Best Sugar Cookies
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 dozen cookies
- 2½cups/320 grams all-purpose flour
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
- 1large egg, at room temperature
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
144 calories; 8 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 51 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Step 3
Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and fold a few times to make sure everything is well combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Step 4
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough ¼-inch thick. Use 3-inch floured cutters to cut out cookies, and transfer to two parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1½ inches apart. Reroll scraps as needed, chilling as needed until firm before rolling and cutting again. Freeze until very firm, about 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Bake until golden brown at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes.
- Step 6
Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 3 months.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Jane Curran
Are these cookies crisp or soft. I prefer the traditional crisp ones.
Susanne
How many days ahead can you make the dough to store in the fridge?
Cookie
The amount of salt in sugar cookies affects their taste. I have read that the measure of kosher salt depends on the brand used because of the difference in density. For example, Diamond Chrystal Kosher is 3/4 as dense as Morton Kosher. So, if this recipe is referring to Morton’s density, but you have Diamond, you’d up the measure to 2/3 tsp., or a rounded 1/2 tsp. Does anyone think this matters?
Bea
@Jane The cookies are crisp!
Susan Spungen
@janecurran- it depends how thin you roll them and how long you bake them. Roll thinner and bake until golden for a crisp cookie, and roll thicker for a softer cookie
Meg
I would assume so. Freezing cookies after cutting out shapes make them more likely to keep the shape once they are baked. Without a square cookie cutter, I plan to form the dough into a square log, chill, then slice and chilling again once the individual square cookies are on the baking sheet; in the past I’ve found they lose their crisp angles if baked without chilling.
Linda
Fantastic dough. Great for small hands rolling and eye-rolling did not seem to make the cookie tough. Found it a tad salty therefore would 1/2 the amount of salt.
Rachel Horoschak
Made these with King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour. Measured by weight - not volume. Taste delicious and do not crumble!
catherine
I substitute Crisco for the butter to make them for my dairy-allergic daughter
ColomboCook
you will probably get the same shortbread-like result - that's a pretty high proportion of butter for sugar cookies.
allison
You can adjust crispness by rolling the dough thinner or thicker. One-quarter inch (as instructed in the recipe) will result in a *slightly* soft texture in the middle. If rolled to 1/8-inch, they will be crisper and edges will brown a bit more. At 3/16, the texture will fall right in between those two textures.
Susan Spungen
up to 3- any longer, freeze it
D
I've not tried it in this recipe, but Earth Balance is probably your best bet for taste and texture.
LK
Not a huge fan of sugar cookies, but made these with my preschooler to decorate for Halloween and they are pretty good! As we are relatively novice cookie makers, would have appreciated more details (like, how thick should this disc be?), but we used the NYT Alison Roman Basic Sugar Cookies recipe with its overview, and that was pretty helpful. Agree with other commenters that these lean a little salty (in a good way, though-- we used Morton's Kosher) and a little shortbread-y.
judofthebrood
use confectioners sugar for more crispy outcome
mandypantz
A very nice sugar cookie recipe. I formed my dough into two logs and refrigerated. Before slicing and baking, I coated one in beaten egg white then rolled it in rainbow jimmies. After baking, I frosted the plain ones with raspberry American buttercream, and the jimmy ones with a little vanilla American butter cream. Two different aesthetics and flavor profiles to add variety to school event cookie plates, one dough. Huzzah.
352nightowl
Wow, these cookies are crazy good!
Janelle
These felt a bit tasteless to me. I reduced the salt as other’s suggested. I probably won’t make again.
Tonia
So glad NYT modified some details in this recipe to reflect cook's notes. I added 1 tsp lemon juice. The cookie itself is not too sweet at all. I'm still deciding on frosting / icing. Freezing for 10 minutes helps keep their shape. I increased thickness to 1/4" and these are soft at 12-13 minutes in the oven. Any thinner and any longer in the oven, and they go crisp.
Kim B
This is now my go to sugar cookie. I made them for my daughter's birthday and they are just perfect! I love that they're not overly sweet and they have a nice firm texture. They have a good snap.
margbrant
Perfect for cookie cutter cookies. I make them for every holiday. I prefer sprinkles to frosting though.
grandma carol
Best cookie this Grandma has ever made!!!
Jen
Fantastic recipe. Made this with my preschooler. Easy to assemble and super tasty.
chrishpl
Good, but not sure we liked them as much as my usual recipe (wanted to try a new one out). My husband likes his sugar cookies crisp, and these didn't seem to crisp up as much as we are used to--I may try one more time just to make sure it wasn't something I did.
DJ Lo Mack
Simple cookie recipe. Tastes more like shortbread than sugar cookies, though, not that I minded. We decorated them for Xmas with royal icing, and they had a nice, balanced sweetness to them. If you don’t ice them though, expect shortbread, not sugar cookies. This was my first time rolling and cutting dough for cookies, and I was a little surprised at how easy it was. I used parchment paper - didn’t even flour it for 2 of 3 rounds - and it all went really well bc I kept the dough chilled.
Calx
This does not work with any other flour, so if you have no substitutes I do NOT recommend for an easy experience. Side note, it takes two hours, so if short on time not a good recipe. Very yummy and enjoyable, and fun to decorate! Merry Christmas!
JulieW
Too floury. I weighed everything, and dough was crumbly and cookie tasted very floury. Not for me.
Nicole
Can I freeze the dough to roll out later?
patsy
EAsy as -made as directed- First time making Christmas cookies in 40 years! Worked out very well!
kate
Perfect!
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