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.
2,093 Comments on “Best Sugar Cookie Recipe EVER”
How much in advance can I bake the cookies? How many days will they last?
Best cookies ever. Perfect recipe. Weighing is key if your dough is too dry.
Can i freeze the dough?
Is there a dairy free butter than can work for these?
Definitely a noticeable difference in how easy it is to work this dough. So much better than any other roll out dough I’ve worked with!
I love this recipe, however my cookies spread more often than not. It’s not a huge spread, but it’s there. I know this is user error. Any advice on how to avoid this?
Hold the shape extremely well. Not too crisp, not too soft… just right. They say third times a charm, this was the third of three recipes I made in the last two days. The first was too much like shortbread, the second rose too much and spread out leaving me with no choice but to do a recut with the cookie cutter while the cookie was still warm. This one was nice because I could roll and bake without the extra wait to chill the dough. It’s a keeper for sure.
Hi, how and for how long can you freeze the cookies?
Perfect every time. And the no chilling part is the best.
Well, I have tasted other sugar cookies that absolutely look beautiful with the frosting, but have yet to live up to the taste of these!! I have made these for a few years now and they ALWAYS turn out. Everyone loves that they have a bit of crunch on the outside but are soft too. I will say, I use the salted butter and omit the salt. I just usually keep the salted on hand. I also do vanilla for both extracts. However, the type vanilla matters to me! 😉
Thank you so much for sharing this. My recipe card says Cece’s favorite sugar cookies. So my granddaughters will have it down the road too.
I love love love to bake! Baking is my specialty!! I can’t wait to test this out!! Thank you!! This looks very simple to do compared to other recipes.. Thank you so much!! God bless you and your family!!!
Can monkfruit change the recipe I’m wanting to make it a little bit healthier
I made these gf by using 4 cups of almond flour. Finally a gf cookie that is easy to make and taste and texture are good.
Made these for Easter for my grandkids, super easy recipe.
These cookies turn out perfect every time
I was so happy to see that this recipe could be doubled. Grandkids love these sugar cookies. Followed recipe except that I used extra vanilla instead of almond extract. Had fun decorating them. Thanks for the great recipe.
These are perfect. Thank you for sharing!
Very good sugar cookie recipe. Great taste.
Hi there! How long are these cookies good for once baked?
Excellent recipe. I used the Almond and Vanilla what a great taste. Texture of the cookie is very good. Need to work on MY rolling skills to keep thickness consistent. Loved not having to chill the dough too.
The cookies didn’t taste the best and the mixture was dry I was disappointed
I have been making these cookies for a few years now and it is the best and easiest recipe! I am wonder if you have tried to add cocoa powder? Would like to make some chocolate sugar cookies for my granddaughters.
I keep making these over and over again. Truly the best sugar cookie recipe. Everyone always wants me to make more. Thanks for this!
lovely simple recipe to make with good flavour. I will use again but will omit the baking powder, as they puffed up quite a bit & lost definition.
Hi,
I’m planning to make these for an event next week and was wondering if I’m able to make them ahead? I was hoping to make the dough, cut it into shapes and then freeze. Then, the day before the event, thaw and bake them. Do you know if this will work?
Thanks so much!
If your looking for a quick sugar cookie with good results this is your recipe. My batch ended up with the perfect consistency, not too sugary or buttery. They had a great crunch factor and once the icing was applied my nine and ten yr old Irish twins went Gaga. I only gave the recipe four stars out of five because it does not quite beat my Gram’s sugar cookies which definitely take longer to prepare but it’s up there. Thanks for sharing your delicious cookie with the masses.
Can you also use this recipe for drop cookies
Can these cookies be frozen? If so, should I bake then freeze? Or bake, decorate, and then freeze? This is our favorite sugar cookie recipe and I want to make them for my son’s birthday this weekend but need to do it in advance.
I’ve used this recipe twice now and the dough came out very sticky. I had to add loooots of flour while kneading. I’m new to baking in general so it’s all new to me but this is my favorite recipe for my new hobby! The shape stays and doesn’t spread in the oven. I need to work on making mine thinner because they do puff up a little bit. Nice and fluffy cookies!
I noticed some were comme ting about it being too crumbly so I double measured my flour. Once with a scale and once with a measuring cup. The written amount in grams actually only equaled 2 cups of flour.
Had such a hard time with this recipe, was incredibly dry and crumbly even after I kneaded it for almost 10 min while rewetting my hands. Would rather have had to chill the dough than curse the recipe as I tried to mash it into some semblance of a dough. Only rolled out one batch before throwing the rest away.
Best cookie recipe I have ever used!!!.
How long do they hold for until they need to be eaten?
This really is the best sugar cookie recipe ever! I’ve used many different recipes over the years, but this one is by far the easiest to work with. I’ve been using it for several years now and have never had any trouble. I use the butter left on the wrappers to oil my hands before kneading the dough and have never had to add more water. The cookies hold their shape when baked and taste delicious. I do tend to use pretty large cookie cutters and bake them for 10 minutes instead of 8, but I like my cookies to be a bit firmer than most people.
First, these cookies taste amazing!! I need your advice, though. I left the butter out 10 -15 minutes, weighed the ingredients and double checked that I used baking powder and not baking soda. My cookies spread…a lot. Any ideas why?? I want to try again, with any tips you may have, because they seriously taste the BEST!!
This recipe is the best but I baked them for 8 minutes and they almost taste raw. Next time I will cook them for 10-12 minutes.
It seems you have used the suger cookie off the Domino’s Suger bag. Everything is half except the baking powder which you used the same 2 teas baking powder. What can I say ?
Have a great day.
Unless I got it off the bag over 30 years ago when I started using this recipe… What can I say?
terrible dough, too crumbly
I love the taste of these cookies, the simplistic of the recipe and the fact that they keep their shape when baking, but the dough always so dry. It’s just crumbs when it comes out of the mixed. I knead it together but it just falls apart once it’s rolled out. I don’t want to find a new one, but I just can’t work with it.
I have to agree…. This is the best sugar cookie recipe! It was my first time rolling out cookie dough and they turned out great. I appreciate all the tips and trouble shooting notes in the recipe. I also liked measuring using the digital scale. My family was eating them right off the cookie sheet. It’s a keeper. Thanks.
Omg. These are so delicious. I made this batter to bake some cookies with my grandchildren and the recipe is so easy to make. A keeper recipe for sure. Thank you for sharing.
These are my Go To Gifting cookies. Love the flavor, easy to make & easy to decorate.
I made these for the first time today for Valentine’s Day. The dough was easy to work with and they baked and looked beautiful. But I’m afraid I won’t be keeping this recipe because the taste just isn’t there. Very bland with no flavour and not sweet enough. I will definitely have to doctor them up with some flavourful icing.
Can I freeze this batter a week in advance ?
I wanted a new sugar cookie recipe for Christmas this year and I loved that this recipe didn’t have to be chilled. Everyone loved them!! I have made this recipe 3 times since Christmas. My grandboys (3 years and almost 2) love decorating them with sugars. Tomorrow will be our 4th time. Katrina thank you so much for this recipe. Great memories for many years with my boys.
I am 14 and made this recipe for my high school bake sale and they taste great! They also are very easy and quick but delicious!
Awesome!
Truly the best sugar cookie recipe! I first used this to make baseball themed cookies for my son’s first birthday. I’ve used it for every holiday over the last 2 years and it is foolproof! Everybody compliments the flavor – I even had one person tell me that they preferred my cookies over the professional baker they order cookies from! 🥰 They are perfect every time!
I never leave comments on actual websites, but these cookies are too perfect to not let you know! They are perfect for buttercream or royal icing. I use this recipe for anything from Christmas cookies to baby shower cookies. So easy and no fridge time is an extra plus! Thank you for taking the time to create this awesome recipe and for sharing it with us 🙂
I’ve been making this recipe for years! It is by far my favorite cookie recipe EVER. This is my first time trying to freeze baked cookies. Do I just pull them out of the freezer and put them on the counter to get to room temp before I decorate with royal icing? How long will they keep in the freezer? Does the taste/texture change after defrosting? Thanks in advance!
Cookies came out great. Easy & tasty!
Has anyone tried using this recipe as a crust for a chilled pie? I’m thinking pre bake then fill w/ banana cream.
I made some of these cookies today. I was looking for a rolled out sugar cookie dough that did not require chilling, as i was under a time constraint… and I rolled the dough out between 2 sheets of parchment so that I did not need to flour the work surface…they are indeed the BEST sugar cookies I have made…so easy to make and delish