Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe is really just that- PERFECT. These sugar cookies come together quickly with only 6 ingredients; butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour and baking powder. The cookies keep shape while baking, are soft and chewy, plus there is NO refrigeration! This Sugar Cookie recipe is PERFECTION!
Love decorating sugar cookies for holidays? Me too! Here are a few photos of Holiday Sugar Cookies for Inspiration!
This Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe will not disappoint! There is not much better than a perfect sugar cookie.. but there also isn’t much worse than a bad one!
These sugar cookies get 6 gold stars in my book. Here is why:
- The dough is super simple. Now that I have the recipe memorized, I can throw the dough together in 5 minutes flat.
- NO CHILLING THE DOUGH. I can’t be the only one who never has patience for dough chilling.. right?
- You want a horse sugar cookie? After these bake, you’ll still have a horse cookie. Not some lumpy unicorn looking thing. 😉 These cookies keep their shape!
- Soft, soft, soft, soft, SOFT. Oh, and chewy.
- They are still sturdy, even though they are soft & chewy.
- The cookies are an amazing base for some serious frosting work. Here is my absolute favorite Sugar Cookie Frosting Recipe!
There are a few things that I’d never make sugar cookies without. My KitchenAid Mixer is number 1. This dough comes together in literally 5 minutes because of my mixer.
I have a marble rolling pin that is a dream. The rolling pin itself is really heavy, so rolling the dough out is no work at all. My mom had a marble rolling pin when I was growing up and I gifted myself one for Easter a few years back. (What? You don’t give your self gifts for Easter? Well, I think you should.)
Lastly, I couldn’t live without my silicon cookie sheet liners. I never have to worry about cookies sticking to the cookie sheet again! 
Perfect Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 batch Sugar Cookie Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for a full 3 minutes.
- Scrape sides and add in vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.
- Add flour and baking powder to the bowl. Mix slowly at first gradually getting faster until the dough comes together. The texture should be like Playdoh. Add a little flour or water if needed to get it to a soft, pliable consistency.
- Turn out onto a floured surface. Use a rolling pin and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. (The cookies will not rise while baking, they will not get thinner while baking. Roll out to your desired FINISHED thickness.)
- Use cookie cutters and cut out desired shapes. Transfer the cookies to a silicone lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until the centers are puffy and no longer glossy. Pull the cookies out of the oven BEFORE they start turning brown. If they turn brown, the cookie will be dry and 'crackery' instead of soft and chewy.
- Frost with Sugar Cookie Frosting and Enjoy!
Notes
Perfect Sugar Cookies
(Printable Recipe Below)
Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe is really just that- PERFECT. These sugar cookies come together quickly with only 6 ingredients; butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour and baking powder. The cookies keep shape while baking, are soft and chewy, plus there is NO refrigeration! This Sugar Cookie recipe is PERFECTION!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 batch Sugar Cookie Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for a full 3 minutes.
- Scrape sides and add in vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.
- Add flour and baking powder to the bowl. Mix slowly at first gradually getting faster until the dough comes together. The texture should be like Playdoh. Add a little flour or water if needed to get it to a soft, pliable consistency.
- Turn out onto a floured surface. Use a rolling pin and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. (The cookies will not rise while baking, they will not get thinner while baking. Roll out to your desired FINISHED thickness.)
- Use cookie cutters and cut out desired shapes. Transfer the cookies to a silicone lined cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes or until the centers are puffy and no longer glossy. Pull the cookies out of the oven BEFORE they start turning brown. If they turn brown, the cookie will be dry and ‘crackery’ instead of soft and chewy.
- Frost with Sugar Cookie Frosting and Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
When gathering up the dough scraps, wet your hands and then ‘knead’ the dough until it is soft and playdoh like again. This dough is great to work with, there is no such thing as over kneading this dough!
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Joanne says
In one place you say baking soda and on the recipe baking powder which one is it?
karlibitner says
Baking Powder. It’s all fixed now! Thanks for catching that!
Shanel James says
What if you don’t have butter?
karlibitner says
Unfortunately, there isn’t a great substitute. This recipe requires butter. Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Ashley Russell says
We just made these last night. They were a big hit! And so easy. Thank you!
karlibitner says
So glad you loved them! I’m making a batch today, actually! Thanks for taking the time to comment. ?
cierra says
so can we not use baking soda? I don’thave baking powder.
karlibitner says
Baking powder and baking soda are a little too different to substitute straight across. Here is a great article on ways you can substitute baking powder! Hope this helps! https://m.wikihow.com/Make-Substitute-Baking-Powder
Heiman920 says
Do you prefer salted or u salted butter for these cookies?
karlibitner says
I always use salted butter. I never like having to have 2 different kinds of butter on hand! ?
Mary says
Mine are falling apart when rolling, yet dough feels like play doh!!! What Can I do to fix???
karlibitner says
Hi Mary, stick the dough back in the mixer and add a little water, just 1 tsp at a time. The dough should stick together and not fall apart. Give that a try! The dough is very forgiving so adding a little water will not hurt anything. ?
May says
The best and easiest sugar cookie recipe I have ever made, turned out perfect, thanks !
karlibitner says
Yay! So happy to hear you loved them as much as I do!
DawnMichelle says
What baking temp and time if using half recipe?
karlibitner says
Hi Dawn, The cooking time and temp will stay the same.
Susan Higdon says
I use all purpose flour normally, should I still use baking power?
karlibitner says
I always use all purpose flour, too. ? yes, you’ll still want to use the baking powder. Hope you love them!
Joy says
Our family has a “cookie” baking day before Christmas every year. We like to make sugar cookies and decorate with sprinkles. We usually use egg white on top of the cookie and add the sprinkles. Do you think this recipe would work ok with the cookie sprinkles instead of icing?
karlibitner says
What a fun tradition, Joy! I think this recipe would work great for that. I would suggest adding an extra tsp of vanilla to the cookie dough to make up for the lack of frosting. ? hope you love them!
Kendra says
Can you add food dye to the dough to make coloured cookies?
karlibitner says
Yes! I’ve done that before and it works great!
Maluz says
Hi! Thank you I loved your recipe, however the cookies came out a Little cracked and a bit swollen in the center, taste and texture are grate!
karlibitner says
I’m not sure why the cookies would have cracked, that has never happened to me! Glad the flavor and texture were normal for you!
Leah Smith says
Making these tonight, cannot wait they look delicious!
karlibitner says
Eeek! Hope you love them!
Nikki Campbell says
Thank you! I made these last night and they turned out so well!
karlibitner says
So glad to hear you loved them! ?Merry Christmas!
Melanie says
Are you able to freeze the baked cookies? Love this recipe and want to bake up a bunch then freeze and decorate before chirstmas.
karlibitner says
Hi Melanie! Yes! These cookies freeze well! Just pull them out a few hours before frosting. ❤️
Kathy says
I don’t have a standup mixer is a hand mixer ok and is parchment paper ok.
karlibitner says
Yes, both will work great. You may have to knead the dough by hand a little at the end to bring it together since you’ll be using a hand mixer. Just remember, the dough’s consistency should be soft and easy to work with like Play-Doh. If it seems dry (which it might since the hand mixer won’t incorporate quite as well as a stand mixer) just add water 1 tsp at a time until it comes together and has the correct consistency. This dough is very forgiving and easy to work with. Hope this helps!
Gillian says
yum!!!
karlibitner says
❤️❤️
Allison says
I made these tonight and the cookies came out perfect! I have been looking forever to find a good sugar cookie recipe that will not lose its shape when baked. This recipe was so easy! They kept their shape but were soft and chewy yet firm enough to handle! So excited to decorate them with my kids tomorrow!
karlibitner says
Yay! Hope you had fun decorating them. Thanks for the glowing review! ?
Zoe says
Hi im just wondering how many cooking the batch makes?
Thanks 🙂
karlibitner says
Hi Zoe! 3-4 dozen depending on how large your cookie cutters are. ?
Shardai Jenkins says
Hi Karli. I don’t have a stand mixer, will a hand mixer suffice? What are some things I should adjust for not having a stand mixer? Every year we look for a sugar cookie recipe (and frankly I’m tired of it…) that works well in little hands, particularly one that requires NO refrigeration. I’ll make a test batch to make sure they don’t spread.
karlibitner says
Hi Shardai! This is definitely the recipe for you! My kids (5 & 3) help me roll and cut these all the time. The dough is quite thick, so with a hand mixer it may have a hard tome coming completely together. Once the hand mixer has done as much as it will do, pour everything out and knead the dough by hand until it comes together. If the dough seems dry (which it might because the stand mixer can incorporate the butter and everything a bit better) just add water 1 tsp at a time until it comes together. This dough is VERY forgiving, on many occasions I’ve accidentally over floured, added in water and they still turn out great. A quick tip- after you’ve floured your counter rolled the dough and cut out your cookies, wet your hands before gathering up and kneading the dough again. The water from your hands will balance out the extra flour used to roll the dough out so it isn’t extra stiff. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes!
Shardai Jenkins says
OMG! I’ve finally found it! You gave a great recipe, my hand mixer even did a fantastic job. 1 tsp of water did the trick though. Straight from the mixing bowl to the oven, I did a sweater cookie cutter and it didn’t spread one bit. So grateful and thankful for you and your recipe! I did a test batch tonight and I will make the other batches tomorrow. Thanks again and Merry CHRISTmas!
karlibitner says
Yes!! This made my night! I was actually just thinking about you this afternoon, wondering how they turned out with the hand mixer, so THANK YOU! for coming back and commenting! Merry CHRISTmas to you, as well Sharadai! Hope you have a wonderful holiday. Enjoy those cookies!❤️
Shelley says
Could you use 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 granulated sugar?
karlibitner says
Hi Shelley- I wouldn’t recommend that if you are looking for a classic sugar cookie as the finished product. Using half brown sugar would essentially create a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips. Hope this makes sense!
Selma Bajric says
Are you able to use this recipe for a “number cookie cake”?
Also, would I be able to store the cookie in the fridge with cream cheese on top of it? Will it still be soft?
Thanks 🙂
karlibitner says
Yes! I see that you found my Birthday Sugar Cookie Cake post about this. I would store in the fridge until about an hour before serving.
Eva says
I never have luck with christmas cookies , I also only have a hand mixer , my sister has requested we bring christmas cookies so my preteen boys and i will be attempting this with hand mixer today I will let you know how they turn out
Any tips for storing for christmas and what is the trick to get the sprinkles to stick after baking the cookies? I will add a little extra vanilla as i dont plan to frost them any tips for this?
Thank you and Merry Christmas
karlibitner says
Hi Eva!! I hope you love these! I would sprinkle the dough with sprinkles BEFORE cutting them out and baking. Sprinkle the rolled out dough, lightly roll with the rolling pin to push the sprinkles into the cookie dough and then cut and bake. ? hope this helps! Also for storing, just stack the unfrosted cookies in an airtight container. They will be great!
Eva says
Thank you will let you know how they turn out thanks for the tips will try that!
Megan says
I would like to make the dough ahead of time. Can I freeze the dough?
Thank you
karlibitner says
You know, I’ve never tried freezing the dough! Now I’m going to have to try it. Haha I would probably suggest rolling it out and cutting the cookies before freezing, if possible. If you do freeze it, let me know how it goes!
Gail Dalton says
Have you ever used royal icing on these cookies? I want to try some fancier decorating with royal icing & want to make sure it will dry properly on these moist cookies.
karlibitner says
I personally haven’t, but my friend did for Christmas this past year and they turned out AMAZING! The royal icing will definitely dry properly. Hope you enjoy!
Diliah says
Can I make these without vanilla extract?
karlibitner says
You could, although they wouldn’t have much flavor. If you prefer almond extract over vanilla, you could substitute. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Tori Gordon says
I just made these and they tasted amazing!! Just a question they expanded a bit and I planned to do a fondant icing on top but they were now quite a bit bigger then the original cookie cutter size. Would I have done something wrong?
karlibitner says
It sounds like maybe your cookie dough needed a little more flour. They shouldn’t expand at all. Try adding a little more flour next time!
Stephanie says
I make a mistake and end up using protien power had 2cups in when I noticed and then put 1 cups of flower turned out really good. You can make these cookies semi healthy I also used sweetener and not sugar and no icing on the top great cookies.