The BEST Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe!
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These Chewy Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy, and delicious! Quick and easy to make, this sugar cookie recipe produces a flavorful bakery-style soft sugar cookie that turns out perfectly every time!
Looking for more delicious cookies? I think you’ll love these cookie recipes: chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and cut out sugar cookies. They are all amazing!
Sugar cookies are always a favorite, no matter the occasion! These well-loved cookies are perfect for holidays, as a homemade gift, or as an afternoon treat! This recipe makes absolutely the BEST sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted!
These chewy sugar cookies are quick, easy, delicious, and don’t require a rolling pin! This recipe makes a soft, chewy bakery-style sugar cookie with amazing flavor.
How to Make Soft Chewy Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
To make these easy sugar cookies, you’ll need the following 7 ingredients:
- Butter – I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter. The butter should be softened to room temperature.
- Granulated sugar – gives sweetness and structure to the cookie recipe.
- Egg – use a large, room-temperature egg.
- All-purpose flour – use your favorite all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder – if you store your baking powder in the freezer as I do, make sure to allow it to reach room temperature.
- Kosher salt – balances the flavors of the cookies. I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you substitute with Morton’s Kosher salt, fine sea salt, or table salt, you will only need half the amount of the salt called for in the recipe.
- Vanilla extract – use this homemade vanilla extract recipe or use your favorite high-quality vanilla. If you like the flavor of almond in your cookies, you can also use half vanilla extract and half almond extract.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, such as a silicone mat.
Cream together room-temperature butter and sugar with a stand mixer or hand mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Add the egg. Then add egg and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to be sure the butter and sugar are well combined. But be sure not to over-beat the butter and sugar when creaming it together. Doing so could cause the cookies to rise and fall flat when baking.
Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt, and combine these dry ingredients. Then, gently stir in vanilla extract into the cookie dough.
Scoop cookie dough with a tablespoon and roll it into a ball. Be sure not to over-handle the balls of dough as it will make the butter too warm. If the dough seems too warm or sticky, chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, then proceed with scooping and rolling into balls.
Add sugar to a large separate bowl for rolling. Lightly roll cookie dough balls in the granulated sugar to coat them. This adds a sparkly touch that lends a crisp little coating to the cookie once it is baked. While you can certainly skip this little step, I highly recommend not. It is so worth it!
Place each rolled cookie dough ball onto a parchment-lined or silicone mat-lined cookie sheet, about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. Make sure to provide ample spacing between each cookie for the best results.
Lightly press each cookie down with the bottom of a glass to lightly flatten.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Allow them to cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Place on a cookie platter and serve. Cookies can be stored in a cookie jar or airtight container and kept on the counter for up to one week.
It is just that perfectly chewy, soft sugar cookie recipe that everyone raves over! You’ll want to keep this sugar cookie recipe on your list of must-make cookie recipes. It’s perfect for any cookie platter, cookie exchange, or homemade baked gift tray.
Room Temperature Ingredients
Room-temperature eggs and butter are incorporated more easily and evenly into the cookie dough.
Storage Tips
Store. Once baked, store cookies on the counter in an airtight container for up to a week.
Freeze. For an easy make-ahead sugar cookie recipe, prepare your sugar cookie dough by the scoops of cookie dough in the sugar and place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with freezer-safe plastic wrap and place into the freezer. Freeze for 30 minutes to overnight. When frozen, transfer your cookies to a freezer-safe zip-top bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to serve, remove from the freezer-safe bag and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then bake as directed, adding about 3 minutes to the baking time.
Sugar Cookie Decorating Options
- Frosted Sugar Cookies – Glaze cookies with my family’s sugar Cookie Icing recipe. A pinch of sprinkles on top is always fun!
- Color Sprinkles Sugar Cookies – Roll your sugar cookies in colored sprinkles (red or green for Christmas cookies or pink for a little girl’s birthday) for a festive cookie!
- Confetti Sugar Cookies – Mix colored confetti sprinkles in your cookie dough before scooping.
7 Tips for the BEST Chewy Sugar Cookies!
This sugar cookie recipe is so easy to make that you’ll turn to it again and again. Here are seven key tips to make sure your cookies turn out perfectly every time:
1. Room temperature ingredients. All ingredients should be at room temperature to best incorporate into the cookie dough. This includes the egg and butter. The cookies will spread and become flat if the butter is too soft.
2. Do not overbeat your butter and sugar. It adds too much air to the butter. This causes the cookies to rise and then fall flat when baking.
3. Avoid overmixing once you add the flour. This prevents the cookies from being tough and crumbly.
4. Use a high-quality vanilla extract. I love to use my homemade vanilla extract. It is so easy to make and has a major flavor impact for the cookies.
5. Use a cookie scoop. Use a cookie scoop so your cookies are all the same size and bake evenly.
6. Use parchment paper. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper to help the cookies bake more evenly.
7. Do not overbake. Overbaked cookies are hard and crumbly. Check the cookies at the earliest suggested time to make sure they are not overbaked.
Other Easy Cookie Recipes:
Frequently Asked Questions
See my “7 Tips for the BEST Chewy Sugar Cookies” in the post! Following these tips will give you delicious, chewy sugar cookies every time.
Make sure that your butter is at room temperature and not too soft.
When sugar cookies have brown edges, they’ve overbaked. Once these sugar cookies have turned lightly brown and just begin to have a craggy texture on the top, they should be removed from the oven.
Store sugar cookies in an airtight container or package for them to remain soft and chewy. You can also add a small terracotta disc (or a cute terracotta bear!) to the container of cookies. These discs are primarily sold to store in brown sugar containers to keep the sugar from becoming hard. Soak the disc in water, make sure that it is not dripping water, and then place it into the container with the cookies.
350º F is generally the best temperature to bake cookies. There may be some types of cookies that require a different baking temperature, but by and large, the majority of cookies will be baked at 350º F.
This post was updated on 11/2023 to include metric conversions for the ingredients and step-by-step photographs in the recipe post.
Here’s my Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do.
The BEST Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe!
Equipment
- Hand Mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (297 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large (50 g) egg, room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.3 g) Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4.7 g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (49.5 g) granulated sugar , for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- Cream together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and mix until well-combined.
- Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until well-combined. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Scoop cookie dough by the tablespoon-sized cookie scoop and roll into a ball.
- Add granulated sugar to a large bowl for rolling cookie dough in before baking. Place each ball of cookie dough into the bowl of granulated sugar and roll to coat well.
- Place cookie dough onto baking sheet, spacing about 1 1/2-inches to 2 inches apart. Lightly press each cookie down. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Originally published 2017. Updated to include step by step photographs.
Can these cookies be baked and frozen for a few weeks?
Sure! Hope you enjoy them, Patsy! Thanks!
Can I make the dough a day ahead and keep in the fridge to bake the following day? If so, do I need to roll it into the balls 1st or just put the dough in plastic wrap?
Hi Kim,
You can do it either way. Enjoy! xo
These turned out yummy! My five year old is hooked. We put red & green sprinkle sugar in the sugar mixture to roll them in. Turned out very cute!
I bet these cookies were sooo cute with the sprinkles! I’m so happy your little one enjoys these! Thanks, Nona! xo
Do you have the chocolate sugar cookie recipe available. Can’t wait to make both…..
Hi Marta,
Here’s the Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe. I hope you enjoy both of them! Thanks!
Don’t know what I did wrong chilled Dough first cookies baked for 8 min and were thin and flat. Dissapointed would not recommend.
Hi Rodney,
I’m sorry that happened when you made these! They are some of our very favorite cookies so I’ll mention some things that could have happened to see if that helps you determine what happened:
-Make sure that your butter isn’t too soft. It just needs to be softened to room temperature where it easily creams together with the sugar. If it is too soft then your cookie dough will spread too much when baking.
-Make sure the cookies are placed about 2-inches apart (for about 9 cookies on per pan)
-Also, the butter you are using can make all the difference in baking. I’ve found that Land o Lakes butter gives the best results in my baking as it doesn’t contain a lot of water like many store or other brands of butter may contain. If a butter does contain a higher percentage of water, it can cause baking recipes to not turn out well.
I hope some of these tips may help, Rodney. Thanks so much!
These cookies are absolutely delicious! Added an extra 1/2 cup flour, cookies turned out perfect! Would recommend this recipe. Thanks
What kind of butter?, salted, or unsalted. Just wondering
I usually like to use salted butter, Karleigh. Thanks!
I had the same problem with my first batch. I added more flour to rest of dough. Next batches were perfect.
These came out so good! Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed them, Patricia! Thanks!
I loved these!
So I have a question about this recipe… I absolutely love the flavor of these cookies. However something isn’t right. The first time I made them, I did one pan, and they went totally flat and ran into each other. I reasoned that I lost track of the flour (distracted by my toddler) and added flour to the rest of my my dough. This time, I made sure to follow the recipe, and I prerolled all of my dough and froze it so that I could bake them later and the same thing is happening. I don’t know if it’s too much butter, or not enough flour? I would love any suggestions on how to get this right.
Hi Lindsey,
These are definitely one of our favorite cookies and one that we make all the time. Let’s work to see what could be happening.
1. Make sure that your butter isn’t too soft. It just needs to be softened to room temperature where it easily creams together with the sugar. If it is too soft then your cookie dough will spread too much when baking.
2. When you say that you did one pan, do you mean that you scooped the cookies and placed them about 2-inches apart (for about 9 cookies on your pan)?
3. When you say that you prerolled your dough are you meaning that you scooped the cookies, rolled in sugar and then froze the dough? I’m thinking so but just want to be sure.
4. What kind of butter are you using? Sometimes, that makes all the difference in baking. I’ve found that Land o Lakes butter gives the best results in my baking as it doesn’t contain a lot of water like many store or other brands of butter may contain. If a butter does contain a higher percentage of water, it can cause baking recipes to not turn out well.
Thanks so much, Lindsey! We’ll get this figured out so that you can have these delicious cookies! xo
Oh no! I didn’t realize they weren’t good for cut outs. I’ve already made the dough and it’s sitting in the fridge (was a little warm). Are they a complete fail if I use a cookie cutter?
Hi Amy,
I’ve not made cut outs from this Chewy Sugar Cookie recipe, so I’m not sure how they will turn out if you tried to cut them. I know you’ve made the dough already, but I have a Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe if you want to try it.
I hope you enjoy these! Thanks!
Can I use brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar?
Hi Maxi,
I’ve not made them with brown sugar. It is possible that it could change the taste or texture, but I am not sure. I hope you enjoy them! Thanks!
Curious to know how well these cookies will freezwe.
Hi Linda,
Yes, these freeze just fine. I hope you enjoy them! Thanks!