The BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe! (2024)

This Sugar Cookie Recipe has been a crowd favorite for YEARS because it produces a consistent cookie with the perfect buttery flavor. These cookies hold their shape beautifully when cut with cookie cutters and one of the best things is that you can choose to bake these sugar cookies soft and thick, or thin and crisp and both ways are phenomenal! You can cut them out with cookie cutter shapes, or simply roll balls in sugar and flatten with the bottom of a glass. We love them topped with ourClassic Fluffy Buttercreamor for something more fun and fancy, ourGlace Icing.

Ingredient and Equipment Notes

• Butter – unless you have a dairy allergy or preference that prohibits butter, I recommend real butter for these cookies. I have not tested with plant-based alternatives so I cannot speak to that. Your butter should be a room temperature. If it’s not at room temp already, I like to cut my butter into small pieces and leave on the counter for 20-30 minutes. This generally works better than softening in the microwave, which often leads to uneven melting.
  
• Sugar – These cookies use white granulated sugar for sweetness and texture.
  
• Egg– It’s important to use a large or extra large egg in this recipe. If you use a small egg, there might not be enough liquid to bring the dough together.
  
• Extract – You may use vanilla or almond extract in these cookies, or a combination of both! My personal favorite is almond extract.
  
• All Purpose Flour– Use all purpose here, and make sure to measure carefully. Too much flour and the dough will be dry and crumbly. I recommend using a scale to measure by weight, but if that is not available, fluff your flour first with a spoon before measuring, then measuring by lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling off with a knife.
  
• Stand Mixer – You can absolutely make these cookies with a hand mixer, butif you have a stand mixer, I recommend you use it. After your dry ingredients are added, the dough will sometimes look a little dry and crumbly but it will come together quickly into a soft, cohesive dough. It takes a little more time with a hand mixer, but a stand mixer will whip it up in a hurry!

Instructions

1. Start by beating your real butter and sugar and continue creaming for a full 2 minutes or so. Your mixture will turn light and creamy in texture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
   
2. Add egg and extract and mix to incorporate.
   
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
   
4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Your dough will first look crumbly, but keep mixing with a stand mixer and it will quickly turn into a soft cohesive dough.
   
5. You’ll need to chill your dough for about 1 hour. You can do so with dough gathered into one large mass, or use my preferred method which not only cuts down on chill time, but saves effort by rolling dough while it’s soft!

How to Easily Roll Sugar Cookie Dough with no Additional Flour

One of the problems with dusting your surface with flour before rolling cookies, is that you add a bunch of extra flour to your dough. Try to handle it as little as possible. Here is the best method to do that.

1. Start by taking half (or all) of your dough and forming it into a rough ball and then flattening a little onto a silicone baking mat. If you don’t have a silicone baking mat, you can use parchment or plastic wrap but they tend to slide around the counter so it just takes a little more effort.
   
2. Then place a piece of parchment paper (or plastic wrap) over your dough and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough between the baking mat and the parchment. This makes it so you can easily roll the dough with no flour needed, and nothing sticks to anything.
   
3. What I do next is pick up my silicone baking mat and flip the whole “package” over, so the parchment is on the counter, the dough in the middle, and the baking mat on top. Peel off the baking mat and place your parchment and dough on a baking sheet that can now go in the fridge or freezer to chill. I put it on a baking sheet or directly onto a flat surface in the fridge or freezer.

How to Cut the Best Sugar Cookies

This dough retains its shape incredibly well, just make sure it’s chilled. I like to place mine in the freezer for 15 minutes or so, but you can also place it in the fridge. If you’ve used my method of rolling the dough out first, it needs far less time to chill. Then cut out shapes and repeat the rolling process with the remaining dough. If you want super crisp edges on your finished baked cookies, you can even pull out your cutter again and re-cut when they are hot right out of the oven.

How long do I bake Sugar Cookies?

The great thing about this recipe is that you can roll these cookies thick and under-bake them and they will be crazy soft and delicious. OR you can roll them thinner (1/4 inch or less) and bake until you see the edges start turning golden brown and they are perfectly buttery-crisp on the edges. Many recipes will simply be dry when baked till golden brown, but these areincredibly good- similar to a shortbread cookie that melts in your mouth.I love them both ways! Here’s a photo example of what you’d be looking for:

Frosting the Best Sugar Cookies: 3 Ideas!

For straight up flavor, we love ourClassic Buttercream Frostingon sugar cookies. It’s the most traditional combination!

If you’d like something a little more fun and artistic, try our popularGlace Icing and glaze.

And if you’d like to top them with royal icing, you can try myhand painteddecorating technique!

How do I store Sugar Cookies?

IfI’m making a large amount of sugar cookies I will almost always make them ahead of time becausesugar cookies freeze beautifully!Simply cool completely after baking and then layer between parchment in the freezer. When you are ready to frost, just pull them out of the freezer- you can even frost them while still frozen and let them come to room temperature on the counter. Alternately, you can simply place baked cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature.

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