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,
Will it make a significant difference if I use normal dark brown sugar versus light brown? Since all I have is dark at the moment.
The dark brown sugar has a bit more molasses in it, so they may spread a touch more.
Hi! I was wondering if you can make sugar cookie cutouts with is recipe instead of your other sugar cookie cutout recipe? Also cant what to try this recipe!
These are meant to spread, so I would recommend my cutout cookies.
Good and sweet 🥰
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Oh my goodness! What in the world?! These are truly the best! So soft and so tasty! I made the mistake of adding the two extra table spoons of sugar into my batch instead of reserving them for rolling the dough in. But, they still turned out fantastic! Definitely saving this recipe for Christmas! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Hi I really want to try this recipe and I’m looking for a cookie like the great American cookies the sugar flavor. Do there’s taste like it and can I roll them in sanding sugar
You can roll these in sanding sugar. I have never had the Great American Cookie company’s sugar cookies though, so it’s hard for me to say if this one tastes just like that one.
I’ve been looking for a recipe for soft and chewy sugar cookies that don’t turn out dry. This recipe is PERFECT! Absolutely delicious. 🔥
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Just made these. They baked up beautifully and taste great! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Hi! I made the little dough balls but my cookies didn’t flatten like yours did. Where could I have gone wrong? They’re delicious, but just not the same in terms of size/height.
The most common reason for them to not spread properly is adding too much flour. Here’s a post on measuring flour that you might find helpful.
Hi I accidentally overmixed. Will it ruin it? And Can I fix it?
How much did you over mix? If it’s truly over mixed, you can’t really fix it. But I’d try baking them before throwing them out.
I love this recipe! …is there any reason I couldn’t add flavored chips to the recipe?
I’m so glad you enjoy it! Yes, flavored chips should be fine. Just keep in mind that as you add mix-ins to cookies, they don’t always spread as much. If you find that to be an issue, you can always press down the cookie dough balls a little bit before you put them in the oven.
Love this recipe! This will be my 5th or 6th time making it this year 🙂 Question: if I want to freeze into balls and bake same day that I take them out, what’s the best way to do this? Will they be just as good?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Freezing the cookie dough balls is fine. I have never baked them from frozen, so I’m not sure if that works well or not. But you can certainly bring the cookie dough back to room temperature and then bake them.
We love rolling these in sugar and cinnamon to make soft snickerdoodle cookies! Our go-to cookie recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoy them!
Hi! This recipe is amazing and I’ve been using it for years, but I’ve noticed a trend in the cookies drying out and becoming much harder when storing them, even in an airtight container (and they’re made pretty much perfectly, I just double the recipe and the cooking time is 15 – 17 minutes for my oven for some reason.) Anyway, I was hoping that maybe you would have a way to prevent this from happening? I tend to give these cookies out to other people when I make them (and give them the recipe) so it’s really inconvenient. Otherwise, love the cookies very dearly!
It kind of sounds like you could actually bake them for a little less time. They will be softer and stay that way for longer. Otherwise, storing them in the airtight container should be fine.
I substituted the vanilla extract with the LorAnn Princess emulsion and these cookies were soft and chewy with an added kick! Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hello! Thank you for this beautiful recipe! I’m going to try making tonight with my daughter. I was wondering if I use dark brown sugar opposed to light brown if I should lessen the amount? Thanks!
You could try lessening the amount a touch, but they may be just fine.
Not a good recipe , way to much flour
Sounds like you probably over measured your flour. Here is a post on how to properly measure your flour.