Soft sugar cookies are thick, tender cookies rolled in sugar to add a sweet, crunchy crust. The perfect cookie for year round, and a classic to add to your holiday cookie tray.
Make a batch of soft sugar cookies today - all you need are seven simple pantry baking staples to get started! These cookies are tender, extra thick, and rolled in a light layer of granulated sugar.
This recipe uses the dough of my soft frosted sugar cookies as a base. A few readers mentioned that the frosting was too sweet for them so I offered the solution of rolling the dough in granulated sugar instead of adding frosting. After trying it myself a few times, I decided these cookies needed a recipe of their own!
This soft sugar cookie is perfect for someone who's looking for a 'less sweet' cookie. These cookies are perfect for enjoying with a cup of coffee or tea, or adding to your holiday cookie tray around the holidays.
Ingredients and substitutions
As with most baking recipes, there are not many substitutions to offer. Since baking is an exact science, all of the ingredients included are necessary and should not be substituted or omitted.
- Unsalted butter - Can be substituted with salted butter (you'll want to omit the salt listed in the recipe). Your butter should be room temperature - not cold, not melted.
- Granulated sugar - Adds sweetness and moisture to your dough. You'll also be rolling the dough balls in additional granulated sugar before baking.
- Large eggs - Eggs should be room temperature. Set them on the counter 1 hour before baking or place your whole eggs in a small bowl covered in warm tap water for 15 minutes.
- Vanilla extract - Can be substituted with another extract, like lemon, maple, or peppermint, for a different cookie flavor. I recommend cutting other extract flavors in half - vanilla has a mild flavor in comparison to other extracts, like peppermint.
- All-purpose flour - I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. If you have a different flour on hand, I suggest searching for a recipe using your preferred type of flour. Many times it's not an easy 1:1 substitution, and a recipe written for a particular flour will turn out better.
- Baking powder - Cannot be substituted with baking soda - these are two different ingredients that will react differently with the other ingredients listed. Check the expiration date before beginning - expired baking powder will result in a flat, dense cookie.
- Salt - enhances the flavor of your cookie and balances the sweetness without making them "salty".
Tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - It's very important to use room temperature ingredients for a few reasons. Room temperature ingredients incorporate together seamlessly to create a smooth, even dough. An even dough (without flecks of butter or egg) helps create perfect cookies. Creaming together the butter and sugar helps create lift in your cookies when they bake.
To bring butter to room temperature quickly - Unwrap and slice butter into small pieces, leaving it on the counter and in the wrapper or a small bowl for up to 30 minutes. Small pieces warm up faster than a whole stick.
To bring eggs to room temperature quickly - Place whole eggs into a bowl and cover with very warm tap water. Eggs come to room temperature in about 10 minutes using this method.
Don't overmix the dough - Once the gluten (flour) has been added to the recipe, take care not to overmix the dough. Overworking the gluten can cause your cookies to turn out tough.
How to prevent dry cookies
The most common complaint I see in baking is that the reader followed the recipe "to a T" but their cookies/cake still turned out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons. Here are a few ways to help prevent dry cookies from happening in the first place.
- Properly measured flour - This is the #1 most common issue I see in baking. Adding too much flour to any baking recipe will make your dough dry. Cookie dough needs the proper ratio of dry and wet ingredients to work together. To properly measure flour, I highly recommend weighing your flour. This ensures you're adding the correct amount of flour every time. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use a spoon to gently add flour into your measuring cup, then level off with a knife. Do not scoop flour directly from a bin. This compacts the flour into the cup and adds up to an extra 25% flour to your recipe. Extra flour = dry, bland cookies.
- Do not substitute ingredients - This recipe requires few ingredients, which means each ingredient is very important to the recipe's success. Eggs, butter, and granulated sugar all add moisture to your dough. Substituting or reducing these ingredients will change the texture and moisture of your cookies.
- Watch your cookies in the oven, not the time - Yes, I do include a time frame in the recipe card. However, every oven runs slightly hotter or colder than the next oven, and the time that worked for me may not work for you. I highly suggest keeping an eye on your cookies. If they begin to brown around the edges or look puffy and set on top, it's time to remove them from the oven. Overbaking will make your cookies dry.
Frequently asked questions
Please see my section above, "ingredients and substitutions", to find my recommendations on substitutions. This recipe contains a short list of ingredients. For best results, I don't recommend substituting, omitting, or reducing any of the listed ingredients. Substitutions can cause cookies to turn out dry, spread too much, spread less, or taste bland. If you don't have a listed ingredient, I recommend searching for a recipe that's developed for the ingredients you do have.
Store cookies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help extend their shelf life, add a slice of bread to the container. The bread adds moisture to the container, drying out the bread instead of the cookies. Replace as needed with a fresh slice.
If possible, serve homemade cookies the same day of baking. Cookies are their softest on the day of baking and will slowly lose moisture over time.
Cookies drying out? Here's a trick. Wrap a few cookies in a damp paper towel and microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. Warm cookies are soft cookies, and wrapping in a damp paper towel helps add moisture.
Yes! My recipe for soft frosted Christmas cookies inspired this recipe when readers asked for a less sweet sugar cookie. Omit the rolled sugar crust and frost your baked cookies with your favorite buttercream frosting or follow my detailed recipe at the link above.
Yes, the dough or baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months in a tightly sealed, freezer-safe container. To thaw baked cookies, place on the counter top and allow to thaw for about 1 hour.
Soft sugar cookies will keep for about 3 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. To help keep your cookies soft, add a slice of bread to the container, replacing as it gets stale.
Troubleshooting
If your cookies are dry and also bland, it sounds like too much flour was added. I highly recommend measuring flour by weight instead of using a measuring cup, which can add up to 25% extra flour to a recipe. See my section above on how to prevent dry cookies for more tips.
This recipe contains the proper ratios of wet to dry ingredients, including plenty of moisture-retaining ingredients, and will not turn out dry or bland if the proper measurements, ingredients, and baking recommendations are followed.
This can happen when your dough is too warm or the baking sheet was greased instead of lined with parchment.
- Don't skip the step of refrigerating your dough. Refrigerating not only helps the flavors meld, but also makes the dough easier to roll into balls and reduces spreading.
- If your dough is still spreading in the oven, try refrigerating the dough balls for 10 minutes, then transfer directly into the oven.
- Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I do not recommend using a greased cookie sheet. A layer of grease/cooking spray makes cookies of any kind spread more in the oven.
The dough may be too cold (maybe left in the refrigerator too long), or too much flour was added to the dough (see the note* in the recipe card about properly measuring flour).
- Leave dough balls on the counter top to warm slightly before baking. Cold dough spreads less and warm dough spreads more.
- Use your hands or the bottom of a flour-dusted glass to press down on the dough balls before baking. This helps the dough spread more and creates a flatter top (this is also described in step six of the recipe card).
- If too much flour was added to your dough, you'll want to make sure your cookies aren't also overbaked - this combination results in a dry cookie.
More recipes
📖 Recipe
Soft Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (2 large) eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour, measured properly*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (56 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture (or use a mixer on low speed) until just combined.
- Cover bowl and chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Refrigerating allows time for flavors to meld and also creates a firmer dough that's easy to roll into balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Scoop dough using a medium cookie scoop or shape by hand into 1.5 tablespoon balls. Gently roll dough balls in granulated sugar.
- Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. As is, dough balls bake into thick, rounded top cookies (as shown in photos). Optionally, flatten balls slightly using your hands or the bottom of a glass dusted with flour. This creates a flatter top and helps cookies spread more.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until tops look set and edges barely begin to brown. Allow to cool until for 2 to 3 minutes (or until tray is cool enough to handle) before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cookies that don't spread properly.
- Cookie dough will keep in refrigerator for 2-3 days, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Cookies will keep for up to 5 days in a tightly sealed container at room temperature or in the freezer for 3 months. Add a slice of bread to the cookie container to help keep cookies moist. Replace as needed (bread will dry out).
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cookies, based on reader comments and questions!
I just made them and they are so good! They have the perfect amount of sweetness without being too much.
The recipe was very easy to follow, and it’s perfect for beginners looking to get better at baking! I’m a teenager and had no trouble making this 🙂
Also the tips added are very helpful, thank you!
How much do the 1.5 tablespoon balls weigh? (grams)
Hi Patricia, each ball is approximately 30 grams
Hi Heather! hope u're doing well and I also hope my comment reaches u. I haven't tried the recipe yet, but I've been on a hunt for finding a good sugar cookie recipe to make for my mom and these look amazing. I just have one question though, is it okay if I use melted butter instead of softened? would that change anything in the final results? please answer I'm planning on making em tomorrow🫶🏼 thank youu
Hi Vicky! I hope you enjoy the cookies. I go over the importance of room temperature ingredients above in 'tips and tricks' but essentially room temperature butter is necessary to cream with the sugar to create tiny pockets of air throughout the dough. This helps lift your cookies as they bake and creates that delicate, cakey texture. Using melted butter would result in a flatter cookie with a dense, chewy texture instead of the fluffy, delicate, cakey texture shown.
Hii Heather 🙈 I'm so sorry for the late reply. I did make your recipe about a day after my initial comment, and the cookies came out absolutely stunning. my mom loved them so much (tomorrow we have a celebration and she wants me to make them again, so I revisited your website and saw your reply hihi) I did end up using softened butter as well! thank you so much for replying and for creating such an amazing recipe, wish you all the best🫶🏼 —Vicky
How simple and tasty! During the cooling time i whipped up a quick frosting consisting of icing sugar, butter and cream cheese.
My brother loved it so so much!
Your tips are really appreciated, plus, I adjusted the serving size quite a lot (made 6 total cookies) and was surprised that it still worked so well.
I wish I could add a picture!!!
Wow, these sound amazing! So glad to hear your cookies turned out great.
Hi Heather, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place but I hope that you will be able to see it and answer anyway. Your sugar cookies look amazing and I can't wait to try to make them. I love the tips that you added. Some of them I do already know and they are will be very helpful to other bakers. Some, I have never heard of and also can't wait to try myself. I do have a few questions that I am hoping you can also help me with.
Should you always sift your flour? If so, do you recommend doing that before you weigh or measure? And do you measure all dry ingredients as well?
As far as eggs go, most recipes call for large eggs. However, as we know, not all eggs are the same size and even when they are the size of the yolks can vary a lot. Do you do anything to allow for the difference in size of the eggs?
I also was wondering if you had heard back anything from Barbara Kutlik, the woman who asked about adding raisins. That sounds awesome and I was wondering how it turned out for her if she tried it?
Thank you for recipes and your time! Kelly
Hi Kelly, great questions! I measure my dry ingredients before sifting. In step two of the recipe you'll be directed to sift the dry ingredients together. I weigh all of the ingredients that include gram measurements in the recipe card (flour, sugar, butter) and use measuring spoons for smaller ingredients (leavening, spices, extracts). I always use large (US) eggs in my recipes and I wouldn't worry about a slight difference in egg size affecting the recipe. I haven't heard anything back from Barbara about adding raisins to the cookies, but I'm sure it would work just fine! Hope this helps, enjoy the cookies 🙂
Love this cookie. I usually make a sour cream sugar cookie that I roll out. This recipe is much quicker and provides that "soft interior" that we love!
Loved! Huge hit with my partner who has been on the hunt for the perfect sugar cookie recipe!
Hi Sulynn, that's great to hear! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I've been trying to find a sugar cookie recipe. I'm shooting for the lightness found in store baked sugar cookies - this was close. I made one change: 100 grams of Cake Flour and 260 grams of regular white flour. I weighed the doughballs for consistent sizing - 30 ml per cookie. I appreciate your tip on measuring flour - I suspected that scooping 'packed' but didn't know how much.
Thank you so much awesome recipe I really loved baking for the first time and turned out really soft and delicious 😋
Can these be made into bar cookies? (any size baking pan)
Hi April, I haven't tried it myself but you should be able to press the dough into a 9x13 pan and bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until baked through in the center.
You say to weigh flour but didn’t mention the weight needed.
Hi Darlene, all of the weight measurements can be found in the recipe card in parentheses after the cup measurements. For the flour, you'll need 3 cups or 360 grams.
Delicious, cakey cookies. Perfect .
The recipe is good, but if you like a sweeter sugar cookie, 1 cup of sugar just isn’t enough. Maybe 1 1/2 to two cups.
Hi Kim, I agree this cookie probably isn't for those who like very sweet cookies. As it's described in the post, "This soft sugar cookie is perfect for someone who's looking for a 'less sweet' cookie." 1/2 cup sugar extra sugar may work in this recipe, but your cookies will spread more in the oven. Doubling the sugar may cause them to spread so much they turn into blobs in the oven.
Love your recipes and tips
Thank you Jacquie!
I think the servings are wrong on this, was only able to make 18, maybe 19-20 if I squeezed a bit more out of it using a normal scoop. Second time I made them I tried making sure with 2TBSP per cookie, and still same.
They are super good btw, perfect softness. Excellent recipe.
Hi Jeremy, glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies! I use an OXO brand medium cookie scoop which is 1.5 tablespoons.
Love this recipe and made several times as “drop cookies” I’m wondering if you have tried rolling and using cutters with this recipe?
Hi Geralin, this dough would be a bit too sticky to roll out, and puffs up quite a bit in the oven so cut outs wouldn't hold their shape. I do have a maple cut out cookie recipe that could be made with vanilla extract instead:
https://thetoastykitchen.com/maple-frosted-cutout-cookies-walnuts/
These are light and fluffy. I made some with a scoop and used cookie cutters on some as well. Both types are good!! Best recipe I have found.
Was wondering if these can be frozen…would like to make several dozen to give as gifts.
These are as close to the ones my grandmother made as I could find. She also would top some with one or two raisins and sometimes finely chopped walnuts!
Hi Teri, these cookies freeze well, up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Hope you enjoy them!
When I grew up we always got a soft sugar cookies with raisins in them. They were sooooo good. I have never been able to find them since. These look close to them without the raisins. Could I add raisins to this recipe?
Hi Barbara, I haven't tried this myself but raisins should work! If give it a try let us know how it goes 🙂