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,
My MIL makes these and they are delicious so I tried 😅. They didn’t flatten for me at all. I eventually had to take them out and they just crumbled. I was certain I used too much flour, but that wasn’t the case. My flour is kept refrigerated and I did pack it. I’m going to try again and just make bars and see if that can get them to taste the same. The dough tasted great, tho haha.
If you packed your flour, then you would have used too much, which is why they didn’t flatten/spread properly. You want to use the spoon and level method, or even better use a food scale. I have tutorial on measuring flour, if you’d like to check that out. Thanks!
Worst sugar cookie I ever made. All you can taste is flour.
I love these sugar cookies! I made these last year and they came out perfect! For some reason, the cookies aren’t spreading out for me this year. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I made two separate batches in case I did something wrong with the first batch, however they still didn’t spread. I always weigh the flour. Any thoughts what the problem could be?
Hmm, that’s weird. Did they not spread at all?
They did spread some, but not like they should have. I didn’t use parchment paper when baking. Could that have caused the issue?
It could maybe affect it a bit, particularly if it’s a darker pan. Things spread more and brown less on a lighter pan, because darker pans heat up quicker. It’s really hard to say from a distance what happened. Could be the pan/parchment. Is something about your oven different? Are you sure you used a large egg, rather than like a medium sized egg? I’m guessing you didn’t refrigerate the dough, but if you did, they’d spread a little less. The combination of a few things that make a small difference, could make a bigger difference together. I’m sorry that I’m not more help, it’s just hard from a distance.
Wondering why the Google ads are directly over top of your recipe ingrediënt…happens with all your recipes…soooo annoying! I can’t figure out how to remedy the situation!
I don’t see that happening on my end. If you email me a picture of what you see to lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com, I can try to see if we can make adjustments. Sorry for the trouble!
First off I love these cookies as does everyone I bake them for! I know you don’t have to chill, but will they hold if I chill the mix overnight! I can’t have a flop with these cookies after so many good years.
Thank you!
So glad you enjoy them!
I’ve made these cookies several times. I find that 8-9 minutes is not nearly enough. Anyone else?? I find 15 does the trick with balls of 1.5 tbsp of dough. These are my favorite cookies, regardless
Ovens can definitely vary. And your specific cookie sheet could even make a difference. Glad to hear you enjoy them though!
Can you roll out this recipie for cutout christmas cookies.
They spread too much for cut out cookies. I would recommend my cut out cookie recipe.
This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe and my go to! Everyone loves them. BUT, my cookies don’t seem to spread too much once I roll them into balls. They stay rather puffy and small. How do I get them to spread and cool to flat rather than puffy?
So if they don’t spread that much during baking, it could be that you over measure the flour a bit. Do you use a food scale?
If they spread fine during baking, but just stay puffed up, is try baking them for a minute less.
I hope that helps! Glad you enjoy them!
This is my FAVORITE RECIPE. I foolishly strayed away, thinking another recipe would be ok. I was wrong. The creator of this recipe has these sugar cookies on point ! Thank you for sharing this recipe ! It will be forever my go to !
Glad to hear you came back! 🙂 So glad you enjoy them!
This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe! My family & friends LOVE them!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
Can I shape these with cookie cutters? (No luck so far so unsure!) also the bottom of my cookies aren’t cookie?
These are meant to be drop cookies, not cutout cookies. They spread, so they shouldn’t hold their shape. I do have a cutout cookie recipe though, if you’s like to try those.
Can you freeze this dough to bake at a later time?
Yes, you can. You can thaw the cookie dough and bake when you’re ready, or even bake from frozen. If baking from frozen, they just don’t spread quite as much and need a couple extra minutes to bake.
I really liked this recipe I used honey and sugar which was actually really good. It needed more flour was kinda sticky but I very much so. Also add a little cinnamon for a little extra flavor.
Just made these cookies and oh my word, it’s amazing!! I halfed the recipe and did not use a stand mixer as I did not want to dirty anymore dishes 😅 so I creamed it by hand. The batter was pretty soft and sticky so I put some flour on my hands to roll it. After I rolled it I popped it in the fridge for about 10 minutes since I thought it was too soft….With these alterations, they still baked perfectly. Soft ..chewy…and delicious 😋
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I’m s there a gluten free flour substitute you would recommend for these?
I don’t really work with gluten free ingredients much. Just a regular all purpose gluten free flour would probably be best.
I use gf Jules gluten free blend for baking for my husband. Because it has a primarily corn starch and tapioca starch base rather than rice flour, it makes gf bakes less gritty. Try the cookies with Tahitian vanilla, too
I have a quick question… can you add dried fruit and white chocolate chips to this recipe?
I suppose you could. You could also try my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and swap out the nuts for the dried fruit. I feel like the texture might work better.