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
Butter questions
- It is most important to note that the butter does not have to be at room temperature. We do not recommend rock-hard butter but allow the butter to sit on the countertop for 10-15 minutes while you assemble your ingredients.
- If you can press your finger into the butter and you can easily make a deep indent then the butter is too soft.
- You should be able to press the butter and make a small fingerprint.
- A tip for mixing butter is to cut it into cubes (or just small pats) before creaming with the sugar.
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 it 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!).
- You could also try our Three Ingredient Chocolate Glaze
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. (PLEASE NOTE there is 1 egg in this recipe.)
- 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.
2,506 Comments on “Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER”
Is this recipe nut free?
Great recipe..easy to whip up in my Kitchen Aid. Thank you for the recipe!
These were not as easy as I had hoped. The dough came together nicely, but I had a really hard time getting the excess dough away from my cutouts. Could be user error, though. The flavor is okay. I would maybe try more almond next time!
I am not a sugar cookie fan….until now. These are the best cookies To make them even more delectable my neice taught me a trick, we dust them with a mixture of both flour and powder sugar to prevent sticking when rolling them out. Delicious.
I just wanted to thank you so much for sharing this AMAZING recipe!! Folks- these are THE BEST SUGAR COOKIES and so easy! They (along with your frosting recipe) have become a staple in our household for every holiday. I’ve been making them for about 5 yrs consistently now. They never disappoint! My son looks forward to assisting with decorating. I’m getting ready to make some for Halloween soon. Thank you for contributing to what has become a new family tradition. I used to make sugar cookies just at Christmas time, but these are so yummy and easy, I am make them for each holiday, and, sometimes just for fun! They are a such a treat! 😄
best ever
Tasted like biscuits not cookies
used gluten free flour for these & they turned out amazing! dough was also really easy to work with.
My family likes thick sugar cookies. We looove your sugar cookie recipe !! Am wondering if making cookie 3/8” thick would work ok? Thank you!
Yes definitely! Thanks!
Tried the made a sticky mess of my kitchen and threw it in the garbage
amazing all tho my dough was still crumbly but it turned out even better!
I can’t say enough GOOD things about this recipe. My go to sugar cookies. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!
I’m no novice to baking cookies and love finding new recipes. I was a bit leary after reading some comments though, but gave these a shot. Not sure how others could have failed at these as this is the most beautiful dough to work with and came together perfect! Haven’t decorated them yet, but the taste of the cookie as well as how they held up is perfection! THIS is the cookie to use from start to finishing! Thank you!
I wanted to do a test run this weekend for a Christmas sugar cookies recipe. I found my winner! These cookies were easy to make and super delicious. Perfect texture. Cannot wait to rock these again at Christmas! Thank you!
Question, how long do they last? Thank youuu
By far the best recipe I’ve tried for sugar cookies!
I’ve tried a few recipes for sugar cookies and they either had too much flour or wet ingredients, but this one is perfect! I recommend with icing for a sweeter cookie 🍪 it’s my go to easy cookie recipe highly recommend!🥰
Supper cool , Fantastic ,,,,,,,,, Fabulous maade my last day full of LOL
Its supper cool in taste
Thank you so much
This recipe is great! Can it be doubled to make larger batches?
These were really great! They turned out really good and we all enjoyed them!
Hi Katrina, I’ve been using this recipe for YEARS and everyone I’ve made them for loves them! I was wondering how long they keep iced, airtight, at room temp?
Hi! What size cookie cutters are you basing the nutritional information on?
This is my go to recipe! Always comes out perfect and everyone raves about them. Pared with the royal icing, amazing!
This is the first time I baked cookies and the first recipe I followed. The outcome was delicious cookies and my daughter enjoyed them.
Baked It for my family and me, It’s our new fav cookies. It’s even good with no royal icing!
So awesome! I use this recipe every time I bake sugar cookies- especially the ones for Santa! 🎅 The kids help me! Great to make into shapes with cookie cutters! And they do freeze well! We make another batch for New Years Eve party at home too! 🏡
I wanted to love this recipe. I was super excited about not having to chill the dough, the ingredients being straight forward and getting a good yield (20 per batch) of 3 in cookies. But yikes! The dough was way too crumbly, I noticed that there wasn’t a ton of wet ingredients so I made sure I had loose flour before measuring to make sure my measurements were correct, and unfortunately even doing that and after letting the dough mix in the bowl for an extra two minutes AND wetting my hands multiple times to try and get the dough to stay together it was not to be. It was truly difficult to roll this dough out without it tearing or being picked up by a floured rolling pin. I ended having to roll super small portions of the dough to get two, maybe three cookies punched out, and I had 70 cookies to punch out and bake, total time suck. There needs to be more wet ingredients in this recipe somewhere in order for the dough to stick together.
So sorry something went wrong! Our first suggestion is to try mixing the dough a bit longer than you initially think is necessary. It should come together as the butter softens while creaming in the mixer.
I have been using this recipe for years! Absolutely wonderful! I just made these to practice for my daughters birthday and for the first time, my cookies spread. ): I THINK it’s because I added too much flour? I measured but the dough was not pulling from the sides of the bowl so I added a little more. I believe my butter was too soft, maybe? I’m a hobby baker so don’t really know much- maybe you shed some insight??
How many cookies will I get from this?
This is the most beautiful and adorable sugar cookie that I have ever seen and it also looks so yummy!
No doubt, this is the best recipe of sugar cookie I have ever read. So easy to make it at home. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article.
This is the best and easiest recipe for sugar cookies.
if I want to half the recipe how should I half the egg
Super easy! https://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/how-to-measure-partial-eggs-for-baking/
THESE CAME OUT PERFECTLY !!!!!! 10/10 the absolute best 😆!!!
I have been using this recipe for years and it is the best one I have found. It is SO easy and they turn out perfect every time! Thank you!!
I’ve made these cookies a few times now and they’ve all turned out beautifully!
I am quite confused now though. The last batch I baked was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I gave some to my brother, who apparently waited a while to eat them and told me last night the center of some of his tasted sour. I haven’t heard this from anyone else who ate from this batch. Has anyone ever experienced this? Can cookies go “bad”?
These are my new go to! Hasn’t let me down yet!
Just made your best sugar cookies just now! Amazing! They are sooooo good!
Thank you
I was wondering how many cookies does this recioe make? I had a bomb recipe kinda like this..but it made like 5-7 dozen at a time. Which was ok. I have searching hi and low for that same recipe and I think this might have been the one I had and lost. I lived the idea of not having to chill the dough, also!
I have made this recipe plenty of times and it is perfect each time! Love it! Can you freeze the dough if not using right away?
Thank you
I have actually been making this recipe for years and love it but always have the same problem and am only now coming to ask. I have a lot of trouble rerolling out the scraps . I assume it’s from the flour I’m using when I roll out the first time, but even when I try to add water and reknead it always rolls out cracking. I really only get a great roll out the first time and end up wasting a lot of dough. Thanks!
How many cookies would you get out of this dough? Thanks
Hi, if I were to use ready to roll sugarpaste to decorate, how much roughly would I need for around 30 10cm round cookies? Thank you
Can this recipe be used as mini tart shells? If so, what would be your recommended baking time?
I have tried other recipes but this one is for sure the best! Never fails! I get perfect cut out cookies every single time! I do omit the salt all together and use salted butter only. Also because I love the flavor I add a bit more almond extract!! I’ve doubled it too and still got the same results..Absolutely perfect!
If I wanted to make a “cookie pizza” with this dough, what would you recommend for baking time?
How many cookies can this make? Please reply because I need these cookies for Friday the 29th
This was the best cookie dough I’ve ever worked with!!! I’ll definitely be using this one from now on! Holds together beautifully and rolls out over and over with no issues. Love that there’s no chilling. Not too sweet so the frosting makes a great balance. Thank you so much. 10 stars!!!
Great recipe. My new go to! I love that I don’t have to chill the dough. Cookies turned out perfect! They kept their shape, clean edges and were soft and delicious.
I love them
How long do the cookies last once cooked?
This Recipe works AMAZING every time
Thankyou so much for this amazing recipe!