Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies (Drop-Style)
These easy drop-style sugar cookies require NO chill time and bake up soft and chewy. Roll them in granulated sugar before baking for a sugary crust, or bake them plain, frost them, add sprinkles… it’s the best and most versatile sugar cookie recipe you’ll find!
These cookies are flat-out fantastic. It is not often that I eat a plain sugar cookie without any type of icing, and these were delicious in every way a sugar cookie should be.
Soft, chewy, buttery, and sweet, these are the essence of what every sugar cookie aspires to become. Rolling them in sugar prior to baking allows them to create a nice sugary crust in the oven, that gives way to buttery softness when you bite into them.
How to make drop sugar cookies
I love having a go-to drop sugar cookie recipe because sometimes when the mood strikes for a good sugar cookie, you realllllllly might not want to go through the hassle of rolling out dough, cutting it, etc.
Are you ready to hear how easy these cookies are to make? This is what we do:
- Preheat the oven.
- Prep the pan (see below).
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cream butter and sugars.
- Add egg and vanilla.
- Mix in dry ingredients.
- Roll dough into balls.
- Roll in sugar.
- Bake!
In case you missed it, the best part is… NO CHILL TIME!
That’s right, they are TRUE drop cookies. Mix together the dough and then bake right away.
Now, let’s talk about those pans!
My baking pans of choice are these rimmed half sheet pans; I have a ton and I use them for everything! And they are perfect for cookies.
I highly, highly recommend using parchment paper to line your baking pans when baking cookies. Greasing cookie sheets will allow excess fat to leach into your cookies, causing them to spread too much and potentially burn on the bottom.
For a brief time, I experimented with silicone baking mats, but over time found that they developed a greasy film that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how many times I washed in soapy water or ran through the dishwasher. It was causing the same issues as greasing the pan would, so I stopped using them and went back to parchment paper.
Sugar cookies vs snickerdoodles
Some think of snickerdoodles as simply drop sugar cookies that have been rolled in cinnamon-sugar, but this oversimplification is far from accurate.
While both cookies have the same basic list of ingredients (butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, and baking powder/soda), there is one key ingredient in snickerdoodles that turns them into something altogether different:
Cream of Tartar
This magical little ingredient is an acid, so its presence gives the cookies that ever-so-slight tangy flavor to make snickerdoodles, well… snickerdoodles.
Keep them soft!
I’m a firm believer that all sugar cookies should be super soft; if you want a hard or crunchy sugar cookie, shortbread cookies are your answer.
A couple of keys to keep those cookies nice and soft:
- Brown Sugar – Just a small amount gives the cookies a little extra softness and gives them a chewier texture.
- Don’t Overmix – When you add the dry ingredients, only mix until just combined. You can always finish mixing in bits of flour with a rubber spatula.
- Don’t Press Down Too Far – When you press the cookies down, make sure they are still ¾-inch thick to keep them from getting too flat (and crunchy!).
- Don’t Overbake – Quite possibly the most important tip of all! Keep an eye on the cookies since some ovens can run hot and pull them out when the edges are light brown and the centers look just barely set and still pale.
Customize!
Even though these are drop cookies, you can still dress them up a bit if you’d like. Some ideas:
- Frost them – Instead of rolling the cookies in sugar, skip that step and then slather on your favorite vanilla frosting or cream cheese frosting – tint it different colors if you’d like!
- Add sprinkles – Who doesn’t love sprinkles?! Fold in ½ cup of colored sprinkles with a rubber spatula after mixing in the dry ingredients.
Make-ahead, storage, and freezing tips
- Make-Ahead – You can prepare the dough and store it, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before scooping and baking.
- Storage – Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezing the Dough – You can roll the dough balls and freeze them for up to 2 months. Bake for an extra minute or so.
- Freezing the Cookies – You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature then enjoy!
If you like these cookies, you’ll love these other recipes:
Watch the Recipe Video:
If you make these sugar cookies and love them, I would so appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a rating below. Thank you so much! ❤️️
Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2⅓ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
For Rolling
- ½ cup (99 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Place the ½ cup sugar for rolling in a shallow bowl. Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Dip your hands in the water and shake off any excess (this will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and ensure that the sugar sticks to the dough). Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a 1½-inch ball between moistened palms, roll the ball in the sugar, and then place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, moistening your hands as necessary, and spacing the balls about 2 inches apart. Butter the bottom of a drinking glass and then dip the bottom of the glass in the remaining sugar. Flatten the dough balls with the bottom of the glass until they are about ¾ inch thick, dipping the glass in sugar as necessary to prevent sticking (after every 2 or 3 cookies).
- Bake until the cookies are light brown around the edges and their centers are just set and very lightly colored, 10 to 13 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets about 3 minutes; using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Pans: I recommend half sheet pans and lining with parchment paper.
- Frost them – Slather on your favorite vanilla frosting or cream cheese frosting – tint it different colors if you’d like!
- Add sprinkles – Fold in ½ cup of colored sprinkles with a rubber spatula after mixing in the dry ingredients.
- Make-Ahead – You can prepare the dough and store it, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before scooping and baking.
- Storage – Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezing the Dough – You can roll the dough balls and freeze them for up to 2 months. Bake for an extra minute or so.
- Freezing the Cookies – You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature then enjoy!
- Recipe from Baking Illustrated
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[Photography by Dee of One Sarcastic Baker]
Do you have a sugar cookie and Royal Icing recipe that you would share….my children grew up in glen Ellyn, Illinois with a bakery that had delicious big round sugar cookies with bright Yellow icing and a smiley face…they want me to recreate these for them…begging actually…I told them if anyone had a recipe it was “the brown eyed Baker…Is there any chance that you could help me make this 49 year old boy and 48 year old girl deliriously happy again?…Thank you for so many wonderful recipes…I was describing something wonderful of yours that I had cooked the night before to my 10 year old granddaughter as we drove to Gymnastics…I told her the ingredients and how delicious it was…and from the back seat came “Was it a Brown Eyed Baker?…They know when it’s one of your recipes and I make copies in multiples of 3 now…so they will have the in their box to cook for their grand children someday. Thank you, brown Eyed Baker !
Hi Gerrie, Yes! https://www.browneyedbaker.com/soft-chewy-sugar-cookies/ and https://www.browneyedbaker.com/how-to-decorate-cookies-with-royal-icing/
I know this post was like…long way back, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the recipes and how easy you make it to follow! I love the tips and little baker secrets that you have learned and then graciously share. You are my go to for recipes, so I knew I could count on this cookie! I made it as the base of my fruit pizza and it was perfect!!
Aww thank you for the lovely comment! xo
Not a fun dough for cut out cookies. Way too soft :(
hi michelle! I wanted to ask if I could add sprinkles to these cookies to make them more of a funfetti cookie. would that alter the texture in any way? and also, when should I add in the sprinkles? thanks so much in advance!
Hi Shanice, You could definitely add sprinkles! I would add them at the very end, stirring them in by hand.
Perfect little treat for Spring Break. My son and husband inhaled them!
Hello…I am finally getting a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Needless to say I plan on a lot of baking. I was wondering if you could mark your Christmas recipes showing which items can be canned, which travel well and which can be shipped with minimal breakage. I want to send some homemade gifts to families and friends who don’t live near here. For canning I wondered about the bacon jam for instance. Thanks for lots of fun and Merry Christmas to all.
These fabulous cookies are my go-to and were my first attempt at royal icing. Thank you! I’ve become “famous” in certain circles for them. I’m making a batch for an Elmo-themed birthday party and have been reading a lot online to prevent them from spreading. One tip is to lose the baking powder. Have you done this? How has it worked out? I’m planning on using an email cookie “stamp” to help with the outlining and I’m afraid I’m testing too many variables at once.
Hi Genna, I have not tried eliminating baking powder.
Thanks! I tried it and definitely got a crispier cookie but it was great for what I needed. I think it helped with the spread just enough. I kept the cookie on the thicker side and it was still soft. Nixing the baking powder may be a good solution!
Hello!! I’ve been looking for a great recipe for cut-out sugar cookies and I’m wondering if these cookies are just right and not super duper sweet that if I decorate it with royal icing, the sweetness would be alright? Thanks a lot :)
Hi Noelle, Yes, these are the cookies that I use a base for decorating with royal icing.
Just made these…absolutely delicious. They literally melted in my mouth. Made full batch and I am freezing half of the dough, since I am on a diet and all…tee hee.
I just baked these and they turned out perfectly! I am having a difficult time describing the texture on the outside – sort of a crinkle-like crunchy sweet outside with a chewy inside. Quite tasty. My husband said that he doesn’t like sugar cookies but these were very good. Thanks for posting the recipe!
I just made these cookies and very yum! I used a small ice cream scoop and got 4batches. SInce they were small size I baked them only $13minutes.
thanks.
should i refrigerate cookies with baking sheet or only the baking sheet before baking?
Hi Jasminee, If you are doing the cut-outs, refrigerate the baking sheet with the cookies on it.
Refrigerate with cookies too or only baking sheet?
Yum. Just ate one hot out of the oven. I’m going to put buttercream frosting on them.
Your measurements are off. 2 cups is 16 oz not 10 oz. And 1 C is 8 oz not 7oz. I did the correct measurements and its too much flour.
Christina, My original measurements are correct. Unfortunately, it’s a widely held misconception that 8 ounces = 1 cup for every single ingredient. For liquid measurements, yes. However, solid ingredients have a wide range of volumes, therefore 1 cup of flour, for instance, will not weight the same as 1 cup of sugar. Please consult this ingredient weight chart for more information: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html. I am not surprised that using 16 ounces of flour in a recipe that called for 2 cups resulted in way, way too much flour for this recipe.
Im making these cookies and i sifted the 2 cups of flour thinkn it would be the same result but the dough is still soft what should i do ?!?! Help
I just made these cookies tonight, and they are very delicious! I slightly undervalued them and they are just incredible.
I meant to say underbaked! Not undervalued. Ha! Like the person above me, I did notice that the edges turned brown quickly before the rest of the cookie finished baking. But to mitigate that, I baked them for about 12-13 minutes total, and they turned out good.
Sorry to say that these did not turn out well for me as cutout cookies. I am an experienced baker and followed the directions to a “T”. These spread, were a little greasy to me, and did not have much flavor. Either edges too done or middles too soft. Just wasn’t the recipe for me.
How long will these stay fresh?
i baked these cookies thinking they would be soft and chewy. I did exactly what the recipe called for – baked for 15 minutes and they were burnt and horrible.
luckily I still had some batter left so I did the next and took 5 minutes off the time – they were still hard and crunchy.
disappointed – I have tried other recipes for soft chewy sugar cookies that were way way better
I made it yesterday, and I loved it…I made 24 pcs. of it. it is really easy to make that beginners (like me) can do.. :D I like the it’s softness and chewiness.. Thank you very much for the recipe :D
They look delicious! I have a question, though. Can I replace the normal sugar with Splenda? Will it taste the same, or would it change completely?
Hi Helen, I’ve never used Splenda or a sugar substitute, so I can’t really say if they would taste the same or if the texture would be different. If you try it, be sure to come back and share your feedback!
Thanks, Michelle! I’ll try them at home and see how they turn out
These look great! I have been looking for a chewy sugar cookie for some time now. Do you think these will work with some cocoa (subbing for a bit of flour)? I’m on a mission to do a sugar swirl caramel stuffed cookie. I love your site and would love to hear your thoughts!
Hi Karen, I haven’t done it, so I’m not sure how it would turn out, but you could certainly give it a try. Let me know how it goes!
I made these yesterday, and they were a total disaster. Everything seemed to be going well. The dough was sticky, but wetting my hands helped handle it. I even put the baking trays in the fridge while I waited for the oven to get to temperature, since I live in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and it was really hot that day. I peeked into the oven at about the five-minute mark, and they looked good. The next time I looked in, the cookies had spread all over the entire pan. I had to throw them away. :-(
I just made these and 375 was WAY to high. The bottoms burned while the middle was still doughy – that was the first batch. The 2nd turned out MUCH better at 350 for like 10 mins. much more even baking. soooo yummy.(:
Very delicious! For cutouts, though, just remember that they rise! I made the mistake of using stamped cutouts and the lettering could barely be seen. But the plain shapes came out beautifully and taste GREAT with royal icing!
I loved the recipe — Hate the font — Please make it bigger on the recipe — or able to copy it — so that I may change to a font that I can read while cooking.
Made these cookies today, I used 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract, and they turned out lovely. Thx for this recipe !
Mmm…these *are* delicious and work quite well as a gluten free version substituting regular wheat flour with Namaste All Purpose Gluten Free flour blend. Yay! So excited to find a perfect sugar cookie that translates well to GF. Thank you :)
Hi Michelle! I’m so excited to try this recipe- I want to send these to my boyfriend for V-day! I’ve never mailed any baked goods though so I am concerned on the best way to do it.. any suggestions?? I saw that the cookies can be frozen after being decorated so I am wondering if I should ship them frozen (priority mail would get there in 2 days). Thanks for your help!
Hi Kristen, Yes, you could definitely ship them frozen.