My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe
on Feb 11, 2010, Updated Jul 10, 2024
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These are my favorite sugar cookies because they are moist and soft but keep their shape well. Just make the dough, chill, roll, shape, and bake it! These are the perfect cookies for decorating!
My wonderful neighbor Heather shared this recipe with me. They are moist, stable cookies that keep their shape very well. I don’t love making cookies, especially sugar cookies. It’s too tedious for me! But the results were well worth the time with this recipe! And truly, compared to many baking projects, this isn’t as complicated as so many are.
This is a perfect recipe to get the kids in the kitchen to help with. They’ll love mixing the dough with you, and making their little creations when decorating the cookies. It’s such a fantastic holiday season activity. You’ll get into the holiday spirit, and you’ll get some tasty cookies to fill up cookie trays with! Win-win!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Sugar cookies are a classic for a reason—they are super easy to make and give you so many options for decorating!
- Frosting the cookies is a craft project for the holidays with the kiddos. Here is my favorite frosting for sugar cookies if you need a recipe to go with this one.
- The cookie dough can be made up to two days in advance so they will be ready to bake and decorate!
Recipe Ingredients
- Shortening – I use butter-flavored
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Sour cream
- Vanilla
- Baking soda and powder
- Flour
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make the Best Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Cream together the wet ingredients.
Step 2: Next mix in dry ingredients.
Step 3: Refrigerate dough, roll it out, and use cookie cutters to make shapes.
Step 4: Bake and decorate cooled cookies with icing and sprinkles!
Recipe FAQs
I recommend chilling sugar cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days. Sometimes you just lose track of time, you know?!
This depends on the recipe and your preference. I like a cookie with a little bite, but not completely crumbly. These are firm, yet soft, and they keep their shape well. It’s my favorite sugar cookie consistency ever!
The most fun part! Get you some fun cookie cutters in the shapes of Christmas trees, wreaths, candy canes, and anything else festive. Then, make my famous sugar cookie icing (you can dye some of it using a couple of drops of food coloring) and add it to the cookies with bright sprinkles after the cookies have cooled. Voila! Christmas cookies!
Expert Tips
- A dry and chalky sugar cookie with a strong flour flavor means you probably used too much flour! Be careful with your measurements and you should be just fine!
- Just be sure you let the dough chill in the refrigerator so the cookies keep their shape!
- If you are looking for other fun cookie recipes, try these soft gingerbread cookies or these buttery spritz cookies. Both are great recipes for gift-giving!
More Cookie Recipes to Consider
Cookies
Pinwheel Cookies
Christmas Cookies
Gingerbread Wreath
Christmas Cookies
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Halloween Recipes
Haunted Halloween Gingerbread House
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening, (I use butter flavored)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- dash of nutmeg, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla.
- Next, add the baking soda, baking powder, flour, salt, and nutmeg if using, and mix all together. The dough should be tacky without being sticky; adjust the flour as needed until you have a workable dough.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes (and up to 2 days).
- Working with ¼ of the dough at a time, roll it out on a well floured surface to ¼ to ½-inch thick. Be generous with your flour on the rolling surface since the dough is very tender; it will stick easily.
- Use cookie cutters to make shapes, and transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Repeat with remaining dough, gathering and re-rolling the scrap dough as you go along.
- Decorate cooled cookies with icing and sprinkles; the messier the better.
- This is my favorite frosting for sugar cookies if you need a recipe to go with this one.
Notes
- I don’t use shortening for a lot of recipes (this and My Favorite Pie Crust Recipe are about the only ones that I use it in), but it helps the cookies keep their shape and the end result is so much nicer. I figure if you’re just eating stuff like that a few times a year, it’ll balance itself out.
- Let the dough chill in the refrigerator so the cookies keep their shape!
- This is a perfect recipe to get the kids in the kitchen to help. They’ll love mixing up the dough with you and decorating the cookie shapes.
- If the cookie has a dry chalky flavor, you likely added too much flour. Be careful with your measurements and you should be just fine!
I can’t wait to make these. But I would love to know how you store these if I make them ahead for christmas?
These cookies are so delicious and absolutely adorable! My kiddos love them!
Happy holiday baking to you and yours Anna! Thank you for leaving a comment!
Yum! Perfect timing for this post! I think I shall make some this weekend for V-day indeed!
So, I rented Julie and Julia this weekend and totally thought of you! You are such an amazing cook and homemaker. Keep teaching us, Lady!