Sugar Cookies Recipe Easy

A simple mixture of butter, sugar, and flour with a few additions, these sugar cookies bake up perfectly every time. They hold their shape, are the perfect texture, and have a delicious buttery vanilla taste.

Simple ingredients, a soft and chewy texture, and great flavor make this the best sugar cookie recipe.

I skip the parchment paper or silicone mat for this recipe. I find they hold their shape best on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Sugar cookies look best when they are baked just until very lightly browned on the edges.

Don’t skip chilling the sugar cookie dough. This allows for the butter to firm up a bit which will keep the cookies from spreading too much and looking flat. Chilling helps them to keep their shape.

Sugar cookies are one of the most popular cookie recipes for decorating. Feel free to have fun with cookie cutters, stamped rolling pins or simply cut them into circles.

To make Christmas sugar cookies, or any time of year cut-out cookies, ensure they’re completely cooled on a wire rack before decorating (or the icing will melt).

You can decorate with soft frostings like buttercream and embellishments, but our favorite is to use a simple sugar cookie icing that finishes shiny and firm.

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

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1. 1 cup unsalted butter , room temperature.
2. 2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar , divided.
3. 2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled.
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional, but recommended)
5. rainbow sprinkles or nonpareils (optional, but recommended)

Easy Sugar Cookies

Nothing says year-round holiday fun like baking easy sugar cookies and decorating them with family and friends.

Prep: 15min

Total: 264min

Yield: 48

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 80 kcal, Carbohydrate 10 g, Fat 4 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 13 mg, Sodium 47 mg, Sugar 4 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (room temperature)
• 3 cups all purpose flour (*see note)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instruction:

1. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
2. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and mix with a handmixer (or stand mixer) on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until well combined and smooth.
4. Add the flour mixture, a little bit at a time, with the mixer on low until the flour is incorporated. Continue mixing until the dough holds together, up to 5 minutes.
5. Divide the dough in half, and form each half into a 5-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill the dough for 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, remove the dough from the fridge (if it has been in the fridge overnight, it may need to sit out 15 minutes before rolling).
7. Sprinkle the surface with a light dusting of powdered sugar or flour to keep the dough from sticking. With a rolling pin, roll the dough to ¼” thickness (you don’t want it to be too thin) and cut shapes with cookie cutters.
8. Place the sugar cookies 1-inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or just until cookies begin to brown on the edges.
9. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, transfer to a cooling rack, and cool completely before decorating.
10. Once cooled, decorate with sugar cookie icing.

Easy Sugar Cookies & Sugar Cookie Frosting

My easy sugar cookie recipe yields tasty cookies that don’t spread! I also include instructions for a pretty and foolproof sugar cookie frosting. Recipe may be doubled!

Prep: 60min

Total: 190min

Yield: 40

Serving Size: 1 cookie (approximate, this will vary depending on size of your cookie cutters)

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 cookie (approximate, this will vary depending on size of your cookie cutters), calories 130 kcal, Carbohydrate 21 g, Protein 1 g, Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 18 mg, Sodium 48 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 15 g

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened (226g))
• 1 cup granulated sugar ((200g))
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract ((see note))
• 1 large egg
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ((Plain flour) (315g) )
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon table salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted ((375g) (weigh before sifting))
• 3-4 Tablespoons milk ((I use whole milk, but any kind will work))
• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup ((see note))
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Gel food coloring (optional)
• Additional candies and sprinkles for decorating (optional)

Instruction:

1. Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before decorating.
2. Allow frosting to harden before enjoying, stacking, or storing (this took several hours for me and may vary for you depending on the consistency of your frosting).

Easy Sugar Cookies

This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe. The cookies are soft, chewy, and perfectly sweet. They are made with basic ingredients but taste incredible! They are the perfect cookies for any occasion.

Prep: 15min

Total: 25min

Yield: 23

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 205 kcal, Carbohydrate 31 g, Protein 2 g, Fat 8 g, Saturated Fat 5 g, Trans Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 28 mg, Sodium 128 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 20 g, unSaturated Fat 3 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, (at cool room temperature)
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, (for rolling cookies in)

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar (1 3/4 cups) and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. I always stop once and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and continue mixing.
4. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. The dough might look a little crumbly at first, but it will come together and be just fine.
6. Put the remaining sugar in a small bowl. Form the dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons per cookie. Roll each ball in the sugar until well coated. Place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2-inches apart.
7. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until the bottoms are light golden brown and the cookies start to crack. Check early, every oven is different. Don’t over bake or the cookies won’t be soft and chewy.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.
9. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer bag or container.

Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe 

Everyone needs an Easy Sugar Cookies Recipe! These are literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I am positive these Christmas cookies will win you over.

Prep: 20min

Total: 30min

Yield: 40

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 96 kcal, Carbohydrate 12 g, Protein 1 g, Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 16 mg, Sodium 17 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 5 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg ((large))
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour ((measured correctly))
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F with a rack in the center. Whisk together flour with baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Using a stand-up or handheld mixer, beat the butter together with sugar. To the mixture add vanilla extract and egg and beat to combine.
3. To the butter mixture, add flour in 3 parts until fully incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into two equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll into ¼-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out your favorite shapes.
5. Bake cookies on a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet at 350˚F for 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
6. Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely and decorating with cookie icing.

How To Make The Best Sugar Cookies

FAQ

What are the ingredients for sugar cookies?

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Should I use baking soda or baking powder in sugar cookies?