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”
Made the cookies exactly as the recipe stated and it lacked sugar in my opinion. My husband agreed too. It was bland and flavorless even with pure vanilla extract.
I’ve been using this recipe for years, it seriously is the BEST!!!
Have you ever tried this recipe with an egg substitute?
Been using this recipe for years now and it always turns out great. Love that there’s no chilling time and it holds shape well every time. The taste is also more interesting with the addition of a bit of almond extract, but can be left out for those who dislike it. I also greatly appreciate that there are weights listed for the ingredients for best results. Thanks for the recipe!
how long do these last? making them to go in to gift bags for a childs birthday but need to finish them a week ahead of time because i also have 2 cakes and a pull apart cupcake cake to make that week and the decorating will take ages. will they last in an airtight container?
Hi,
I made 3.25 inch round cookies amd 1/4inch thick. I was able to make 18 cookies total. Did I make my cookies too big? I was hoping to get at least 2-3 dozen.
I have been searching for the perfect frosted sugar cookie recipe for years and FINALLY I have found Katrina’s! It is perfect, exactly the taste and texture I have been looking for in both the cookie and the frosting. Delicious!
This recipe comes out absolutely perfect every single time. Perfect for little hands helping the kitchen. Thank you for making motherhood just a little easier!
I have made this recipe for years and all holiday and occasions and they are seriously the best sugar cookie ever. Easy to make always look great and are delicious. I always get so many compliments whenever I make these.. definitely would recommend anyone I want to make this recipe it will become your favorite one!
Tried this recipe and followed the directions to a T. The dough was fairly “wet” and not like Play-Doh consistency as it should be so I rolled it between two pieces of parchment. Cut them out but could not handle them due to the dough being so soft so I stuck it in the freezer. They puffed slightly and didn’t have crisp edges like the picture. Figured this happened because the dough was cold and the recipe says not to chill the dough. So the second time around, I upped the temperature to 375 but it still puffed. Overall, they tasted fine, not outstanding, just a typical sugar cookie. I think this recipe needs more flour if you aren’t going to use flour to roll out the cookies.
My go-to sugar cookie recipe! So nice to have a fast sugar cookie recipe that does not have to chill!
Hello,
will this recipe work with gluten free flour?
Sending love for these cookies all the way from Australia and I’ve made them a few times. Side note for the Aussies, I put them in a preheated, fan forced oven on 160 Celsius for 20min and they are spot on!! You could do 175 Celsius on regular bake for 10min too but I feel like the slower fan bake turned out much better 10/10!!
This is a great, easy recipe! I added a bit of cocoa to make the dough brown for bear cut outs and it turned out perfectly! I’ll make again for sure!
I don’t understand. Firstly, I had to chill the dough, they were too soft to cut out. There wasn’t anything specially wrong with the dough consistency. It was fine to roll and cut out, but it had to be chilled after rolling before cutting. Too soft to handle.
Secondly… the big problem, my cookies just melted. They didn’t keep any shape whatsoever and just melted as they baked. They did taste good though I can still taste the baking powder a bit overpowering.
I’m not willing to try this again because I had to waste the whole batch. I could eat them myself, but nothing I could present to anyone else. It looked like I poured the liquid dough on a sheet and baked. I measured all ingredient correctly and followed it exactly. What am I missing?
Love this recipe. So easy and it really hold its shape. My family loves them. It is so good. I love that I don’t need to refrigerate but know that I can.
Can you chill the dough if you aren’t ready to make them yet?
The most delicious and worth the effort cookie recipe I’ve ever used.
LOVE this recipe!! Easy, quickly assembles, and it bakes consistent!! Everyone loves these cookies in every shape and season!
I love this recipe. It’s easy to make and comes together easily! I make them alot for our 9 grandkids.
absolutely the best recipe!
I’ve never had luck with my cookies keeping the shape but this recipe kept the shape! I loved that I didn’t have to chill the dough and my cookies came out nice and soft and adding the frosting on them was Heaven!
Great recipe! Cookies keep their shape and taste yummy.
This recipe is amazing. So easy to use and even second roll out of dough bits hold beautifully. Sturdy enough for dipping into marbleized icing as well. Made an entire batch of spring themed cookies today with the grandson. Wish I could post a pic. Will never use another sugar cookie recipe again!
My favorite sugar cookie recipe! Love that it is not necessary to chill the dough! Also makes great Easter cookied!
I have used the same sugar cookie recipe for fourty-eight years, but decided to try this one. This is SO much easier, the dough comes together quickly, no need to chill, it wasn’t crumbly, rolled-out like a dream and smell deliteful! I baked them this morning, will frost them tomorrow and serve with my family Easter dinner. Thank you for a great recipe – wish I had seen this years ago!
I keep trying different sugar cookies recipes, but no more- yours was great! do you have a chocolate sugar cook is version?
Thank you! https://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/best-chocolate-cut-out-cookie/
Best sugar cookie recipe ever!
I did not expect the cookies to be so very delicious. I thought they would just taste pretty plain and basic. How wrong was I! Thank you- I will share your recipe with anyone who asks for it, after trying the cookies!
I’ve made these cookies several times and I get a lot of compliments. The dough is easy to work with, it tastes great and they are soft but durable. So many of the royal icing cookies are hard and have no taste but these are cookies the secret recipe that cookie bakers need in their kitchens.
Can the baked cookies be frozen
Hi. Can I freeze the cookie cutouts or dough for future use?
awesome! first time baking homemade and turned out great
I was skeptical, but these really were easy to work with, and really delicious! They have a sortof dry texture (not in a bad way) like a Russian teacake. The cookies kept their edges beautifully. This one is going in my recipe box!
Easy, great dough & now my favorite sugar cookie recipe, thank you
Diane
Perfection. This recipe made Christmas baking fun, low stress and delicious. Everyone including the adults loved the favor and texture and the fun memories with my 5 year old are priceless. We made the nativity and the dough easily held every detail. Only a single skinny camel leg broke out of the entire batch. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Can I use salted butter and eliminate salt in the recipe?
Super tasty I made them for my daughter’s birthday and she loved them and requested that I make them every year so thank you.
Nice and easy and delicious. The making process was incredibly and fun.
might have rated this before, but it continues to be the quickest, easiest, most foolproof sugar cookie recipe. my mother marvels at house quickly i can crank this recipe out.
Hi My cookies seem to have cracks through it once baked- I am using a margarine, could that be the issue?
This recipe is so easy to make and delicious too! I love all the information you provide for troubleshooting, so helpful!
I love, love, love sugar cookies! This recipe looks so delicious! I will be keeping it for next Christmas.
Your troubleshooting tips were so helpful! I was looking for a no-chill cookie recipe and this one is fantastic!
Seriously so good!!
This really is one of the best sugar cookie recipes for decorating out there! Thank you for all of your valuable information on how to use this recipe to get your own personalized results!
I’ve been making your famous sugar cookie recipe for years!! It’s truly the BEST!!!
This recipe is definitely a keeper. Best sugar cookies I’ve ever made!
very happy the way the cookies have turned out. Only made some cookies from different recipes before but they always spread but this recipe turned out great. Will be using this in future. Now to get the perfect royal icing and perfect the flooding etc. Only thing I did different was to give them an extra 2-3 mins in the oven.
I get more compliments with this recipe. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ it. I use vanilla bean paste and emulsions for my flavors.
I found this recipe to be too dry for my liking. I added a 1/4 cup of milk and they rolled out amazing. These were a huge hit with my family. Definitely making these again and again.