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,
Can these cookies be rolled out to be cut into Christmas cookies?
No, they spread too much in the oven. But these cutout cookies can be. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/soft-cut-out-sugar-cookies/
Either this recipe has an error Or I have done something drastically wrong. Mine look nothing like the pictured. Mine did not spread out at all. Little lumps of chewy cake dough. I followed recipe to a “T”. Even double and triple checked myself after the first batch came out of the oven.
I mean this in the nicest way, but if you look through the reviews, the vast majority of people have success with this recipe. I’ve made it more times than I can count. There’s not a problem with the recipe. I would normally suggest that an ingredient was measured inaccurately. If you truly used a food scale and everything was measured right, I’m not sure. I’m sorry.
Mine stayed in lumps too. I rolled mine in color sugar so I don’t know if that was an issue or not. I just flatten them by hand and continue to cook a bit
I had the same exact experience…double checked the recipe and my measurements as I went along, and mine came out like balls of chewy dough as well. Didn’t spread even a little bit! I added 2-3 extra minutes to the bake time and that didn’t seem to make any difference. Strange!
What if I use margarine instead of butter. Should I not use the salt?
I would not recommend substituting the butter.
This is my go-to recipe and everyone loves these cookies! Can I make the dough, refrigerate and then bake the next day?
So glad you enjoy them! You can refrigerate and bake the next day, just be sure to bring it back to room temperature and be aware that they may spread slightly less.
Mine did not spread barely at all…super puffy. I ended up flattening them a bit with a spatula and then baking a couple more minutes. Other than that, delish! Just wondering what I might have done wrong to make them not spread….any ideas?
Most likely you over measured the flour. Slight differences in flour can have a big impact on cookies. Even more than with cake and cupcakes.
Same thing happened to me–balls that didn’t flatten. AND I made this recipe last year and they turned out perfect. It makes me think there’s some small difference in technique–was my butter a little too firm? Did I not beat the butter/sugar mix enough? Something about this recipe is very finicky, because it works great for some people (at least some of the time), and flops for others. I’m super disappointed–last year I proclaimed that these were the best sugar cookies I’d ever made!
If you did not use a food scale to know that the flour was measured accurately, then I am guessing it was the flour. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out as well for you this time.
Mine too. And sorry. I measured my flour with a scale.
The exact same thing happened to me. I tried this recipe twice and they didn’t turn out either time. Yes, I measured the flour exact (I read the note in the recipe about the flour so I made sure of it!). Recipe says cook 7-8 mins but they were still raw at that point so I had to cook them longer. They didn’t flatten at all. Just round puffy balls, they were not “soft and chewy’, and I found them dry. Sadly, I won’t be trying this recipe again.
Can you roll them out and have the same results? I wants to use cookie cutters.
No, they spread in the oven. But I have a cutout cookie recipe you could use and a new one coming on Monday.
I don’t even like sugar cookies but my husband does so Idecided to try this one and now I’m in loooove 💕. The second time I made it my niece wanted cut outs so I decided to try it and YES this recipe is perfect for cut outs. They will be big and fluffy but personally I don’t have a problem with that! I just sprinkled the sugar that they were supposed to be rolled in and sprinkled it over the dough as I was rolling it out
Thank you for a phenomenal cookie!
The absolute best!
This recipe was pretty good except I had to add another large egg because the dough was to dry but over all they were good
These cookies are so yummy. My second batch I added crushed lemon drops and white chocolate chips. 🍋
Ohhh yummy! Glad you enjoyed them!
this is my FAV sugar cookie recipe! they taste so good and not just like flavorless pure sugar 🙂 and they are SO easy to make! i highly recommend giving them a try if you haven’t.
This recipe was so easy…I didn’t have Brown sugar so I added more regular…and rolled them in sugar and sprinkles
Great recipe and easy to make with my two boys!
The BEST sugar cookies ever. They’ve turned out amazing each time I’ve made them over this past year. It took me so long to find a reliable sugar cookie recipe. This recipe is perfect and I love that there are weighted measurements to make it even more consistent. Thank you!!!
ITS SO GOOD! It made my day, it’s super easy and quick.
this recipe was not good
Are the 2 T of brown sugar packed? What size would you say 1 and 1/2 T is? Golf ball size?
Yes, it’s packed.