While my favorite cookie is one of these chocolate crinkle cookies, every cook should have a good recipe for drop sugar cookies in his or her repertoire.
This particular recipe produces a cookie that is a standout on its own, with a buttery, just-sweet-enough flavor. Give it a light dusting of granulated sugar and enjoy their tender yet chewy texture as is.
Or it's also the perfect base recipe for cut-out cookies since it holds its shape well and doesn't have a lot of rise while baking, giving you a nice flat surface to work with while decorating.
While this sugar cookie dough can be a bit on the sticky side, chilling it well should solve any issues when working with it. I like to use an OXO cookie scoop when making cookies to ensure that they're all uniform in size.
Just scoop out the dough and roll it into a smooth ball. Then roll the ball of dough in a bowl of granulated sugar.
Then use a flat-bottomed ramekin or glass to flatten each cookie to about ½-inch thick. I sprinkled on a little extra granulated sugar before baking, but had I thought to pick some up at the store, I would have sprinkled some coarse sugar on at this point for extra visual appeal.
I guarantee these easy sugar cookies will go fast, so you may want to consider making a double batch! Or you can make a second batch and freeze it for later. Yes, you really can do this, and I have the scoop on how to freeze cookie dough so you can have fresh-baked cookies ANY TIME!
Old-Fashioned Drop Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups salted butter softened (3 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 4 eggs
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Instructions
- Cream together softened butter, lemon zest, granulated sugar, and confectioners' sugar.
- Add vanilla extract and almond extract, and beat in eggs one at a time.
- Stir in flour and baking powder.
- Chill dough for at least two hours, or even better, chill it overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Scoop out cookie dough and roll into uniform balls. Dredge each ball of dough in granulated sugar, and then flatten the balls using a flat-bottomed ramekin or glass to about ½ inch thick.
- Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until just starting to brown around the edges.
Tips & Suggestions
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P.S. If you want to use this dough for cutout cookies, I highly recommend checking out this easy royal icing recipe... It has hundreds of glowing reviews!!
Laura says
Can I leave out the lemon zest?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Yes, you can omit the lemon zest if you don't care for it or have any on hand.
Paula says
How much salt?? Doesn't say?
Tara Kuczykowski says
Oops, sorry about that! I actually don't add salt because I use salted butter, but if you use unsalted butter, you can add 1 teaspoon of salt. Thanks for pointing that out — I'll make a note in the recipe now.
Freya says
How much is a stick of butter?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
A stick of butter would be equal to 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup.
Ana P says
Can these be rolled out to be cut out cookies?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, you can definitely roll out the dough for cut-out cookies. I've always rolled them out with flour, but a friend recently told me that she uses powdered sugar instead which I think is an awesome idea!
Maria says
Hi, Tara!
Are these cookies chewy? Also, if I scooped them to about a walnut-sized and pressed them down. so they came out to be about 3" spread out...would they still be chewy?
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yes, they are a chewy cookie. As I mentioned, I used my OXO scoop and I believe it holds about 4 teaspoons. I don't think they pressed out quite to 3" but it should be close and still chewy.
Misty says
Hi! Just wondering if the salt in the recipe is that regular table salt? I'm assuming it is because most recipes call for that type. Thanks!
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Yep! Regular table salt it what is most often used in baking. I will always specify if I use kosher salt in a recipe. Good question!
marly says
What a perfect fall treat. Love it!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen says
These look like the perfect sugar cookies!
Stace @ Saving Stace says
I have been looking for a cookie to make for my daughter's final soccer game this weekend...and this is it! I can't wait to make these. I'm curious, though, how many cookies this recipe yields...? Thanks so much for sharing. :)
Tara @ Unsophisticook says
Oh, the girls will love them! My kids have almost wiped out the batch I made yesterday already.
It should make around 5-6 dozen, depending on how large you make them. My cookies were about 2.5" in diameter.
Monet says
Hi Tara. There is nothing better than a simple sugar cookie. These look delicious! Thank you for sharing another lovely recipe. A much needed jump start to a slow and dreary morning. I hope you have a beautiful day!
Paula - bell'alimento says
I am a HUGE sugar cookie fan and crazily I usually only make them at Christmas-time. I should rectify that ; )
Aimee @ ShugarySweets says
Oh how I love Sugar Cookies. Gorgeous photos too!
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
Just look at that plumpness! I could really use a dozen of these for breakfast right now!
Cassie says
I don't even know if I could get these to the oven without eating all the dough. I love sugar cookies! These look perfect!