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,
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.
Hi There,
I tried this receipt tonight and unfortunately my cookies came out thickand almost fluffy. Could this be from over mixing?
Still delicious but I imagine the texture is not the same.
Pretty sure this is the first time I ever made sugar cookies of this sort, and I’m in my sixties (husband not crazy about them – requires chocolate)! They came out just the way I was hoping, and I mixed by hand. I love them. Thanks!!
I tried this recipe without a stand mixer, used a hand mixer instead, and I guess it over-mixed. Instead of dough I ended up with a big bowl of powder. Had to throw the whole thing out.
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.
These were good but definitely need more than 7 to 8 minutes to bake. They were still raw at 8 minutes. About 11 minutes worked but they didn’t flatten much.
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!