These soft sugar cookies are an easy recipe if you don’t want to spend time rolling dough and cutting it into shapes. All you do is make the dough and roll it into balls. You can bake them plain or add some sprinkles before they go in the oven. The sugar cookies are soft and sweet and an easy cookie recipe for any time of year.
I’ve been trying a lot of sugar cookie recipes lately and I’ve had a lot of fun making different ones including sugar cookie bars and cut-out sugar cookies. Now, I’ve discovered a soft sugar cookie recipe – the cookies puff up while they bake and have a nice soft texture. They taste great out of the oven and even after a day or so.
Boyfriend really likes these cookies, but I’m torn. I enjoyed them, too, but I think I prefer a chewier cookie. That said, these are definitely worth making if you enjoy soft cookies and I would definitely make them again. I found the recipe on Lovin’ from the Oven and they are pretty easy to make.
How to Make Soft Sugar Cookies
The key to soft sugar cookies is to not overmix the dough. So, you will need to first mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl and combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
When you add the dry ingredients you only want to mix for about 30 seconds, which is long enough for the dough to come together. If you mix too much you will overwork the gluten in the flour which will give your cookies a tougher texture.
Once you’ve made the dough it needs to be chilled for at least an hour. This will firm up the dough and keep the cookies from spreading too much while they bake.
This is not a good recipe for cut-out cookies because the cookies won’t hold the shape while they bake, so it’s better to roll the dough into balls to make round cookies.
- You can roll the balls in granulated sugar (like traditional sugar cookies)
- Or, you can roll them in colorful sprinkles like I did.
One thing I really liked about these cookies is that they stayed soft and tasted great for several days. I kept them in an airtight container and they maintained their soft texture. They’re a good choice if you need to make a batch of cookies ahead to time because they’ll still taste good a day or two after they’re baked.
If you want to try some other recipes my soft cut-out sugar cookies, cinnamon cookies and snickerdoodles are two other recipes I like to make.
Soft Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 14 tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- sugar or sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
- Beat the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl & beaters as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure dough is combined. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Using palms, roll 1 tablespoons of dough at a time into balls, then roll in sugar or sprinkles. Place balls on baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
I’m glad you liked it
Delicious! I would like to say thanks here as using your tips I made this recipe at Christmas. It was really delicious. Thanks for this recipe post. Keep posting..
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I will definitely try it out.
Thank you! I was pretty happy with how they turned out. =)
What lovely photos and cookies. I saw your awesome photo next to my brownie photos on seriouseats.com and had to comment. You should try the Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies I made and blogged about (https://www.mangiodasola.com/2009/12/lofthouse-frosted-sugar-cookies.html). The dough is soft and cake-like, but you can also shape them with cutters.
pretty cookies!
Yeah unfortunately not good for cookie cutters. These are pretty yum though. They almost taste like they have sour cream, except they don’t. I love how well these cookies hold up. Taste good even after a few days.
yum!! i’ll have to try this! but this recipe is not good for cookie cutters, right?