Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER
This is the BEST sugar cookie recipe– no chilling the dough, cookies keep their shape when baked, soft and flavorful, perfect for decorating.
Every year millions of people print this Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER from In Katrina’s Kitchen. I have been using this recipe for over 25 years, and it has never failed me.
The texture is medium-soft, but you can bake them longer if you prefer a crisp cookie. This cookie is my absolute favorite, and I have spent many years perfecting it for friends and family.
Why is This the BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe?
The dough comes together quickly with simple pantry ingredients.
It does NOT need to be chilled.
The recipe can be doubled easily.
Cookies hold their shape with very little expanding when baked.
Baked cookies freeze well.
The recipe I am giving you makes a large batch of dough because I like to bake many cookies. Also, I like to roll and cut my cookies fairly thick…to hold a lot of frosting.
Incorporating the last cup of flour may look dry and look crumbly. Turn out the dough onto your countertop and work with wet hands and/or more flour until the dough is smooth and ready to roll.
Most asked Q and A about this Recipe
The dough is sticky and/or crumbly. What can I do?
- The final dough really comes together and has a texture close to Play-Doh. Wet your hands if you need to. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Don’t be afraid to use more flour and incorporate it in while you are “kneading” it into a smooth ball.
- Forget everything you know about sugar cookie dough. Don’t be afraid of sprinkling more flour as you roll it out. Use the scraps! Mix them back into the unused dough and keep going.
Can I chill the dough? I want to chill the dough. Actually, I need to make these 3 days in advance, is that okay?
- If you need to make the dough in advance, you can chill it. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.
- Bring the dough to room temperature before rolling and cutting. You may need to use more flour on the countertop.
The cookies look under-baked. Can I bake them longer?
- I almost always suggest pulling out these cookies and the 8-9 minute mark for large cookie cutters, and 6-8 minutes for small cookie cutters. They will continue baking on the cookie sheet for a few minutes while they cool and set.
- After cooling for about 5 minutes, I use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.
Can I omit the almond extract?
- You can omit the almond extract.
- If not using almond extract, replace it with an equal amount of pure vanilla extract.
- You can use any of your favorite flavorings in this cookie. I have used peppermint, maple, and lemon with great success.
How Do I Make these Cookies Gluten-Free?
- To make these the best gluten-free Sugar Cookie, swap out the flour for your favorite gluten-free 1:1 flour.
- I use King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure Flour
What is your favorite Christmas Cookie Frosting Recipe?
- I’m happy you asked! I like a soft, sweet frosting. Here is my favorite Christmas Cookie Frosting.
- Click here for my Small Batch Royal Icing recipe (it dries smooth and hard and is perfect for holding together gingerbread houses, too!).
I hope you love this Best Sugar Cookie recipe as much as our family does! Merry Christmas!
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup unsalted butter, 226 grams
- 1 Cup granulated white sugar, 200 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour, 360 grams
Instructions
- PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of your mixer, CREAM butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes
- BEAT in extracts and egg.
- In a separate bowl, COMBINE baking powder and salt with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: If the dough looks crumbly keep mixing for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the mixer.
- If the dough still looks too dry or stiff for your mixer, turn out the dough onto a countertop surface, flour surface as needed. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
- DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches (2-3 chunks), roll out onto a floured surface, and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).
- Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Troubleshooting Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
Scooping and dumping your flour may be the problem! Even with level scooping measurements can vary. Try getting a digital kitchen scale and adding your ingredients by weight.
If your cookies seem to consistently need a longer or shorter baking time consider calibrating your oven with an oven thermometer.
Bake with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Invest in a small metal cookie spatula to transfer cookies.
If left on the counter top for about an hour your butter should be the right consistency- a finger pressed onto the butter will make a slight indent but not sink down into it. (Read more about room temperature butter in this post about XL Bakery Style Cookies.)
Whenever a recipe calls for room temperature butter you should use room temperature eggs. To take the chill off of eggs I place them in a shallow bowl of warm (not hot) water for 2-3 minutes. You can then crack them for use in your recipe.
Looking for more Christmas Cookies?
Try my Christmas Cookie archive for some of the most adorable and delicious Christmas cookies.
Some of my favorites are Grinch Cookies and Ugly Christmas Sweater Sugar Cookie Bars.
For something different, try Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies.
1,281 Comments on “Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER”
Has anyone tried this recipe with creamcheese substitute for the one egg? I realyl want to make these but my 2 year old is very allergic to egg and its too hard for her to understand that she is the only one who cant have them. Usually our eggless cookies turn out just so so
Please help!
The dough came out really nice, easy to roll etc. But the cookies expanded – a lot! Where could I have gone wrong? They are delicious 😋
After troubleshooting with someone else this weekend she said she microwaved her butter beforehand. That would definitely cause through to spread. I’m not sure if that went wrong here too?
I love this recipe! My cookies turned out perfect! Thank you!
I am so impressed by this recipe! Every sugar cookie recipe I have tried, the cookies come out kinda hard. These are so sweet & soft.
These cookies turned out perfectly. I used a hand mixer and was able to use my hands/knead the dough toward the end. I baked on parchment paper for 7 mins and allowed to set for 5-10 mins on the sheet. They were easy to cut out & held up for decorating. They are also so easy to eat — not sweet, but the perfect complement for frosting & decoration. Will definitely be making for years to come!
These are awesome!! Will definitely be my “go to” sugar cookie recipe. I did chill the dough just for like 30 min. Not sure it was needed but old habit! Thank you!
I am working on these cookies as I write this and my dough is still crumbling after following your instructions to the tee. I’ve wet my hands a little but the ball just seems to break apart. We will keep trying but this is why I never seem to make sugar cookies. I can do lots of others but can’t seem to figure out this method. Please advise. Thanks in advance.
Debi
I’ve made these cookies the past few years and everyone loves them. This year, I came across a different recipe and decided to give it a try. Well, the cookies I made were not nearly as good and way too sweet. I’m tossing the rest of the dough and will be making these tomorrow. These are definitely a keeper!
Here’s my tip, if you roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper you don’t have to use as much extra flour. Enjoy 🙂
I can’t wait to make these but I’m wondering how long do you beat the combined mix together until it should look right?
The dough should pull away from the mixer when it’s ready.
Turned out perfect!,
These cookies were so delicious as as you said, really held their shape and didn’t expand much. Just a heads up for those that might not have sifted their flour (I forgot to) – the dough was extremely crumbly and I could not get it to form a ball. I was about to dump the crumbly mess into the garbage because I had wasted so much time working it. In desperation, I added one more egg and then a 1/4 cup of water. That did it!
Absolutely perfect dough! Thank you for this recipe.
Delicious and super easy!!! This recipe is simple and the dough is so easy to work with!!! Love it!!
Do I have to grease the pan?
Not necessarily. I use parchment or a silicone baking mat however.
This is BEST cookie recipe I have ever used. I don’t do reviews, but I HAD TO for these. I am not a cookie maker. This dough worked like a dream. I did halve the baking soda as an insurance policy. I guess my cookie cutters are a bit bigger than the ones used in the recipe, because I only got about half the amount of cookies, and needed to bake 10-12 minutes. This is now my go to. Thank you!
I made these a few weeks ago and they were so good and held the shape really well. We want to make again but with lemon. Would I just substitute the almond extract with lemon extract? Should I also use lemon zest?
Thanks for a great recipe!
I have not made these substitutions so I can’t guarantee results, however I think lemon extract sounds good. Perhaps someone else who has done this can chime in. Lemon zest is wonderful in cookies.
I have replaced the almond extract for lemon, and they were delicious. Didn’t think of adding lemon zest… I bet that makes them even better
I have used this recipe several times and I just love these cookies! I change up the recipe once in awhile and substitue lemon or orange rind for the almond extract and they come out beautifully. They are amazing plain but also wonderful chocolate dipped, with frosting or icing. Thank you for sharing! Defintely deserves “the best sugar cookie” title!
Mine turned out super crumbly and very hard to roll out so I was frustrated from the beginning. Then after all were decorated, my daughter tried to eat one and they were so hard she couldn’t even bite into it. I am at a really high altitude so that probably has something to do with it, but I have never seen such crumbly dough so it was probably also that. I have never had such horrible cookies. Won’t be using this recipe again.
I’m sorry something went wrong.
I had the same problem. I really wanted this to work 🙁 I wonder where I went wrong.
amazing recipe!!! i put less sugar because i didn’t want it to be too sweet with the icing. has a really lovely vanilla/almond flavor. i recommend!!!
Can I double this?
Yes this recipe can be doubled.
I discovered your recipe a few years ago. This is the only sugar cookie recipe I use now. Has never failed! Thanks for sharing!
I am making these today and can’t wait to taste them!
The best looking cutout cookies I have ever made. Plus they are delicious!
How long do these cookies last? I’m hoping to make them today since I have the day off but they will not be eaten until Friday, is that too long?
My traditional sugar cookie recipe is one that was my Grandma’s. It’s not a dough that can be rolled for cutouts. I always wanted to do cutouts, but was turned off by having to chill the dough, so naturally you peaked my interest when posting no chilling needed. I made a batch of your cookies and your cookie frosting and I was “wowed”!! Absolutely easy and delicious!!! Thank you!!
I never make “from scratch” sugar cookie dough because I am not the patient type. I made THREE individual batches of this dough last night and EVERY SINGLE COOKIE came out perfectly shaped and perfectly cooked. I am shocked at how easy this recipe is. **Double points for not having to chill the dough ahead of time.** I will continue to use this recipe for as long as I am able to bake. Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Excellent sugar cookie recipe!! Mine have never turned out this well with other recipes. Taste great and the cookies are cooked exactly how they were cut! Will definitely save this recipe.
The recipe is great, and everything she said about it was true! Easy to make, bake and eat.
The taste was delicious but I used crisco instead of butter and my dough was too crumbly to work with. Was it because of subbing crisco for butter? Thx!
This recipe has not been tested using Crisco so I’m not sure. I’m sorry it didn’t work out this time.
How long do these tend to last after baking? Thinking of making them now to eat on Christmas Day??
Great recipe, I substitute it the almond extract with lemon and they taste delicious. I would try next batch with just vanilla. Thank you
Hi. Did you use lemon zest or lemon flavouring? I’d like to make these with lemon zest tomorrow. But i’m not much of a baker so i wanted to check if it would work first.
Can u use salted butter or margarine insread of unsalted butter
Can u use salted butter or margarine instead of unsalted butter
Yes that will be just fine!
I needed to sub plant butter in place of real butter so I knew things may not come out correctly but I was hoping. The cookies spread quite a bit so they don’t have those beautiful edges. Any body have a better experience using plant butter sub?
Good question. I know others have had success with vegan butter but I’m not sure which brands. Possibly try using the butter chilled? It will need to be creamed longer with the sugar though if it is cold. I don’t have experience using vegan butter so I’m only speculating. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Mandy! I haven’t tried specifically with this recipe, but when needing a ‘closest thing to butter’ substitute, I splurge and get Miyokos European style vegan butter. It is made from a cashew base instead of oil etc, and tastes amazing even plain on good bread. It does tend to get soft quicker at room temp so it may still spread some, not sure, but worth a try!
I’ll admit I’m not the best baker- yet these were so easy, came out perfect, and are delicious! Thank you-
Do you use a cookie sheet with or without sides? I am just now realizing the difference it can make in cookies and I am not sure which is better for cut-outs.
I’ve used both with success.
I have used this recipe for years with rave reviews every time! The cookies turn out perfect every time, and people LOVE them. Highly recommend this recipe and love the tips of using the weighted measurements and checking your oven temperature with a thermometer. Thank you for a great recipe!
Great Recipe!!! Love Love Love ❤️ Thank you for sharing!!!
I need to chill the dough. Is that alright.
Yes there are instructions listed above. Thanks!
This is the first time ever making sugar cookies, my son and I made our very first batch together tonight. And they turned out perfect. Tomorrow we will put the icing on them and we will post pics. Thank you Katrina!!!!!
Did not like this recipe. Very dry and crumbly.
Made these last year (with the frosting recipe) and LOVED them – wanted to make them again this year but…our oven is broken. Any tips for making these in a toaster oven?
This is a fantastic recipe! Haven’t decorated them yet, but they were easy abs delicious! No sticking and easily moveable! It’s a miracle!!!
Superior sugar cookie recipe! I used 1 tbsp baking powder and 2 tbsp corn flour. At our altitude, 6000 ft, they needed baking about 9 minutes.
They kept their shape well! Great flavor plain, but not too sweet for frosting to be added.
The recipe makes a reasonable number of cookies, not too many for two people!
I like recipes that include ingredient weights.
I really hate leaving reviews like this especially when it must be user error, I just don’t know what went wrong!
We’re not novice bakers in the slightest. We followed the recipe to the letter and they spread out across the baking sheet to become unrecognisable!
That’s incredibly unfortunate. You must be frustrated, understandably. This recipe should not spread in the slightest. How was your butter temperature? Or possibly too much flour? Do you need new baking powder? Again, thank you for your message. I’m sorry that something went wrong.
Absolutely a keeper… This will be my new roll out sugar cookie recipe from now on. They mixed up easy, rolled out perfectly and taste amazing!!
Worst recipe ever
That escalated quickly.
Excellent recipe! Yes, it is the best! Just finished making a batch. I’m totally happy. An epic Pinterest success!
These were the best cut outs that I’ve ever made! They were so good and each cookie came out perfectly! Thank you!
Worked perfectly! Even for an extremely novice and untalented baker like myself lol. Thanks. Tomorrow I am making your crisco frosting. Wondering how much I should make to make a few different colors? Any tips for getting red instead of pink??
Hi Amy! I do believe the trick to getting red is using food colouring gel not liquid!
Super easy! Super delicious!
So so so good! I did add an extra egg and it seemed to help a lot with dough holding together.