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 followed the directions including weighing my flour and sugar and these turned out perfectly! I may have made my cookies larger than recommended so I left them in the oven an extra minute or two.
I used salted butter as that’s what I buy and omitted the salt and the taste is wonderful. Soft, buttery, delicious!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you were happy with them!
I’m not sure why people are complaining about It not turning out right or being too dry.. mine came out perfect! Such good flavor, nice and soft, and they spread out nicely. They’re addicting! I got 36 on the dot. I used a knife to level my flour, not sure if that made the difference but that’s always how I do It for correct measurement! Thank you for posting!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
I’m a high school student who’s just learning to cook/ bake on her own, especially cooking for other people, and I was interested in baking something simple but enjoyable for a family get together. After looking online, I found this recipe that seemed easy to make, but also got plenty of good feedback, I decided I would give it a go, and had so much fun making it! It was the first time I was making a dish on my own and serving it for other people, and i found the recipe super easy to understand, with very clear instructions that left me with no questions. Not only that, but they turned out amazing! People loved the way that they turned out soft in the middle, and had just the right amount of crisp on the sides. I will definitely be making them again spoon, and they are by far one of my new favorite recipes!
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
I had a sugar cookie craving this afternoon and this looked like a great recipe so I gave it a try – delicious cookies! They did take a bit longer to bake than the recipe stated – they were still raw at 7-8 minutes and had barely spread. I did use a scale to weigh ingredients as I do with most recipes to ensure accuracy and used exactly 1 1/2 tbsp of dough per cookie (yielded 30 cookies) so I’m not sure why they weren’t done. But after I flattened them a tiny bit with my fingers and baked for another 5 minutes or so (about 13-14 min total) they were done! They were still very very soft, but after a few minutes of cooling they were the perfect texture – soft, chewy, and absolutely delicious! My husband is devouring them as I speak. Great recipe after a little tinkering on my end – may have just been my oven causing the issue. Will definitely make these again, thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed them! There can definitely be variation between ovens. Some run hotter than others.
Mine took a little while to cook too, but I did the same and kept them in the oven for a little longer, and was super pleased with the results!
mine didn’t bake
Try putting them in the oven😂 hehe just kidding, sorry to hear that…maybe experiment with oven/baking times? I’m not the best baker so I’m not too sure but, best of luck mate!
Made these with my sister because she was home for the first time in 5 years…was so excited for this because we read all of the good reviews…they came out horrible. Our coming home celebration for my sister was ruined by these disappointing cookies. Luckily, she understood that sometimes the first recipes the pop up are the crappiest ones. Just wanted to spend some time with my dear sister, Samantha, Sam, I’m so sorry your celebration cookies resulted in disaster due to a horrendous recipe. I will spend a lifetime mulling over the regret that I have on the time I wasted on making these repugnant “cookies”.
Yummy recipe, thank you for sharing it!
Made a few subs because of wanting to make cookies with what i had in the pantry and not go to the store 😉 weighed a mix of spelt and whole wheat pastry flour (when subbing for heavier flours than recipe calls for i think weighing always turns out better), coconut oil instead of butter, coconut sugar+a lil maple syrup instead of the brown sugar and vanilla. They turned out great! I slightly flattened the balls down with my palm and they spread into perfectly round slightly puffed circles in the oven and then flattened nicely once cooled.
This recipe is so good and yes ma’am the cookies are soft. My kids gobble these up!! 🙂
I’m so glad to hear it!
My cookies took about 8 minutes more to bake at 350 should I be worried about that?
So that’s basically about double the baking time. Did you make larger cookies? I know I specify one and a half tablespoons per cookie, but if you make them bigger they will take longer to bake. You could also check your oven temperature with a thermometer and see if it’s accurate. To me it seems like if they bake that long and everything was as the recipe specifies, they would be way over baked.
Great recipe! I had little hands helping with flour measurements and such and these still turned out wonderfully! We added sprinkles and such to the delight of a 5 year old and her sisters. Thanks so much! Hugs!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed them!
These are the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made! So simple. Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Great recipe!! I think some people are using 1 stick of butter not one cup (2 sticks). Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I don’t have baking soda. Is there a way I can substitute it in this recipe ?
Not with the same result. You could potentially use some baking powder, but it definitely gives the cookie a very different texture.
I love this recipe, I have made them a couple of times and I wanted to say to listen when she says dont over mix the dough. Had to use my hand mixer today while making them and over mixed them, still good but a bit biscuity. This is an amazing recipe though!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Yes, a hand mixer is a little trickier I think. It’s harder to control the speed with them than on a stand mixer.
These are delicious! The ratio of sugars to flour to vanilla is spot on. We have several food allergies in our family so I had to substitute King Arthur Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour, a flax egg for the actual egg and Country Crock Plant Butter sticks in place of the dairy butter. They came out wonderfully crisp on the outside and Chewy in the middle.
THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! I just made these and my entire family loves them. I have tried so many recipes and end up making sweet biscuits. This recipe I followed while on thr phone it was so easy and they are PERFECT!!!
I’m so glad to hear that! Glad they were a hit!
Wow, your oven must run WAY hotter than mine. I had to put these in for ten minutes or else they would be truly raw in the middle! I used my cushion air cookie sheets though. I wonder if that made a difference? Anyway, they came out fine in the end after a bit of experimentation.
Sounds like there is a big difference. I’ve never heard of those sheets before. Glad they turned out OK in the end!
Thanks for the reply! An update–they did stay soft, just as you said! They also got eaten way too quickly to make it a fair test. So I just had to make a second batch. 😉
How’s this for a compliment? My daughter says these cookies taste the way Christmas smells! Thanks again for sharing this simple but wonderful gem of a recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.
That’s wonderful! I’m so glad they turned out well and everyone enjoyed them!
These were perfect! Pillowy soft with a tiny bit of crunch! I did chill my dough, and I must have made larger balls because they took longer to bake and the yield was smaller. I rolled the balls in sugar then flattened them with a glass dipped in sugar. I’ve found my sugar cookie recipe! 😋
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!