was great, thank you so much for including gram measurements, I never understand when it’s in cups.
I didn’t want to make a large batch, so I saved part of the dough for another time and made in my convection toaster oven. I did put ever so slightly more baking powder. It was delicious 😋 I will be trying the cutout sugar cookies next time.
★★★★★
Mine didn’t spread. I might try again and reduce flour. The flavor is just okay. I am on a mission to duplicate the butter sugar cookie at the Barnes & Noble café. This was my 10th attempt. Thanks for the recipe. I will keep trying.
★★★★
My son wanted to make sugar cookies- not my favorite cookie, Your photo of these cookies looked like a chewy, crunchy cookie unlike any sugar cookie I’ve had before.
Although we made the balls a little too big- we had about 24 cookies- we baked them 5 minutes longer and they are AMAZING. Thank you!
★★★★★
Cookies taste great but didn’t spread. I’m guessing I should have weighed the flour instead of using measuring cups…too tired to make a new batch so the fluffy cookies are going to daycare. I would suggest putting a note next to flour recommending to weigh the flour so people don’t waste their time and ingredients.
★★★★
These are fantastic. Exactly the taste and texture I remember in sugar cookies as a kid. I think this is the first time I’ve found your site on the www and look forward to trying other recipes.
Thanks!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
The search is over!!! Thank you for this recipe – I have been on a quest to find the perfect drop sugar cookie recipe for years and I can say with conviction that this is it!
★★★★★
oops I forgot to leave a rate on my last comment. 5 star!
★★★★★
OMG! I’ve been trying to make the perfect sugar cookies for me and my family but it never worked out, all the other recipes were not that great, my cookies were coming out hard as a rock. I try this recipe and my cookies came out great! Thank you so much! I’ve never thought my cookies would come out so great if it wasn’t for you.
It was good but in the ingredient spot it said brown sugar, and in the instructions it never said anything about brown sugar. 🤔
★★★★★
The instructions refer to adding the “sugars” in plural because you add both at the same time. Glad you enjoyed them!
Hi i just want to know my cookies is not flat it is much bigger. What must i do?
Thank you for the recipe. The cookies turned out perfect. I had to bake mine for 10 Minutes at 200 Celsius for them to bake properly, but maybe the European ovens are different then the American ones. Nevertheless, I’m gonna be making this recipe another 100 times at least, and I’m gonna add some pecans next time. Thanks again!
★★★★★
Very concerning that you would suggest someone use wax paper in an oven!
I have no idea what you’re talking about. The recipe mentions parchment paper. I never use wax paper.
I’ve made these multiple times and the flavor is A+++ EVERY TIME but, no matter what, they’ve never spread properly! Each time I’ve made them, they remain thick. They still taste OUT OF THIS WORLD DELICIOUS, but I wish I could figure out what I’m doing wrong that isn’t allowing them to spread beautifully!
★★★★
I too had cookies that were too dry and did not spread. At all. I am an experienced baker looking for the “perfect” sugar cookie my daughter requested. These looked perfect. I measured every ingredient possible using my digital scale, and double checked before measuring due to the comments, because using voume to measure is innacurate. I noticed your flour measure and weight don’t match, so I went with the weight. Flour weighs 120 g per cup. Your measurement of 2 3/4 cups flour should have weighed 330 grams, not 358. The higher weight results in a 1/4 cup more flour, or a full 3 cups by measure. The extra 1/4 Cup flour would make a huge difference and I wish I’d held back some. I wonder if the people, like me, that got dry cookies either weighed to the 358 g or did measure heavy in a cup. People who carefully fluffed and used a cup measure could have had softer results. After the first batch I added a TB of milk and then still had to flatten every batch with a glass. Delicious cookies, and tender, but something is up with the measurements. I will do these again, but I’ll use the 330 grams to aim for the gorgeous cookies you show here.
★★★
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the cookies. As for the flour measurement – weight measurements vary by site but those measurements are accurate for all the recipes on my site. I actually bake with the weights, so I know they’re accurate. I’ve made these cookies dozens of times exactly as written (with weights, not volume) and get the same results every time. If your measurements were accurate, then it’s hard to say where the problem lies. Did you refrigerate the cookie dough at all?
★★★★★
I say this with no exaggeration, the title “Best Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies” has been irrefutably earned. These cookies are soooooooooo good. I have to freeze and make only a few at a time or else I will eat them all single handedly while my children look on bewildered. Usually when someone claims they have the best recipe for something while it may turn out good, great even it doesn’t earn “the best” title—not the case here. Bravo and compliments the chef and a big thank you for sharing the brilliance of this recipe.
★★★★★
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed them! If you’d like another awesome “best” recipe, I’d try my Best Chocolate Cake. 🙂
wow, these are amazing 🙂 thank you … even passed the picky teenager taste test!!
★★★★★
Just took these out of the oven… because baking cookies at 1am just somehow didn’t seem wrong.. 😏 I used salted butter and omitted the salt referenced in the recipe and added just a touch of extra flour at the very end to make the dough a little less sticky. Baked for 10 min at 350° on a baking sheet with wax paper and they came out PERFECT. Solid but soft and chewy, the ideal chewy center. So glad I found this recipe.. and so is my belly 😁 Considering subbing lemon extract/flavor to make some soft, chewy lemon cookies! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been looking for one like it for a long time. My little guy and I really enjoyed making them. We added food coloring and sprinkles ☺️
Wonderful! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed them!
So glad I found this after a major sugar cookie fail from another recipe. It’s especially great that the dough isn’t super sticky and you don’t need to refrigerate the dough. This recipe is a keeper thank you very much!
★★★★★
Great recipe!
They look delicious and easy to make.
My favorite one is the soft and chewy sugar cookies. I think I will give it a try and make it now.
Thank You!
★★★★★
Love love love these cookies! My grandson loves sugar cookies and I have been guilty of buying the “break and bake” from the grocery. One night he really wanted sugar cookies and we were out. I found this recipe and we are hooked! I like that they are not too sweet. We gobble them down warm just out of the oven ☺️ And the leftovers stay soft and delicious for several days in an airtight container. We now make these every week!!! He gets so excited when I surprise him with a batch. Thank you so much, I think this is the perfect sugar cookie 🤗
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so glad you liked them!
This recipe is amazing. When I made the cookies they were the best I had ever tasted. I loved them so much and definitely would recommend it to anyone I come across
★★★★★
I love this recipe! I couldn’t believe how easy and delicious these cookies turned out. Will definitely be making again!
★★★★★
Cookies taste great, but mine didn’t spread either… I had to flatten them halfway through.
★★★★
Family approved! Made exactly as is except kids like a hint of almond and nutmeg with their vanilla, so I added a drop and a dash. Played with bake time. 7 minutes looked too soon for mine. I tried to make 1.5 T, but might have been larger. 10 minutes was my favorite. 12 was fine for immediate eating, but cookies got harder the next day. We preferred the 10-minute bake time. I will be making this again! Thank you!
★★★★★
I made these today and they were amazing. Over the holidays I’ve tried four sugar cookie recipes and this one was the best. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I was nervous by some of the comments but they came out perfect!!! First time baking cookies from scratch- didn’t use a scale but followed directions to not pack in flour and they came out great!
Merry Christmas Lindsay! Yester day I do alot of cookies and your recipe is one of my family’s favourite.
★★★★★
These came out really awesome on the second try. For me, the first batch came out still round. I had to smoosh them down, and I had to baked them for 15 mins. So I read a few comments. And try again. This time, I only did 2 1/4 cups flour and had to bake them for 10 minutes, instead.. That was the trick for me. These are beautiful and so chewy and soft. Perfect for our family. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★
Hi Lindsay!
I don’t know why but after baking the cookies spread out too much and were shaped square-y. The entire thing looks like a very flat pie.
Wow these are the best sugar cookies! I thought I didn’t like sugar cookies until I baked these. Every time I bake these I get asked about the recipe!
★★★★★
We tried these cookies today and found that they did not flatten out and cooking times were way off. Waste of my resources and time…
I want to try this recipe but don’t have an electric mixer. Can I still cream the butter and sugar by hand? If so, should I use a spatula or whisk?
Can you do without cornstarch? What is the substitute for it?
These cookies don’t use cornstarch.
Delicious!
★★★★★
Best sugar cookie recipe ever! We added butterscotch chips, divine! Thank you!
★★★★★
Can these be made with out the baking soda?
Not really. They wouldn’t turn out the same.
I have tried a lot of sugar cookie recipes and I have never looked for another one after making these for the first time last year. I know everyone has different taste buds, but these are by far the best I’ve ever made!! It’s a problem, I always eat so many when I make them, and I always double the recipe. My family loves them and anytime I give them anyone else they ask for the recipe. Thanks for the most delicious recipe. I use bread flour because it’s all I have and don’t know if that makes a difference, but oh my goodness, yum!!
★★★★★
These were quick to make and are deliciously soft and chewy. I’ve “tested” two before I’ve begun decorating 😂 dipping half in white chocolate and then peppermint pieces. Followed the directions exactly. Lovely cookies! Thank you for the recipe. Will be a keeper for sure!
★★★★★
After baking for eight minutes the cookies balls had not spread out AT ALL. I had to flatten them with the back of a spoon. Baked for another eight minutes and they were delicious!
★★★★
Hi, these look delicious! I was looking for a sugar cookie recipe that I could place Hershey kisses on top of – similar to the peanut butter blossoms but I don’t want peanut butter. Do you think this recipe would work well with something like that?
These will spread more than the pb blossoms so I’m not sure it’s ideal.
Can i make the dough ahead of time and freeze the dough? I have made these cookies before and they are woderful.
I haven’t tried it before but it should be OK.
I always put leftover cookie dough in the freezer and have baked these by thawing them out first and straight from the freezer and they’ve turned out great both ways! I do freeze them into preportioned balls.
★★★★★
Hello!
I have made this recipe to a T however, I did not see the pointers at the bottom about the flour until I was done. I packed and leveled the flour. Is there anyway to save the dough? Thanks!
I made these cookies and they are so good! My boys loved them! I cooked them for 12 mins on 350° but they still are light soft and chewy. Plus I mixed everything by hand after just finding out my mixer conked out 😢 but I’m so happy I found your recipe! Thank you!!! Happy Holidays!🎄🎅🎉
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
This was my first time making sugar cookies from scratch! I usually buy pre-made dough from the store but this time I wanted to try something different. So I followed this recipe and the cookies turned out great! They tasted good and smelt delicious. I totally recommend if you’re looking to make simple sugar cookies from scratch! 🙂
★★★★★
First time making sugar cookies from scratch, and this recipe was perfect! I saw other comments about dough being sticky and maybe being due to the flour. Since I don’t have a scale, I followed you tips on stirring the flour and not packing it. Game changer! Thanks you so much!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
This is an amazing cookie recipe! First off it’s simple… no crazy special ingredients … no waiting for the dough to rest in the fridge… I was planning to make cake mix cookies with my kids colored green like grinch cookies- but it’s 40 miles to the grocery store and I didn’t have a cake mix…. so a-recipe-hunting I go! The recipe had rules. It had to have ingredients I have in my house and I am not a baker, no crazy stuff to drag it out of the depths of the cabinet …. must be easy and boom – I found this one! I tried it! I was iffy when the dough was like a crumble in the bowl after getting the flour incorporated, but then it just came together in a ball and amazingly made the best cookies ever! I added food coloring for the Grinch effect…Green marbled to perfection! And so yummy! Thanks for sharing this with the world!
★★★★★
So glad they worked well for you!
I baked these 2 weeks ago and my family just can’t stop eating them! I definitely recommend these sugar cookies for beginners. I just started baking and I already mastered these sugar cookies! I LOVE THE SUGAR COOKIES (in fact I’m snacking on one right now)
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
Best cookie I ever made !!!! Thank you so much !!!
★★★★★
Just made some sugar cookies, but I used whole wheat pastry flour (Bob’s Red Mill) following your recipe otherwise. I thought they were great, although I baked them a little longer, more like 10 min. They looked fine outside, but inside they looked a bit raw perhaps, although they were so soft and chewy. I really liked them, so thank you for the recipe.
★★★★
Im about to make these cookies but I am confused on weather is is 2 3/4 cups of flower or 2 cups and also 3/4 cups.
You need two and three fourths cups.
I’ve made 3 batches now and each time they are absolutely perfect. This is such an easy recipe too! Everyone who has tried these have told me they absolutely love them and can’t stop with just one. This will be my go to sugar cookie recipe from now on. My mother made me promise to make these for Christmas so she can taste them fresh out of the oven. I made no changes or substitutes to this recipe but I do advise to not over bake these and definitely leave them to cool on the cookie sheet. Thank you for this recipe and bringing a ray of light to my life during what has turned out to be such a horrible year. I intend to start 2021 with one of these cookies in my mouth and a smile on my face!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
When making these, when do you add the sprinkles? Before baking or after?
This recipe doesn’t use sprinkles. For that recipe, check out my Sprinkle Sugar Cookies, which is based on this recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My boyfriend and I absolutely loved making and decorating these as an early Christmas celebration. I am thinking we will make this a tradition for each holiday 🙂
So glad you enjoyed them!
Taught my g-daughter this recipe to teach her how to read a recipe and cook it. Came out delicious.
Thank You!
★★★★★
I made these today and they were amazing. Over the holidays I’ve tried four sugar cookie recipes and this one was the best. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
Amazing recipe!! Tried for the first time and had no difficulties. Made this recipe gluten free (just added 1 tsp of xanthium gum) and they came out so delicious, could not tell they were gluten free. Super soft and super delicious, would recommend!! Definitely adding this recipe to my book 🙂
★★★★★
Glad they worked well for you!
I love this!! It’s was chew one thing idk if I did this wrong I’m only 13 LOL, but it was sticky I was seeing if I did a ingredient wrong ,but I did not. Love it tho I’m going to use this same recipe again yes! It’s was so so GOOD!!!🥰🥳
★★★★★
I was wondering if it matters what vanilla extract you need for this recipe. Can I use artificial flavour or only pure?
Pure vanilla should give better flavor, but either would be fine.
Family makes often. need to flatten a little before cooking . absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
I made these exactly to your directions I did use a scale for the flour. They came out perfect. Dough was perfect. I did bake them about four minutes longer. But that may be because my cookies were a little larger. I came out with 26 cookies. Thank you. Looking forward to train more of your recipes.
★★★★★
Hi Lindsay! This looks so so good, I love chewy cookies AND you have such great reviews! i was wondering if this dough could be frozen before baking, and then put into the oven straight from the freezer (adding on time) or whether it would be better for the dough balls to be brought to room temperature and then baking? Thank you! I did read through the comments to see if you answered a question like this, as I’m sure it can be annoying for you to reply to the same comments multiple times, but I didn’t find an answer (I might have missed it though).
I haven’t tried it to be able to say for sure. They’d be fine, I’m just not sure if they’d spread quite as well. I would say it’d be best to thaw the cookie dough first.
I have been looking for a good sugar cookie recipe for a long time, and I finally found one — yours! Just to put my two bits in, I have cooked them a little past where you say to go — when they’re definitely a little golden on the edges, and just a touch crispy on the outside. OMG, so good. Your way is delicious too. 🙂
★★★★★
Hello!
I’ve made your cookie recipe a few times now and I’ve followed the recipe and it’s steps exactly, and every time I make them they come out very flat. Do you have any tips for me?
(By the way, I’m still pretty new to baking, but usually I don’t have this issue. Please help!)
Thank you.
It’s possible that an ingredient is a little off. Maybe not quite enough flour? Also, what is your cookie sheet like? Is it very light in color?Often lighter pans can allow cookies to spread more.
These are the best sugar cookies.
★★★★★
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I love all of the recipes that i’ve try and will continue to try some other ones you have posted. Keep up the good work.
★★★★★
Would I be able to make these without baking powder? That’s the only ingredient I’m missing…
I wouldn’t recommend it.
This is the best Soft and Chewy sugar cookie recipe, it was easy to prepare, didn’t need to be refrigerated before cooking and they do stay soft and chewy. I love a good homemade sugar cookie but don’t like how they get hard the next day. I was thinking to get a cookie to stay soft I would need some kind of artificial ingredient but you figure out how with the addition of brown sugar.
I followed the recipe as written and weighed the flour and sugars. The cooking time in my old oven was 8 1/2 minutes, and they turned out just like the pictures.
Thank you for a delicious sugar cookie recipe.
★★★★★
These cookies are delicious! However mine didn’t spread much at all and are pretty thick. They are still very delicious but don’t look as pretty. Not sure what the difference was, but ill definitely be making them again! Thank you!
★★★★★
This was a great recipe! After reading the reviews, I decided to reduce the flour just a bit. I used 2 1/2 cups of flour. They look just like the ones pictured, and my kids loved them! I put M&Ms on the tops of some, put sprinkles in the dough for some, and then just left some plain. You won’t regret this recipe.
can i use salted butter instead of unsalted ?
Yes, you just may want to leave out the additional salt.
I made these today for my daughter’s birthday. They came out delicious. I did cook them an additional 7 minutes for a total of 14 though. I had 3 baking sheets in at once. Next time I will do one at a time and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
My granny has a sweet tooth, and she loves cakes and cookies no matter what season is going on. Well, I will make these soft, chewy cookies for my lovely grandmother to whom I am visiting next week. Thanks for the recipe!
Help! I don’t have a mixer, I have to cream the butter and sugar by hand. Any tips??
Not sure I have any tips, just maybe a helper for all the mixing.
I LOVE these cookies. I have been looking for a really good sugar cookie recipe and this is it. They are so soft and chewy and have a perfect sugar cookie flavor. I did have to cook mine for about 13 minutes per batch but I may have made my cookie dough balls bigger than it said. Everyone loves them!
Amazing they were really soft and chewy and they were absolutely delicious. Although I don’t know if it’s our oven but we had to bake them for more than 7 minutes.
★★★★★
Omg. I made these today and they were so easy and delicious! After mixing all the ingredients, the dough was a bit more crumbly than I expected, but when I used the rubber spatula as instructed to form into a ball, the dough looked (to me) as it should! In my oven, 7 minutes was too little time (way too soft and barely light brown on the edges although tasty when I tested one!), so I increased the time by 1-2-minute increments until about 14-15 minutes, which was perfect – soft & chewy and just the right golden brown color. This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
I think the recipe tastes delicious, but my cookies turn out ‘plump’, therefore have a hard time cooking through. Next time I’m going to omit the baking powder. Wish me luck
★★★★★
It honestly sounds like you’ve added a little too much flour to the cookies. I don’t think removing the baking powder will help.
I was looking for a no-freeze sugar cookie recipe and this one EXCEEDED my expectations. They are the perfect texture, perfect flavor, and the proportions of the two types of sugar makes the flavor truly amazing. PS: Thanks for the tip about how to know when the butter is the right temperature. I tried a different recipe before yours, and they didn’t spread — now I know that it was because my butter was too cold. Thank you again!
★★★★★
So glad you were happy with them!
Made these once with the exact directions & another time with sprinkles on top. Success with both batches. Such a simple, yet delicious, recipe. Thank you! My son and I have enjoyed the ease of this recipe 🙂
★★★★★
So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed them!
Made a double batch of these this morning. I added rainbow sprinkles for a pop of color. They held shape wonderfully & baked just as well. They flattened a bit as they cooled a bit which was great. This is a very simple to make & bake recipe! You can add anything you desire to the dough ( sprinkles, dried fruit or nuts) & they still bake well. I’m a lead cook at a local senior center so I serve a lot of people on a daily basis. I’m always looking for a quick & easy dessert & these cookies are perfect!! They make great ice cream sandwiches…. A double batch made 72 one ounce cookies. I used a Ice cream scoop so they were all equal size.
I love these cookies! However. Mine turned out crumbly? They are soft but crumble apart. I did use half home made butter and the other half store bought I wonder if that did it? Not sure I measured everything in grams. Any ideas?
★★★★
I have never used homemade butter, so I can’t really say. If they are crumbly, it sounds like there’s a lack of fat, which butter usually provides. So the butter is a possibility.
Hi Lindsay, I left a comment and for some reason I am not seeing it anymore. I was asking you that if I send a dozen of these cookies to my daughter in Texas would they be okay to mail? Also how would she store them? How long is the shelf life? It will take approximately 2 to 3 days for her to get them. I will be mailing them out the day after I make them. Thank you Jana
I don’t really see an issue with mailing them, per-se. But they are fairly tender in my experience, so you’ll want to wrap them well so they don’t break a bunch. Plus, the heat softens things and that might not be ideal when they’re shipped – they’re more likely to break apart. Once she has them, just store in an air tight container. The cookies are best for 2-3 days generally.
Best sugar cookie recipe ever!! I followed the recipe almost perfect.. the only thing I did different was make the cookies about 2 Tbsp for each cookie. It took approximately 18 minutes to bake a dozen at 2 Tbsp for each cookie. I like a bigger cookie. Next time I will probably make them smaller. lol They turned out perfect. They rolled into a ball nicely and tasted like heaven!! I placed a raisin in the center of each ball. They spread perfectly too. Excellent recipe. I will use this recipe for my only sugar cookie recipe from now on. Thank you so much.
One question though.. I want to mail a dozen in a care package to my daughter in Texas. Will they be okay to mail? She would be getting them in approximately 2 to 3 days. Once she gets them how long will they keep once she gets them. How would she store them?
Thank again. I love your recipes. They are the best!!
Jana/Mount Morris Michigan
★★★★★
Wow. Worth it. Mine did not spread either, but I changed the recipe. I had leftover pistachio jello mix from moms b cake. So I only put 1 cup sugar, no brown sugar, added almost 5 Tbsp of P. Pudding jello mix. The first batch about 8 mins, came out soft chewy and fluffy. Perfect. I started smashing a little and my error to ling in oven, dried out a little. But they were still sooooooo good. Will be making lemon pudding jello mix next week. I did stop dipping them in sugar because after tasty one. It was too sweet for me. My batch made 43 cookies and they were big. Side note do not frig. I like a clean service before I bake, plus apt only 620 sq ft, so I popped in frig for 10 mins. Starts drying out. This recipe cant handle frig. Next time I’m going to roll dough in log and just slice it. No need to roll in balls. Dough is real wonderful to work with. Great recipe
★★★★★
Not only did they stay chewy and soft until the next day (we ate them ALL by then lol), they TASTED like they were from a bakery. So good. I’ve never found another sugar cookie recipe that lives up to these
★★★★★
These cookies are awesome!!!!!! I had to bake them 20 mins in my oven. The whole family love’s them. Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
Lindsay, these are the best sugar cookies I have ever made and were beautiful. Thank you so much for the recipe:)
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These are my go to cookies for all the kids parties. All the kids and adults love them and they are fun to decorate with different sprinkles with the kids. Thank you so much,
★★★★★
Hi! Haven’t tried the recipe yet but was wondering if it would be okay to use a hand mixer with a whisk attachment instead of a paddle because that’s all I have! Also, I just have regular sugar, not granulated. Would that be okay?
★★★★★
I wouldn’t think the whisk attachment would be very effective. As for the sugar, to me granulated sugar is regular sugar, so what kind of sugar are you referring to?
Whoops, sorry! For some reason I had thought granulated sugar was different from regular, so thank you for that correction!
I used a hand mixer, with a tea towel for sugar guard(ha!). The dough was a little sandy, but came together fine, when I rolled them. They turned our perfectly!
★★★★★
I just have to comment, this are wonderful! I just measured the ingredients, didn’t weigh anything and was out of baking powder so used cream of tartar, best sugar cookies ever!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These cookies were so delicious. They were really soft and chewy. I added bit too much flour because I packed it into the measuring cup and I realized this once I finished the dough as it was a bit crumbly. I pressed the cookie down so it could spread, but it was still a delightful cookie. Thank you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★
I made these cookies, and Oh My Goodness, they are delicious! I halved the recipe as I didn’t want 30 cookies, but now I wish I hadn’t. As a family of 4, we ate these up. I highly suggest this recipe to anyone wanting some sugar cookies.
Side note: I found this recipe on Pinterest; however, after making them, I wanted to leave a review. That is when I realized I was reading your fertility stories just weeks ago! The world is so big yet so small. Congrats on your addition.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! And what a coincidence! I hope you found the fertility posts helpful!
Could this recipe be used to make the cookie base for a fruit pizza? If so what would you change? Time and temp? Thank you!!
★★★★★
I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would be fine. I’m not sure what the time would be, but I’d probably stick with the same temp.
Does this recipe also work using cookie cutters?
Some people say they’ve had success with it, but I personally use this cutout sugar cookie recipe.
Is it (2) 3/4 cup of flour or 2 cups + 3/4 cup of flour?
It’s 2 cups + 3/4 cups of flour. 2 3/4 cups of flour.
I love sugar cookies, they are one of my favorite kinds of cookie. I have to say this recipe made the absolute best sugar cookie I have ever tasted. And I loved that I didn’t have to refrigerate the dough and it was such a beautiful texture. The only thing I changed was I added 1/2 a teaspoon more of vanilla just because I’m a vanilla freak. I don’t know if it made a difference or not but they turned out awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Lindsay,
unfortunately i don’t have any brown sugar, will it make a difference if i leave it out, or should i replace it with something with similar affects, if yes, could you please tell me what i should put instead?
I would replace it with regular sugar, but I do mention in the blog post that they have different amounts of moisture so your cookies might not spread quite as much.
These cookies do bake soft as promised, but sadly, the cons outweigh the pros for our family. Firstly, despite having only one egg, the resulting flavor is eggy (which is not necessarily a con, based on your personal preference). Secondly, the cookies were very salty. It may just be that the Morton’s kosher salt we used is quite potent, or it could be that the baking soda enhanced the saltiness. Thirdly, our cookies took much longer to bake than the recipe suggested. I would say that we baked them for 12-13 mins but they probably could have used a bit longer as they taste quite doughy. Also, the cookies develop a strange top-hat shape while baking (which eventually mostly falls), but a less appealing shape than normal. It’s a decent cookie (we are certainly eating them!) however, with recipes that show potential, I am willing to stick with them and tweak them to our liking, but I am abandoning this recipe. Having said this, I really do appreciate that you took the time to develop a fun cookie to make that requires no chilling before baking! It sounds like it’s a winning recipe for many 🙂
★★
Did you check to see if you may have used salted butter?
My daughter made these for the family. They were perfectly sweet and chewy. The whole family couldn’t get enough of them and we were all impressed with her handy work. She explained the whole process of how she didn’t add salt because of the salted butter…and how the instructions explained each step of why it’s done that way. Great recipe and post!
We used unsalted butter as stated in the recipe. Thanks for your insight though. Glad they worked out for your daughter.
Ive done this recipe twice and im slowly getting the hang of it , but my cookies have come out extremely bulky which I don’t really mine but you can imagine the surprise when it didnt look like the picture lol. Also, while I obtain the right texture, theyre not sweet at all. I was wondering,if i needed to up the vanilla, or up the sugars or both but how the ratio would work for the sugars.
★★★★★
I’m not sure where the problem is without being there. They should definitely be sweet. It sounds like you might be over measuring your flour.
My husband said, “this is the most perfect sugar cookie!” It was a hit!!! They’re absolutely delicious!!!!
★★★★★
Mine didn’t spread right either, but still turned out delicious.
I substituted in 1 tsp of almond extract and they are divine.
★★★★★
These are the BEST soft sugar cookies EVER!!!
These were GREAT! I added chocolate chips into the middle of the balls and my family loved them! Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
Can you substitute self rising flour for the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt?
You wouldn’t get the same results.
Loved this sugar cookie recipe! I used self-rising flour, and white chocolate chips. It was approved by my son as well. It’s his favorite cookie.😇
★★★★★
Hey Lindsay! I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I have two questions. First, what will be the changes if I don’t add brown sugar? Second, when you say “1 1/2 tablespoon balls” what do you mean? I don’t know how to make them that size (I’m a newbie at baking, sorry!)?
I do recommend the brown sugar for the best results. If you don’t use it, you’d want to replace it with additional sugar. However brown sugar has more moisture than regular sugar, so that can affect the results. As for the size – I use a tablespoon scoop and scoop out a bunch of level tablespoons, then break some of them in half to give me the half. I have a YouTube video of me making this recipe as well, if you’d like to check it out.
OMG horrible!!!
★★★★★
This recipe is so delicious!! The cookie is the perfect soft and chewy texture and it looks so beautiful! They came out in perfect circles, and all I did was spoon the dough onto the tray. I mix everything by hand and use a toaster oven (living in a foreign country) and they couldn’t have come out more beautiful. All of them eaten in one day by my boyfriend and I. They’re so addicting.
★★★★★
Hi!
The cookies were so yummy! They did however spread out a lot and never really got hard enough to be a cookie. I don’t know what I did wrong!!!
What did I do??
I loved them so much just wish they turned out better!
It’s really difficult to say. It’s possible an ingredient wasn’t measured quite right (like too little flour) and that that’s why they spread too much. And if they never firmed up, they might just not have been baked long enough.
These sugar cookies look so delicious! I’ve never tried brown sugar in a sugar cookie but I love brown sugar! I can’t wait to try these cookies out. Thanks so much for sharing!
I have tried and succeeded, thank you for sharing this recipe. Very delicious and easy to make
★★★★★
I’m only a kid but I absolutely loved making these!!! It was really easy to make and I didn’t make a big mess my mom and my brother loved them so much. Also I recommend adding chocolate chips to some of them it gives it a really great taste. Thanks for the recipe!!!
★★★★★
How long can the cookies last until the don’t become as soft?
★★★★★
I’d say they are best for 2-3 days.
I have had trouble with sugar cookies pretty much as long as I’ve been baking. They come out too dry, or they don’t have much flavor, etc., etc. This recipe is a game-changer. The cookies are delicious, perfectly chewy, and I love love love that I didn’t have to chill the dough. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
These are probably the best cookies I have ever made, and I’ve been baking for 20 years. Amazingly soft. I actually subbed the 2 tsp of vanilla extract for 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp almond. It worked very well for me. Thank you for optimizing the recipe!
★★★★★
As I was completely this recipe, I was spectacle of the results since some of the reviews said that the cookie doesn’t flatten. But it turns out, I was worried for nothing. The final results of this sugar cookie recipe was spectacular! It was nice and sweet and was a great recipe to complete specially during this unfortunate time. Definitely recommend!! 🙂
★★★★★
Good recipe, but I had to bake much longer than 8 minutes for them to be done–after 11 minutes they were still raw, and they weren’t fully cooked until closer to 20 minutes. I was surprised–there’s obviously some variation with oven temperature, but this seemed a little extreme.
★★★★
If you don’t pack your dry ingredients into the measuring cup, then you are measuring them incorrectly. Rather than instructing people to develop bad technical habits, perhaps calculate how much flour the recipe actually requires, hack.
This is very incorrect. You absolutely do not want to pack your flour. You will over measure every time.
Hands down the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made!! I don’t want to have to share with the kids and hubby!
★★★★★
I did a random search for a sugar cookie recipe. I chose yours because you described WHY each ingredient and action mattered! The cookies turned out exactly as promised and just how I wanted them! Thank you SO much for explaining how to get the right amount of spread and crinkling; softness with crunch!! I’m going to see if you have a similar recipe for chocolate chips because that’s just how I want them to turn out! Thanks so much!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! These would be my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I hope you enjoy those too!
Can you make these chocolate chip cookies without cornstarch? I don’t have that ingredient.
These cookies don’t have cornstarch in them.
These cookies are so delicious 😃 i love them so much! and my family does too!
★★★★★
These are by far the best cookies I’ve ever had. I absolutely love sugar cookies. I attempted to make these and completely failed because I can’t bake, but wanted to try them so badly so I asked my mom to bake them for me. They turned out perfect and barely lasted in the house, and I may have just had a few for breakfast! Thank you for the recipe and we will definitely be having these again.
★★★★★
Hi Lindsay, for me, these cookies didn’t spread a lot even though I squished them down a little before baking. I baked them for 14 minutes at 350. Even though they may not had look as beautiful as yours, they tasted amazing! I will definitely be using this recipe in the future.
★★★★★
My cookies turned out doughy with a baking time of 8 min and 30 seconds. What did I do wrong?
You may not have done anything wrong, they may have just needed a little longer to bake. There can be variation between ovens.
This is by far the best sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever made! It’s super soft and not too sugary which is perfect for my mom and grandparents to eat. These cookies stay soft in the middle which I also love. This is my new go to cookie recipe thank you so much!!💗
★★★★★
I made this recipe exactly as written and the cookies were perfect. And now the cookies are gone! Thanks for the great recipe.
★★★★★
Im terrible at baking, but that’s okay 😂 these cookies were easy to make and delicious! Super soft, chewy! So so good, 8 minutes did it for me. Thanks for such an amazing recipe!
★★★★★
By far, the best sugar cookie recipe. Thank you so very much ❤️
★★★★★
These are seriously the best sugar cookies ever! I’m in love 😂🤣
★★★★★
Hi Lindsay! Thank you for this recipe <3 I tried it at home, it was super simple and easy to make. And boy do they taste good! I just wish that the cookies would spread out more evenly. They seem to be pretty thick in the center so I was wondering if you had any tips to improve on that? Other than its shape, it's a wonderful cookie.
★★★★
I don’t really have any tips beyond the things I’ve mentioned before. It’s very difficult for me to say what happens for one person versus another. It’s very possible that anyone having issues with spread is having the issue for a different reason because it really depends on a lot of different factors. Cookies can be so finicky. It could be that an ingredient isn’t measured properly. Believe it or not, cookies are really susceptible to changes when things are measured even a little differently. If the cookie dough has been refrigerated, that can make a difference. It’s possible that different ovens make a difference. Making larger or smaller cookie dough balls also makes a difference. It’s just really difficult to say. But I’m really glad you enjoyed them. You could try flattening the cookie dough balls out a little bit next time and that would help them spread as well.
Hi! Can I add sprinkles to this so it’s like a birthday cake cookie? How much sprinkles do you think I should add? Thanks!
I haven’t done it, but I was tagged on Instagram once from someone who did and they looked great. Not sure how many sprinkles – maybe 1/4 cup or so. Just keep in mind that when you add sprinkles, you are adding more sugar to the cookies. It may cause them to spread a little bit more, so you may consider reducing the sugar in the cookies a little bit.
This recipe is SPOT ON! I can’t get over how ridiculously good these cookies are. I followed the directions exactly and baked for 8 minutes, which was just right for them to be almost underbaked. Perfect. I’m looking forward to making these again soon.
★★★★★
These cookies were AMAZING!!!! I can’t wait to make them again!
★★★★★
These are very good. I would recommend doubling the recipe if you have a family. They get goobled up quickly.
Just made these & they are Delicious! 10/10 best sugar cookie recipe I’ve tried!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that! Thanks Lindsey!
does anything need to change for high altitude baking? Also, have you tried making one big b-day cookie, will that work? thx
I’m not familiar with changes for high altitude, I’m sorry. As for one big cookie, I did try it. I can’t remember exactly how it turned out, but I remember wanting to come back to it and make adjustments because it wasn’t quite right.
I didn’t change a thing in the recipe but had to bake longer and they came out perfect & delish! thank you (I didn’t make one big cookie after all, maybe i’ll try next time!) thx!!
Thank you for sharing, the cookies came out great! Mine didn’t quite spread out as much, but they puffed up instead and stayed a little puffy even after cooling. They were definitely still soft and chewy in the inside. Do you know what I could have done differently?
★★★★★
It’s very difficult to say without being there to see it. It could be that an ingredient was measured a little off. Did you refrigerate the dough at all? Because that can make a difference. Making the cookie balls a little smaller can make them spread less. I’m sure there are other things that I’m not thinking of at the moment. Small differences can really make a difference with cookies. I’m glad you enjoyed them though!
These were the best sugar cookies I have ever made . I like that they stayed soft the next day, it something I wanted in a sugar cookie, but never achieved. The flavor was yummy and the cookie had the perfect texture. I followed your directions, without the use of a scale to measure my ingredients. I’m so glad I didn’t read the reviews before choosing your recipe I might not have made them, some people had the hardest time with it.
Thank you for your dedication to come up with the perfect Sugar Cookie, I think you did it!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Hey Lindsay, I love your recipies and hardly ever have issues. For some reason this time they came out soft and chewy the night I made them, but in the morning they were hard and crunchy. Luckily they still tasted great, but I was planning on mailing them to a friend and couldn’t. I followed the directions and let them cool. Upon cooling I stacked them in a ziplock baggie to ship. Do you have an idea of what could have gone wrong?
I’m sorry to hear that. It’s so hard to say what the problem might have been. It could have been that they were a little over baked. Maybe try reducing the bake time by about a minute?
Hi, can you use a cookie press instead of rolling the balls? Thanks!
The shapes that you get from a press will end up spreading since these cookies spread, so if you’d like to have shapes, it wouldn’t be ideal. You could try using my cutout sugar cookie recipe.
I have been on the hunt for a soft sugar cookie, and this was perfect. Sooo good!! Thank you!! I only had bread flour and smashed them with the bottom of a cup a little before baking and they are literally just what I was hoping for. Yummy, chewy and delicious.
★★★★★
I’m very confused how no one is commenting on how dry the batter was? These cookies are going on almost 20 minutes of baking… are you sure the receipe isn’t messed up?
I am 100% positive this recipe is excellent as written. I cannot imagine how they would need 20 minutes to bake. Some thing is clearly off.
I have to admit I tried this recipe as well. I think there was far more flour than needed. I will not be using this recipe as written again.
I been looking for recipes and yours was the only one that stood out to me . So many great reviews , will definitely be trying these soon, will the cookies stay chewy even after the have cooled completely, or are they only going to be chewy after taken out of the oven and then get hard when they have cooled . Pls let me know
They should stay soft and chewy for several days.
My hubby LOVES these! I did this recipe with the flour packed into the measuring cup at first, and it turned out to be a little more thick than what it’s supposed to be which meant that there was more of the cookie with each bite 🙂 I tried to bake it as it was suggested on here when I read through the comments and recipe again on my second try, and they turned out as pictured here, which was awesome! Hubby still preferred the thicker kind. These were a major hit with my family, thank you!!! And I made it without a mixer, which made this to be kind of a workout for my arms… thank you for the tips as well! I was very careful about not over mixing for both tries 🙂
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
can you add Cocoa powder to this to make chocolate cookies? if so how much
No, I’m not sure that it would be that simple.
I have to say this was an easy recipe and I even weighed the brown sugar. The three problems I encountered is that first: the batch that was supposed to be 32 ending up being 36. Second my oven is accurate in temperature, but the cookies took about 12 minutes to bake. I pulled the first two pans with 30 cookies on them at 8 minutes, cooled them for 5 minutes then moved them to the rack. Fortunately, I tasted one and it was like lightly crusted dough. I then put them back on the two pans and baked them for about 5 minutes more. The last few cookies I baked for 12 minutes and they are perfect. I found this surprising since I had more cookies than the recipe stated and since I measured each one and there were more than 32 they should have baked quicker not longer. And the last problem and I feel the most important was that they have very little flavor. Maybe more vanilla, or almond extract, something to add some taste. Sorry, I won’t make them again.
★★
For the white sugar: is the 1 cup + 2 tbsp (233g) granulated sugar added into the mixture or is the 1 cup added into the cookie dough and the 2 tbsp set aside to roll the balls into at the end before baking in the oven? Maybe I missed it but this detail felt a bit unclear!! Thanks!!
The full 1 cup and 2 tablespoons are added to the cookie dough. The additional sugar for rolling is listed separately.
Is it sugar you use for rolling or is it flour ?
The cookie dough balls are rolled in the additional sugar.
These were AMAZING! The flavor and texture were perfect. Will definitely save this recipe and make again! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These sugar cookies were SO GOOD. My husband is a sugar cookie fanatic and said these were the best he’s ever had. BIG fan! 🤣
★★★★★
Wonderful! So glad they were a hit!
This is a great recipe. Even my husband enjoyed it. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that!
Hi there! I have made this recipe 4 times and cannot get them to spread! I measured everything and even sifted the flour! I bake all the time. Your cookies look like my molasses crunches and mine always turn out but these are giving me a run for my money. They taste great though. Any thoughts?
Cookies can be finicky and it’s hard to say from a distance. Are you refrigerating them before you bake them? Are you making bigger/smaller balls of cookie dough? Are you using a scale or cups to measure the flour?
Will I be able to freeze them to eat on a later day
Yes, that’d be fine.
Every Sunday, we purchase sugar cookies from the store…but not anymore. I made these 30 mins ago and all I can say is…WOW!! So soft and so good. Thank You so much for the recipe.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I have some Lorann baking oils and was wondering if i could add these in at some point during the recipe or will any flavoring mess it up?
As long as you aren’t adding more than a teaspoon, it should be fine.
hi, i made these back in 2018. I was wondering if the recipe back then did not require me to roll the dough in sugar before i put it in the oven? thank you
I believe that has always been part of the recipe.
I loved this recipe!!! Completely soft and chewy. I will never use another cookie recipe again! My friends and family LOVED it as well. I definitely will make it again!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
I baked these cookies and they turned out delicious. Thanks so much for the receipe .
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
I made this cookies so many times in high altitude and on see level and they always turn out great. I even experimented with the size making them a lot larger and cooking them two minutes longer. They are delicious and my go to recipe for having something sweet in the house.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them!
Hi Can I use salted butter? All I have is that kerrygold pure Irish butter but it’s not unsalted.
Yes, I’d just add about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Just curious, are there any modifications for high altitude. I measured Everything accurately and my cookies didn’t flatten like yours. I was wondering if it might be due to elevation?
It’s possible, but I really don’t know much about high-altitude baking. I’m sorry!
OMG absolutely stunning I cannot believe my eyes and taste glands. this recipe is both easy and delicious I just had one question, is it ok if I don’t use brown sugar? will it still come out good? thanks a lot!!
I’m so glad you’re happy with them! As for the brown sugar, I personally would keep it as is. Small changes make a big difference with cookies and if I remember correctly, substituting the brown sugar made a difference when I was testing these. Brown sugar has more moisture than regular sugar so your cookies may not spread quite as well without it.
Which brown sugar is recommended for this recepie. Dark or light?
Light
Mine turned out great! I absolutely love recipes that include a weight measurement. Thanks for that! Because of the mixed reviews I decided to make a half batch, and even weighed my egg so I’d have exactly half! Maybe not necessary since egg weights vary so much but I did anyway. The dough was somewhat crumbly but still rolled into balls nicely. Warm from the oven they’re quite tasty and I’m sure as they cool that chewiness will come through. Super easy.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
is this 2 cups + 3/4s of a cup? or TWO 3/4’s ?
It is two cups plus 3/4 of a cup.
Mine remained balls as well. i did use a food scale so I’ll what happened. Everything else was great. When I noted they didn’t spread with the fist batch in I pressed them don myself. Still a great tasting cookie.
Yum!
★★★★★
I love this recipe so much, I’ve used it in the past for small parties. I’am trying to double the recipe for my daughter’s birthday, I am trying to make a large sugar cookie the size of a pizza. How should i go about doing it?
★★★★
Just made these and AMAZING! Followed recipe and cooking instructions exactly and they came out exactly like your picture! I got thumbs up from the husband and son! Thank you for this recipe!!Pinning this one! x
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Amazing! The first time I made these my husband begged for me to make more. Unfortunately, the second time I made them I accidentally put to much flour in and the dough became crumbly, didn’t spread out much and tasted like a whole different kind of cookie. My fault and I will make sure to be careful about the flour next time. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for sharing it!
★★★★★
Awesome recipe. They turned out perfect, soft, chewy and perfectly sweet. Thank you for sharing this great recipe ❤️
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Girl these cookies are amazing! I don’t even have to adjust for altitude. They stay moist and chewy for days after too. Nomnomnomnom.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Mine didn’t spread enough and they came out a little almost too crumbly. Great flavor and taste though! Any recommendations?
★★★★★
I would just check your ingredient measurements and use a food scale if you can. Cookies are really susceptible to little changes in ingredients. The flour is most commonly the issue – just give your flour a good stir to loosen it up, then scoop it into your measuring cup.
Good morning and Happy Holidays!! I’m the cook and baker in my house. Can this recipe be used for Christmas Cookies? I’m sure it can. I would just have to roll out the dough and use the cookie cutter molds. Just wondering!!
I haven’t tried it as cut outs before. I would think they would spread a little too much. But some people have said that they tried it and it worked well.
I’ve never made a sugar cookie before (from Australia, they’re not a big thing here) but these were delicious and perfect, exactly how I hoped they’d be.
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that!
Hi! I need to make an extra batch! Can I put dough into fridge for the night and then bake in the morning?
Yes, I would just let the cookie dough come to room temperature before baking so that they spread properly.
Hi I got alittle confused and just want to make sure, to have the cookie chewy , do I include the 1 Cup and 2 tbsp of granulated sugar with the 2 Tbsp of brown sugar ?
Or just 1 cup of granulated white sugar with 2 Tbsp of brown sugar ?
It’s one cup and 2 tbsp of sugar AND 2 tbsp of brown sugar.
I followed the recipe exactly and I can’t roll dough into balls very very very sticky now I don’t know what to do I don’t want to waste it cuz I don’t have anymore sugar
This recipe looks delicious. I am planning on making a spiraled cooking for Christmas (with plain, green, a red “layers”). I usually use a recipe for cutout sugar cookies when I do this, but I love the idea of the cookies being softer and chewier. Do you think this recipe would work for that, or do you think the extra working in of the food coloring and rolling out the layers would make it too tough? Thanks!
Gosh, hard to say. I’m not sure that the cookies would work as well. Because you slice and bake a spiral cookie like that, they may spread a good bit more. I’m just not sure without trying it.
These cookies are amazing! I did have the sane problem with mine nit spreading but I didn’t weigh my flour, but I didn’t mind, easy fix to flatten them. I will make these again my family LOVED these cookies.
Can you use self-rising flour with this recipe? If you don’t have plain flour? Also I only have salted butter? I want to make these now. Please telling me how?
You can use salted butter, you will just want to leave out the additional salt. But self raising flour would give you a different result. I’m not exactly sure how much leavener is in the flour so it would be hard to tell you how to adjust for it.
I just made these the other day & for some reason my cookies came out very flat which made them bake too close to each other . They tasted great , they were just flat as paper. Do you know why they came out flat ? I followed the recipe
★★★★★
It’s really hard to say. It could be not enough flour or too much butter, etc. If you made the cookie balls larger than 1.5 tablespoons they can also spread too much. It’s hard to say for sure without seeing everything but hopefully that helps.
I’ve just made this recipe and i have a couple of suggestions. First, these cookies are amazingly wonderful. Could you perhaps say what size grade the egg you use is? For example, i used a jumbo egg (thought i picked up some medium sized ones but alas). Perhaps that accounts for some difference in recipe results. For example i had to use about a tbsp more flour to make the right dough texture. Also, i wasn’t sure at first how large to make the raw cookie balls before baking. One place says 1.5 tbsp and one place says 1.5 inches. I have never really been good at sizing the raw cookie but i think those are vastly different measurements. My first batch was 4 cookies that are huge and took about 15 minutes to bake…though they did work fine other than that. The second batch i used a bit more than half the raw dough per cookie and those seem to be sized correctly, though i did still bake them about 9 minutes. I love the shimmery sugared surface and the delightful texture. I also added 1 tsp cinnamon, 2/3 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ground cloves, and its amazing. Enjoy and thanks so much.
★★★★★
I’m sorry, I thought egg size was in there but I’ve updated it. It should be a large egg, which is pretty standard.
Number 7 says 1.5 tablespoons, which is the correct size. Where do you see 1.5 inches?
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
So glad you’re enjoying this recipe Lindsay! Your husband is lucky to have a wife who preps extra for him
★★★★★
Could you please tell he how much 1 cup of butter is in grams.
Thank you
224g
Today I baked these cookies for the first time. The granbabes are2 1/2 & 4 out. To save time and messy clean up I peeped all of ingredients. Yummy & fun
★★★★★
i’m confused. I followed the recipe to the letter and still ended up with sticky dough at the end. I even got rid of my first batch thinking I did It wrong, tried again and ended up with the same result.
tastes good though, I just don’t understand how I screwed up an extremely straightforward recipe.
It’s hard for me to see if you actually did something wrong or not. The dough can be a little bit sticky so it may have been OK.
Tried twice with no success. I think we are missing milk.
Nope! There is not any milk needed in this recipe. If your dough was dry it is because you added too much flour or not enough of something else.
I baked these cookies for the first time. They came out so delicious! I added some white chocolate morsels which just complimented the cookie. I am baking a batch today for a Christmas party. Don’t think you can just eat one 😀
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! The white chocolate chips sound great!
Is there anyway you can make a video making this recipe?
★★★★★
I have one on YouTube actually. You can find it here – https://youtu.be/txw2zaUW9UA
Lindsay, I had my doubts but these sugar cookies are the best sugar cookies I haver had. My play niece and I made them along with traditional sugar cookies and chocolate chip with M&Ms, I kept eating these. They didn’t spread out that well but i didn’t read the part that said stir the flour and then measure it. I’ll try it again but these are a winner my friend!!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Outstanding sugar cookie recipe! I ran out of vanilla at 1.5 teaspoons so used 0.5 teaspoons of almond extract, really tasty and not overwhelming almond. Stayed soft and the brown sugar gives them a lovely depth of flavor. Rolled in colored sugars, jimmies, etc., for holiday and so easy and pretty. Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
What is the size of the finished cookie (diameter)? I’m trying to decide if these are large enough for a second grade class to decorate or if they are too small.
I’d say they are between two and 3 inches wide.
Do you include the 1/4 cup sugar at the bottom or is that for rolling?
The fourth cup of sugar listed at the bottom of the ingredients is for rolling, as indicated in the parentheses. The sugar listed higher up in the ingredients goes in the cookies.
Hi, I’m 9 years old and when I get older I hope to be a professional baker. Today I made these cookies with my mom and they were fantastic!!! We followed the recipe exactly including weighing the flour with a scale.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
I like this recipe, but, Mine came out a little too sweet and a bit underdone.
I baked them for 7 minutes ….
So next time ill use 2 Tbsp less sugar and bake for 8 minutes
Just keep in mind that reducing the sugar doesn’t just change the sweetness. Sugar also adds moisture so if you reduce it, your cookies may not spread as much or be a soft.
Thank you Lindsay…. i
Just made these and they are BAD!! Bad because I can’t stop eating them, great recipe!
★★★★★
Lol! Glad you enjoyed them!
I had the same issue as others with the cookies not spreading. I followed all directions minus the scale because I don’t have one so I’m not sure if my flour measurements were off or what the problem was. However I was able to work-around the issue and save these cookies! I baked for ten minutes, removed the cookies and gently flattened with a spatula and then baked an additional 4-5 minutes. The result was delicious and chewy cookies with a nice crackle affect that really set them over the top!
★★★★
I’m glad you enjoyed them! More than likely the flour measurement was a little off, because I have 100% confidence in this recipe. Cookies can be really tricky because even the smallest difference in ingredients can make a big difference in the way they bake.
These cookies are delicious! We used them as Christmas cookies to frost and decorate. We did have to bake them longer (about 13 minutes) and they didn’t spread like in the picture at first but I just flattened them myself. Perhaps we used too much flour, but the dough wasn’t crumbly and formed perfect balls. Still great!
★★★★★
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
These cookies were beyond delicious. My son wanted to make some sugar cookies that had blue icing and the teddy grahams floating on it. This recipe was perfect for that. We baked ours thicker but still so delicious and soo chewy. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them!
Wonderful! The perfect sugar cookie
★★★★★