Sugar Cookies

Here at Delish, we love all cookies *equally*, but personally, I hold a special place in my heart for soft sugar cookies. There are countless sugar cookie recipes out there, but my tried-and-tested recipe nails the perfect texture and flavor of this classic dessert. Crisp around the edges and soft and chewy in the center, these simple, classic treats are hard to beat. Ready to make perfect sugar cookies? Keep reading on for all of my top tips:

How To Make Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter when baking; salted has a way of throwing the seasoning off. Be sure to start with softened butter—just soft enough to leave an indentation when you press it with your finger—to ensure you get the right amount of loft and spread in these cookies.
• Brown Sugar: I included just enough light brown sugar to add some caramel notes and push the cookie in a softer, chewier direction.
• Salt: Brings a bit of balance and does what salt does—dials up all the flavors.
• Granulated Sugar: Creamed with the butter, granulated (white) sugar helps the cookies spread and turn crispy at the edges, while simultaneously creating air pockets in the dough that result in a lighter texture. Flavor-wise, it offers a neutral backdrop sweetness that highlights the flavor of the vanilla.
• Egg & Egg Yolk: Egg serves to bind and leaven the dough. The extra yolk provides added fat, which helps interrupt gluten formation and produce a more tender cookie.
• Vanilla: Serves as the primary flavor component in this cookie.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Both of our leavening agents promote lighter, fluffier cookies, but the baking powder does the heavy *lifting* (for a cakier texture), while the baking soda chips in to help the cookies spread out and brown at the edges.
• All-Purpose Flour: Gives the cookie its backbone and structure.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350° with a rack in the center. That out of the way, let's make some cookie dough. You'll need either a large bowl and a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Before you start mixing, make sure your butter is room temperature (see Recipe Tips). Now, beat the butter, brown sugar, salt, and 1 1/4 c. granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat, stopping and scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula as needed, just until combined. Beat in the baking powder and baking soda just to incorporate.

With the mixer on low speed, add about half of the flour and beat until mostly combined, with a few dry steaks remaining. Add the remaining flour and beat just until incorporated; avoid overmixing, as it leads to tougher, denser cookies.

Place the remaining 1/2 c. granulated sugar in a small shallow bowl. Using a 1-oz. cookie scoop (AKA a #30 scoop) or 2 spoons, portion out the dough (about 2 Tbsp. each) and roll into balls between your palms.

Roll half of the balls, one at a time, in the bowl of granulated sugar to coat and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing at least 2" apart. Refrigerate the remaining dough balls until you have baked off the first batch.

Bake the sugar cookies, rotating them front to back halfway through, until starting to turn golden brown around the edges but still a little soft in the center, 10 to 14 minutes.

Pull the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat for the second batch of cookies.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• How to make the best sugar cookies: In a universe full of sugar cookies that are either super-thin and crunchy or overly thick and cakey, my goal was to strike a perfect balance between the two. Butter and granulated sugar help achieve those crispy edges, while an extra egg yolk and an equal combination of baking powder and baking soda create that slightly thicker, fudgy center. Separating an egg for a simple cookie dough may seem annoying—but trust me, it’s worth it.
• How to get the best texture in soft sugar cookies? The key to textural success with these cookies is starting with cool room temperature butter. The butter should give slightly when you press it: If it smushes, it’s too soft and will likely produce cookies that spread out too much during baking. To quickly bring butter to cool room temperature, cut it into tablespoon-size pieces and let it sit for 10 minutes. The smaller pieces warm up much faster and incorporate into the dough more evenly than butter in stick form.

Storage

These cookies are best fresh but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The cookie dough can be made, formed into balls (but not rolled in sugar), and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month; store in an airtight container or a resealable plastic bag. Roll in sugar just before baking; you might need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the bake time. The cookies will be slightly puffier and chewier and the flavor a little richer—which several of my tasters preferred.