The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
Hands down, The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe, we’ve ever tested! Learn How to Make Sugar Cookies that everyone will love. These little guys are light, pillowy, and packed with flavor.
We’ve got a theme going on this week… Called The Best.
I’m sharing tried-and-true recipes I’ve made dozens (even hundreds) of times, because I’ve never tasted anything better. Monday I posted the absolute best yeast roll recipe I’ve ever made, and today I’m sharing The BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe.
This is the end-all of sugar cookies, friends.
Better than your mom’s.
Better than your grandma’s, may she rest in peace.
Better than that fancy bakery down the street.
And sure as heck, better than any grocery store sugar cookie you’ve ever tasted.
The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe, is ultra light, ever so crispy around the edges, glistening with sugar crystals, and packed with a sweet vanilla-wheat flavor.
These cookies put all other sugar cookies to shame.
There’s something spectacular about a simple, yet perfect, sugar cookie. Today I’m going to show you how to make sugar cookies that will make your head spin. I bake The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe for holidays and parties regularly, and have used this recipe as a base for all sorts of sugar cookie variations.
I’ve been asked for The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe more times than I can count, always with a statement like, “These are just sugar cookies, right? OMGeeeeee. I’ve got to have the recipe.”
I found the base-recipe at least a decade ago in an old version of Cook’s Illustrated’s Best Recipe Cookbook. Over the years, I’ve tweaked it just a tad, so that now I have the absolute best sugar cookie recipe around.
Interested?
How To Make Sugar Cookies… the best ones.
- Perfect sugar cookies should always have equal parts butter and sugar. The butter and sugar should be creamed together (beat on high) until the butter is lighter in color and ultra fluffy. You should be able to tell that the sugar is broken down into the butter, because it will no longer look granular. This usually takes several minutes to achieve.
- For extra light and delicate sugar cookies, sift your dry ingredients. Measure first, then sift.
- You need to use a generous amount of good quality sea salt and pure vanilla extract to bring out the best flavor in the cookies.
- Do not over beat the cookie dough. Think gentle thoughts.
- Roll the dough into balls, coat in extra sugar, and press flat with the bottom of a drinking glass. This creates a crispy glistening exterior and a uniform shape.
- Do not over-bake. The moment the edges look remotely golden, take the cookies out of the oven and cool.
That’s pretty much it!
Please note, The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe is NOT a roll-out cookie recipe for cookie cutters. It’s just too darn delicate for that. If you’re looking for a roll-and-cut cookie recipe, use this one. The extra egg yolk and flour make the cookies slightly sturdier, so they can handle the abuse.
However, these sugar cookies are marvelous with glaze and sprinkles. Try them with this grown-up bourbon glaze!
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Those are some nice looking sugar cookies!
Pillowy perfection!
Beautiful Sommer! Love the new bright look here too! Happy Wednesday to you!
Looks fabulous here, Sommer. Both the new site + recipe! Happy Easter, friend!
I have the old cooks illustrated recipe–I’m going to have to try your tweaks. These look fabulous!
You can never say no to a sugar cookie! These look amazing, Sommer!
These sound perfect!! and I LOVE the new design Sommer!
These absolutely do look like THE BEST!
I can’t take your word for it … I MUST try these myself! They do look like the best! :) Pinned to make later!
these look sooooo good Sommer! and love the new site!
Love the new layout!!!! So chic!!! Beautiful new pic as well.
These look amaz-balls!!!
What a gorgeous new look! And your cookies look top notch, too :)
Love your new look! I’m a cookie lover so these are gonna be baking in our kitchen soon!!
You have to love a good sugar cookie! These are going on my to do list.
The Old Fat Guy
What a great idea to roll them in sugar. I’ll have to give these cookies a try.
love these and the new site!!
These look perfect, love the glaze!!!
Well who doesn’t love a sugar cookie!?! These look scrumptious!
That glaze is drool worthy!!! Yum!
Really beautiful looking sugar cookies! also, loving the simple glaze!
The recipe that I have and use is almost the same besides the eggs. I tried it once or twice with a single one but didn’t notice a difference. I guess this is going to be mu next experiment ;D
Yummy! Just made them, kids approve. Saving this recipe! Thank you!
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These look delicious … especially with the bourbon glaze. My question: How do I “dip” the face of the cookie in the glaze without making a mess? Is there a secret?
Hi Debi,
Oh, I never said you wouldn’t make a mess. LOL! But it’s worth it. :)
These are very tasty, but I couldn’t get them to flatten. They just stuck to the bottom of the glass. Am I doing something wrong?
This really is the best sugar cookie recipe everyone who ate them loved them. I need to make them again!
These cookies were fantastic! Everyone in my house couldn’t stop raving about them. I don’t think I used enough flour because they were a little moist so I ended up making them drop sugar cookies. I also added 1/2 tbsp of almond extract just to tweak it & they were awesome. I just made a second batch today & I highly recommend letting the dough chill overnight so the flavors can really blend. & best of all they stay soft & fluffy even the next day. Thanks a million!!
Wow these do look like the best sugar cookies!! I’m including these cookies in a Lifehack round-up if that’s okay!
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Is it OK to use sugar substitute? I have to watch my sugar intake but I’ve been craving a good sugar cookie. Thanks
I don’t know what I am doing wrong with this recipe, but after following the directions I keep ending up with a pasty batter as opposed to a bakeable dough. Please help!!!
Hi Natashia! It’s hard to say without watching your process, but it may be an issue with the brand of flour you are using or your method of measuring.
Please check out our 100 Best Baking Tips article for some general guidelines: http://www.aspicyperspective.com/100-best-baking-tips-and-tricks/
I had the same issue. I spoon my flour into the measuring cup because I read on an expert baking site that that is the most accurate way to measure as opposed to scooping. If you scoop you get more flour packed into the cup. I added more flour and still had a batter but I stopped adding once it reached a consistency that I could drop into the sugar and flatten without it sticking. They still came out great and fluffy.
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Can you freeze these ahead?
These are fantastic! Everyone who tasted them said that they are hands down the best cookie they’ve ever had! Thank you for this recipe!
Holy mackerel! Just made these and sampled a hot one off the pan… EXQUISITE! Won’t be using any other recipe from now on! Thanks! :)
I just made the cookies last night and they were a success! Only problem i came across was when i was flattening the dough balls with a glass the dough stuck to the glass. Any suggestions on how to fix that?
Hi Diane, Did you roll them in sugar first? The sugar should have kept them from sticking.
These are so wonderful tasting. I highly recommend this recipe. I did everything she says to do and they were perfect and soft and tasted great.
The batter came out the same constancy as cake batter. Chilling it in hopes it’ll come out ok.
Going to try making these Christmas eve with my mom! Can’t wait! :)
These turned out perfectly: an incredibly tender and delicate texture combined with sweet vanilla flavor. Perfect with a cup of strong black coffee. I must say, though, these cookies seem like they would do well to have additional flavors added. I could imagine drizzling them with dark chocolate, or maybe adding orange zest to the dough (or both) to add a pop of bright flavor. Might be great with lavender or a hint of cardamom, too.
For those having trouble with the dough sticking to the cup, I think that chilling the dough a few moments or making sure to thoroughly roll them in sugar would help. My cup stuck to a few of the cookies, and so I began adding more sugar to the tops of the cookies and dipping the bottom of my cup in sugar, too.
Thanks for a “keeper” recipe!
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can I roll them out and use a cookie cutter for them? Or make the balls larger and flatten until they fit until my cookie cutter shape?
Alaina, this isn’t really a cut-out cookie recipe… It’s too delicate. Try this one for roll out cookies: http://www.aspicyperspective.com/sugar-cookie-icing-and-cut-out-cookie-recipe/
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Hello Sommer ! Thank you for sharing this sugary sweet sugar cookies recipe, I tried this and came out very well. I was thinking if we can add some dry fruits in it ? TIA
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For those of you that are having trouble with
the glass sticking to the dough, dip the bottom of the
glass in the sugar you used to roll your cookies in
This should prevent sticking –
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My oven must run hot. I almost burned the first batch. So temp. down to 350 and time down to 8 minutes. Perfect. They taste wonderful, and so light.