Our soft Sugar Cookies recipe has that perfect texture and couldn’t be easier to make! They’re my go-to for holidays, cutting them into fun shapes, decorating with frosting and sprinkles.
My go-to Sugar Cookies for every occasion.
My go-to Sugar Cookies for every occasion.I am super particular about homemade cookies, but especially sugar cookies, which have to be thick and extra soft and chewy, to tempt me (and frosted, obviously!). These are as beautiful as Lofthouse sugar cookies but taste a million times better. They’ve been my family’s go-to sugar cookie recipe for decades.
I incorporate shortening in the dough because ir provides a much softer cookie that stays soft even after cooling and storing, but you can use all butter in the sugar cookies if you want. I like to gift the cookie dough to neighbors for Christmas with this cute printable label, and I also use this printable tag for gifting Valentine’s Day sugar cookies.
How to make Sugar Cookies:
Make Cookie Dough: Cream together the shortening/butter and sugar then mix in eggs, milk, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture gradually and slowly until you have a large ball of dough. Add more flour if needed. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll Out: Dust counter with flour and use a rolling pin to roll cookies out to 1/2-¾ inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutters, biscuit cutter, or even the mouth of a round cup to cut the dough. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8-11 minutes. Cookies should still be very light in color (not golden) and just set on top (not shiny). They will set up more as they cool, so be careful not to over-bake them. Use a spatula to transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Bake classic sugar cookies as instructed and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days unfrosted, or in the fridge if frosted. (I prefer to freeze them, frosted or unfrosted, if waiting longer than 1 day).
To Freeze: Stack baked, unfrosted sugar cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the layers. To freeze frosted sugar cookies flash freeze them first on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, then transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container with parchment paper between each layer. Freezer sugar cookies for up to 3 months. Freeze sugar cookie dough in a freezer safe airtight container for up to 3 months. Remove dough from freezer and let sit at room temp for 2 hours, or until soft enough to roll out.
More Cookie Recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Biscoff Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Turtle Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Creme Pies
- S’mores Cookies
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Recipe
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup butter or vegetable shortening* , or ⅓ cup butter and ⅓ cup shortening (123g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup milk (83g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes a great flavor )
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened, (113g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar (360-480g)
Instructions
- Mix shortening/butter and sugar In a mixing bowl until well creamed together. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix.
- Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients–(flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet mixture until you form a large dough ball. Add a little more flour, if needed, but not too much.
- Chill dough for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, or up to 3 days.
- Roll Out: Dust counter top with flour and roll dough ball out until ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. (Add a little flour as needed to counter, rolling pin and top of dough, keep dough from sticking). Cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters (or use a round drinking cup).
- Bake: Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 7-10 minutes. Cookies will be very light colored and just set, when you take them out. They will harden as they cool, so don't over bake them.
- Frosting: Add butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl and beat well until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add more powdered sugar, as needed, until the frosting is desired thickness. Beaet for several minutes until very smooth and soft. (Stir in food coloring if desired.)
- Frost cooled sugar cookies and top with sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated December 2020 and February 2025.
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Horrible. Horrible taste. Horrible consistency. They taste like flour and are extremely cakey. I followed the directions 100%. These do not even taste like a sugar cookie. Idk where the 5 stars are coming from.
I love this recipe! Whenever I am making sugar cookies I always use this one.
Love this cookie recipe, great taste and not too sweet.
These were a complete waste of time 🙁 super disappointed.
Awful!! Doughy, nothing like a sugar cookie. I am so disappointed. I don’t recommend this recipe!!
I’m appalled at all the high reviews for these. I decided to switch up my usual recipe for this because of the high praise and these came out disgusting. The shortening gave them an awful fake taste and the consistency is all wrong for a cookie. I scrapped all of them, what a waste, but they were inedible. What a mistake!!
your stuff look amazing
Wow worst cookie. It’s like biting into flour. Should be called flour cookie. I followed your directions…. Idk who giving this 5 stars
I loved these! My 3-year-old granddaughter loves to bake, so we made these for Valentine’s Day. Easy to make and a great consistency for rolling and for cookie cutters. I didn’t try the frosting (just used store bought white icing colored with food coloring), but I will next time! I think this recipe is a keeper.
I hate leaving bad ratings but I have to say this was actually awful. The cookie has no flavor and the consistency is like a biscuit. The reason for the 2 stars is because the frosting tastes good. Food is really expensive. I paid $8 for a container of shortening that is just for this recipe and no one is going to eat theses cookies.
It’s possible that the instructions weren’t clear enough? Sometimes baking instructions aren’t clear enough for myself. Maybe you can give the cookies another try with the left over shortening!!
Syrena, they do make a butter flavored shortening. It works great when baking all kinds of cookies.
I do have a question. Can you replace eggs with applesauce, mashed banana or perhaps another egg substitute? My son is allergic to eggs and I’m always looking for new recipes.