I love this easy sugar cookies recipe, especially when I want to do some spur-of-the-moment baking. The cookie dough doesn’t need to be chilled, and the finished cookies stay wonderfully chewy for DAYS.
If you love soft sugar cookies, try my copycat Lofthouse cookies for a frosted, bakery-style treat.
Next to a good snickerdoodle, chewy sugar cookies are a total favorite of mine any day of the week. And unlike, say, cut-out sugar cookies, which are definitely a Christmas staple, I feel like this easy drop sugar cookies recipe is perfect for year-round baking.
I tested SO many versions of these homemade 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’d still be new batches on the counter. But finally, I found the perfect sugar cookie recipe. Everything about these buttery cookies is just right.
So Many Reasons To Love This Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe
- These cookies are the perfect thickness to have crisp, golden edges without losing their soft centers.
- They’re chewy, buttery sugar cookies without being cakey.
- There’s no need to chill the dough, cut out the cookies, or even press the balls flat. They spread perfectly on their own.
- I’m happy to say these homemade cookies stay soft and chewy for days when stored properly.
- These are delicious baked as-is, rolled in sugar for a crunchy finish, and they’re great for decorating with sugar cookie icing or sprinkles.
- They’re easily adaptable for holidays like Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day. See my favorites in the Variations section later on.
Ingredients Needed
Let’s talk about the key ingredients you’ll need to make chewy classic sugar cookies. See the recipe card for the full recipe with exact measurements.
- Flour – Use a kitchen scale or spoon and level the flour to avoid overmeasuring. See how to measure flour correctly so you don’t end up with too much flour in the dough.
- Baking soda and baking powder – In all my testing, I found that my favorite sugar cookies used a combination of baking soda and baking powder. Cookies made with only baking soda are chewy but thinner (see my coconut sugar cookies). Meanwhile, just baking powder yields a thicker, more cakey cookie. The combination of the two was just right for these bakery-style sugar cookies.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter. Bring the butter to room temperature before you start. If you forget, microwave it for 5 seconds at a time, turning a quarter turn after each interval, just until it’s softened but not melted. You can also slice the butter into thin slices and it’ll come to room temperature much more quickly.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar – Brown sugar has more moisture than white granulated sugar because it contains molasses. I swapped out two tablespoons of white sugar for brown sugar in this sugar cookie recipe, and the results were fantastic. It makes a much softer and chewier cookie that stays fresh longer. It also adds a touch of extra flavor.
- Egg – Also at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Please use pure vanilla extract for your homemade sugar cookies, and not imitation vanilla. You’ll taste the difference.
How to Make Chewy Sugar Cookies
Follow along to make the best soft sugar cookies from scratch. Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350ºF and line your baking sheets, either with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients and mix to form a thick dough.
Portion the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon-sized balls. Roll the dough balls in sugar.
Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 7-8 minutes, until they’re just set in the centers.
The cookies will look a bit puffed up when they leave the oven…
… And they’ll settle as they cool on the baking sheet.
How Long to Bake 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. Don’t worry if the centers of the cookies are still quite soft; they will firm up as they cool.
Variations and Decorating Ideas
These make great holiday sugar cookies, but they’re also wonderful for everyday baking. Here are some of the many ways I’ve adapted this sugar cookie recipe over the years.
- Frosting: You can make simple decorated sugar cookies with royal icing or use vanilla buttercream frosting to follow my tutorial for rosette cookies.
- Sprinkles: 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. See my Christmas sprinkle cookies. Use any color you like!
- Christmas: Make peppermint sugar cookies or turn these into Grinch cookies with green food coloring and red heart sprinkles.
- More flavors: Try my chocolate sugar cookies, strawberry sprinkle cookies, and lemon sugar cookies for fun flavor variations.
Tips for Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Make sure your butter is at 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 still too cold.
- 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!
- Avoid overmeasuring. Measure the flour correctly using the spoon-and-level method or a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Don’t scoop directly from the bag. You’ll end up adding too much, which makes the cookies dry.
- Don’t over-mix the dough after you add the flour. It can over-develop the gluten and cause the cookies not to spread as nicely or to be tough.
- Make sure your cookie dough balls are 1 ½ tablespoons each, or you’ll want to adjust the baking time. I also found this size to be just right for a perfect spread.
How to Store and Freeze
- Counter: Store these cookies on the counter in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Fridge: If you want to extend their shelf life, you can pop the container in the fridge. The cookies will keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- Freezer: These cookies freeze nicely too! Just let the baked cookies come to room temperature, then pack them in a Ziploc bag and freeze them. Thaw them in the fridge or on the counter when you’re ready to eat them.
More Classic Cookie Recipes
Easy Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups (358g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (233g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28g) light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (52g) granulated 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, 2-3 minutes. 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 ½ 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Categories:
Christmas, Cookies, Easter, Holidays, Recipes, Recipes with video, Sweets and Treats, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day,
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!