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
save this recipe
Enter your email & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get new recipes from us every week!
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,
These cookies taste fantastic! My only problem is that they turned out more puffy, not like your pictures as I was hoping for? It seems I have had this problem with sugar cookies before… do you know what the cause could be?
It could be any number of things probably but I moved last year and noticed something similar with the oven in our new house. I tried the air bake cookie sheets and it worked perfectly. It could just be your oven. Maybe try those baking sheets.
when me and my friend where baking this there was still cookie dough on the bottom that was not baked and we went like 10 min over what you said
This recipe is amazing!! Would I be able to add sprinkles to these?
Yes, I actually did that here – https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/sprinkle-sugar-cookies/
Have you ever used oat flour instead of all-purpose flour in this recipe? If you, or anyone has, what was the ratio or measurement?
I have eaten these made by someone else, DELICIOUS, and now I am excited to make them myself!!
I have ever tried oat flour. Glad you enjoyed them!
Hello, can I use a sugar substitute?
I can’t recommend it but you could try it.
Wow!! An excellent, soft sugar cookie!
So glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe is like pie crust not cookie dough — I am quite precise with measurements and bake a bunch so not sure how I could have too much flour — a total waste of ingredients as they aren’t even bake-able 🙁 Try a diff sugar cookie recipe!!
Did you use a food scale? Even if you think you’ve been accurate, the only way to know for sure is a food scale. Given that this is my most widely used cookie recipe – both by myself and others – I do know that it works.
same thing happened to me. they still taste great. The next time I made them I used 2 1/2 cups of flour and they were perfect
I substituted surgar for splenda stevia to knock down carbs and calories and they still come out really good. Mine don’t rise or fall like the picture but they do go flat and are moist
Great recipe, tastes delicious
As far as taste goes, these cookies were amazing! I am very pleased with this, but for some reason my cookies never became as flat as yours- they stayed very puffy. Do you know what might have happened?
It’s hard to say for sure. It could have been that something was mis-measured, typically the flour. The other possibility is actually your oven. They all bake a little differently and when I tested these in another oven once, they did the same thing.
I think this cookie is delicious I changed the flour to 2 1/2 cups, thanks to Gwen said they were so dry. Thanks Gwen for giving me heads up. I had it all mixed except the flour. I baked the first 12 in the oven longer than 7 minutes and I felt it was still to doughy and backed the next 12 till they were golden. Love the cookie. I put them in the refrigerator for an hour before I rolled them in balls and sugar. I would make this cookie again
Used this recipe to make a vanilla latte chocolate chip cookie I envisioned. Did not mess with your flour, sugars and butter ratios though. It came out perfect. You truly nailed the perfect texture and chew. Thank you!
I’ve made this one several times now. If you don’t weigh the flour, it will probably appear a bit dry from what you might be used to. The second time, I just used 2 eggs and it was perfect. Adding water will just extend the bake time and change the texture. Never tried shorting the flour as that can be troublesome also. If you don’t have a scale or would rather not weigh, this is the easiest solution.
I’m just baking them for our neighbors
What if I use salted butter?
Just leave out the added salt.
I followed the recipe to a T and got the driest cookie dough I’ve ever made. Added 1 tbsp of water so it would come together. I measured all ingredients with a scale and measured exactly 1-1/2 tbsp of dough for the balls and only got 32 cookies. Had to press them down as they didn’t spread at all. They taste good but aren’t as moist as I’d hoped and are very cakey.
I’m sorry to hear that that was your experience. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but if you used a food scale and still had dry cookie dough, you might need to check the food scale or something. I have made these so many times using a food scale and the recipe is super reliable.
Hi there, I’d like to try this recipe to make cinnamon roll cookies. Can the dough be chilled and rolled into a log?
I have never tried that. I’m not sure how you’d go about it, but you could try it. It’d have to be fairly cold in order to roll it.
This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe! One question I have is if I make ahead and need to refrigerate the dough, how long does it stay fresh in the fridge?
It should be fine in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Love the recipe! Made them for the first time and loved them. My only question was that my dough came out VERY sticky and I measured with a scale perfectly down to the last gram. Did I do something wrong that the dough was super sticky?