Our soft Sugar Cookies recipe has that perfect chewy texture and couldn't be easier to make! These are fun to cut into shapes for any holidays and frost with cream cheese or buttercream frosting.
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 1/2 inch to 3/4 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.
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Notes
Yield: This recipe makes about 12-15 cookies, depending on how thick you roll the dough and the size of the cookie cutter used. Serving Size: 1 cookie (1/15th of recipe)Shortening: I like to incorporate vegetable shortening because it helps the cookies stay really soft and chewy, especially if I'm not serving them that day. But you can use all butter with great results as well. Make Ahead Instructions: 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).Freezing Instructions: 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.