Easy Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies {No Rolling or Cutting Out!}
These soft and chewy sugar cookies are so easy and so delicious, you may never want to go to the work of rolling and cutting out sugar cookies again!
I love a good traditional, cutout sugar cookie. I really do. But you just can’t beat these amazing chewy and crackly drop sugar cookies.
Roll them in sprinkles to dress them up…or leave them plain. So delicious either way!
Chewy Drop Sugar Cookie Dough
The dough for these sugar cookies is really straightforward:
- butter
- granulated sugar (no brown sugar in these cookies!)
- egg + vanilla
- flour + baking powder + baking soda + salt
No need to whisk the dry ingredients together beforehand. Just mix everything up in one bowl!
The dough will be soft but not overly sticky.
And it tastes ridiculously delicious. Don’t ask me how I know. 😉
Sprinkles or Not
These easy soft and chewy sugar cookies are really yummy plain.
But if you want to make them a bit more festive, roll the dough in sprinkles before baking.
Non-pareil sprinkles work best. To get them to adhere to the cookie dough, roll the ball of cookie dough in sprinkles right after it’s been rolled into a round shape so it’s still soft from the warmth of your hands.
How to Fix Cookies That Flatten While Baking
If drop cookies often bake up too flat in your oven (or where you live), these tips might help:
- Make sure the butter is at room temperature and NOT overly warm or melty when making the cookie dough.
- Use cold eggs.
- Add 2-4 tablespoons more flour to the cookie dough.
- Bake at 375 degrees F or use convection bake (at 325 or 350 degrees F) if you have that setting on your oven.
Below you can see how the drop sugar cookies are slightly thicker when using a couple extra tablespoons flour in the dough. The puffiness means they are less chewy…but they are still soft and tasty.
Conversely, if your cookies aren’t flattening and stay too puffy, try decreasing the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and/or decrease flour by 1/4 cup.
Favorite Sugar Cookie
I can’t tell you the number of times these soft and chewy drop sugar cookies have saved me when a sugar cookie craving hits (that happens more often than I like to admit) or when I’ve needed a fast, quick, delicious cookie to save the day.
LOVE THEM.
They are reminiscent of the crackly, thin, chewy sugar cookies from Subway…but a million times better.
Tried-and-True Recipe
These soft and chewy drop sugar cookies have garnered a huge fan base over the years. Over 1,000 five-star reviews prove they are a keeper!
Kim writes: Probably the best sugar cookies I have found. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Marie says: This is an amazing recipe, Mel! Had to go gluten free due to allergies and used King Arthur measure for measure and we couldn’t believe how good it was! Thank you for giving exact measurements; takes the guessing out and so easy with a scale! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Liz writes: I love this recipe! Soft, chewy, delicious, easy. Can’t get any better than that. I highly recommend this recipe. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Year Ago: White Velvet Sugar Cookies
Two Years Ago: Winter Minestrone Soup with Garlic Bruschetta
Three Years Ago: Curried Lentil and Sausage Soup with Toasted Almonds
Four Years Ago: No-Bake Berry Yogurt Cheesecakes
Five Years Ago: Nutella and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
Soft and Chewy Drop Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter, softened to cool room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cups (283 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) all-purpose flour (see note!)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Additional granulated sugar or sprinkles, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (see note). Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until lightly and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix again for 1-2 minutes until the batter lightens in color. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Scoop the cookie dough into rounded balls (about 2 tablespoons in size; I use my #40 cookie scoop), roll in granulated sugar or sprinkles and place on the prepared baking sheets a couple inches apart (about 12 cookies per baking sheet).
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until slightly crackly on top (but not much color around the edges or bottom to keep them soft and chewy).
- Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
They turned out soft and fluffy so yummy. I decided to also make half with cinnamon sugar and I’m glad I did! Give it a try
This recipe is simple with delicious cookies!
Probably the best sugar cookies I have found.
A delicious base recipe that can easily be modified and flavoured! I made this recipe plain the first time as written with just a white sugar roll (abt 1/3 cup is needed to roll) on the outside for ice cream sandwiches with dark chocolate ice cream at the start of the summer and they were absolutely lovely and easy to eat from frozen (stayed chewy). The only addition I’d say for the basic recipe is 2-3 tablespoons of corn starch into the dry portion for maximum maintained softness, especially if the cookies won’t be eaten within a few days. I used that trick this time while adding 1 tablespoon of cinnamon into the dough and cinnamon sugar for the roll to make faux snickerdoodles and they are THE best, so flavorful and moist and chewy. My main complaint about snickerdoodles is that they tend to be sad and bland and dry and these absolutely are not. My niece’s birthday party is coming up and the theme is citrus, and I’m totally going to be making these for favours and use orange, lemon, and lime extracts and roll them in coordinating homemade coloured sugar. Highly recommend, it’s so easy to get creative with this base recipe.
Wow, these are so good! Baked 13-minutes in my oven, perfection!
These look wonderful and I plan on making them soon, I just wanted to ask if there is a way I could make them a bit thicker? I love thick cookies, and these are going in a cookie jar (I’m afraid they might break if they are too thin).
Obviously I can add a bit more flour or chill them, but I’ll probably sacrifice the beautiful crackly top or texture right?
Thank you for the recipe!
For thicker cookies, yes, you’ll want a bit more flour, but like you mentioned, that might affect the overall outcome and texture (and crackly tops).
This Cookie recipe has never failed me! They are so perfectly delicious, yet easy and quick to make.
Can I substitute margarine? I absolutely love real butter, but I live in Thailand where butter is very expensive, so I’ve been experimenting with margarine in baked goods. I make treats for dozens of students every week, so can’t afford to go broke for butter. ☺️
I haven’t tried that, but I think margarine should work just fine!
I have substituted margarine since day one with these and they always turn out perfectly. My whole family loves them year-round in the fall I substitute brown sugar in place of the white sugar and add in some pumpkin spice and its soft chewy, and with the brown sugar its almost caramelly that goes perfect with the spices. I have never had any problems and the margarine cookies tast just as good as the butter ones.
Love this soft chewy cookie! Question, How much lemon juice (or zest) can I add to make this more like a lemon cookie?
You could try 1-2 tablespoons of zest. I don’t know about adding lemon juice – it might affect the overall texture since it’s adding liquid to the dough.
I want to make these but need them to be gluten free. What flour substitute would you suggest?
These work great with any gluten-free 1:1 flour that has xantham gum in the mix.
I first heard about Lorann emulsions on this site. I’ve been wanting to try their “Princess Emulsion” flavor, so I made these cookies and subbed the Lorann emulsion 1:1 for the vanilla. The cookies were simple to make, the texture was perfect, and we all enjoyed the citrusy-nutty flavor of the emulsion.
I made these twice and they turned out so good! We went to a baseball game & my grandson bought some of these there called Birthday Cake Cookies & we all loved them.. I then made your recipe again and they taste the same as the chain cookie store for a lot less money! They all loved them. I LOVE all your recipes and am so happy you share with us
I tried this at Christmas time and absolutely love the recipe. I have made it 17 times since then. My family loves these cookies.
Omg these are so good!!! I couldn’t stop eating them lol
honestly, my go-to sugar cookie recipe. Always taste amazing with a great consistency!
These are delicious!! But now a question for future…..I made the cookie dough, scooped it into balls and froze it. How do I bake these? Can I bake from frozen or do I need to thaw first? If from frozen, do I bake at same temp as normal? Thanks!
Yes, you can bake from frozen. Just add 2-3 minutes onto the baking time (same temp).
YES!! With three kids I have no time to chill, roll and cut cookie dough. This recipe came prefect for me! I rolled the dough balls in cinnamon/sugar, and they taste amaaaazinggg!! Thank U so much!!
A winner every time!!
do you think these will be ok to frost with royal icing?
They are thinner and chewier than a traditional sugar cookie but you could try.
Super easy, turned out great! Everyone assumed they were purchased from a bakery. Perfectly chewy, buttery, and just sweet enough!
Amazing! And so easy!! No chilling, no rolling – yes, please! My kids couldn’t get enough – well, me either but I had to restrain myself. I even realized I didn’t have enough AP flour and ended up using 2/3 bread flour and they turned out fantastic. Thanks for a great recipe!
Question. I used a scale to measure the flour and I used exactly 355 grams as the recipe states. They taste amazing, but they did not flatten or crack. I used real butter set on the counter to soften for about 4 hours. My egg was from the refrigerator, should I have brought it to room temperature before adding? Any other suggestions?
Hi Lee, using a room temperature egg might help…what was the consistency of the softened butter? Could it easily dent if pressed with a finger? Also, what elevation do you live at? If you want to try these cookies again, try reducing the flour to about 320 grams and see if that helps.
Do you reduce flour for higher elevation?
You can google high elevation tips for baking…that might help best!
I tried the SOFT AND CHEWY DROP SUGAR COOKIES
recipe, and it turned out very good! My kid loves it.
I make these every Valentine’s Day and frost with pink cinnamon flavored frosting for my grown grandchildren.
Oh how I wish my wife were still alive as she spent hours rolling sugar cookies and these taste even better. Since I just make them round why go to all of the work?
My question is since I have made these several times mine do not crack on the top. The only change I make is I use 1 tablespoon of home made vanilla and I chill the dough. Any ideas?
Hi Jim, I’m sorry for the loss of your wife. I’d like to think she’d love these cookies. As for the cracks, I’d suggest trying them without chilling the dough. That should help.
Thanks Mel, I am sure she would.
May I ask what would happen if I did not put vanilla in the cookies?
The flavor of the cookies will change without the vanilla (vanilla adds depth of flavor to baked goods).
chewy and sweet with a hit of salt at the end! OMG, heaven in a cookie!
I made these yesterday for a get together and they were a hit. I’ll be using it again for sure
My cookies turned out well but didn’t thin out as much as yours — do you think my butter was too warm ??
Initially I put the butter in the microwave for I thought 10 seconds on low to soften. I came back a minute later and the microwave was still going! So I ended up with a pool of butter that I then had to harden in the freezer. Then soften again in the microwave it did seem a little on the soft side still when I mixed up the batter
Hi Jacelyn – did your cookies stay puffy instead of flattening? If so, it’s likely not the butter…but it could be that the flour was over measured a bit. If you cut down on the flour by 1/4 cup or so, that might help. Everyone measures flour a bit differently which can lead to cookies flattening too much or not enough. I usually fluff the flour in the bin really well and then scoop in the cup and level off.
Ummm SO GOOD
However, it definitely matters what TYPE of sprinkles you use.
While I usually LOATHE nonpareils (the little hard balls) for decorating, they are AWESOME when baked into the crust of the cookie.
Traditional rainbow Sprinkles are way too soft and don’t add good texture to the final cookie.
Colored sanding sugar is nice, but the nonpareils are top notch.
Yummy cookies. My oven is broken so I baked these in my air fryer- the “bake” setting, at 325 for 7 minutes made a perfect cookie.
I made this recipe, I made a few changes because my teenage son and I were being fancy.
We added a little extra vanilla and chilled our dough a bit
used “citrus sugar” (just the zest of a large orange in a half cup of sugar) to roll the cookies in after scooping.
Thank you so very much for giving me a solid base to allow me to be creative!
Delicious … I made these big just cooked for 5 mins longer .. were just lovely!
Delicious … definitely making these again!!!
Greetings! Would this receipe work if I shape the dough into balls and then press a pattern into it, flattening to about 1/4 inch thick?
I think the dough might be too soft to keep a printed shape or pattern while it bakes.
Delicious but they did not spread the way I hoped. I had to press them down with the bottom of a measuring cup. Maybe I added a tad too much flour when measuring?
That might have been the case – too much flour will cause the cookies not to spread very well while baking.
best sugar cookie recipe ever!
Hi! I was wanting to make these but with a strawberry flavor and was wondering if adding abt 2 tablespoons or so of strawberry jam would throw off the proportions?
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it – I think the jam may get “lost” in the cookie dough. I’m not sure that’s enough to lend a strong strawberry flavor. You might try blended up freeze-dried strawberries? If using more than 1/2 cup, I’d probably reduce the flour just a bit.
I was on the hunt for an easy and relatively quick sugar cookie that wouldn’t disappoint on texture and taste.
This recipe seemed to fit the bill, so I whipped up a batch… Oh my goodness! So good! They are delicious and the texture is wonderful. I rolled them in sugar crystal sprinkles before baking and they made the most wonderful, wintery looking sugar cookies with barely any work! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I wouldn’t feed these cookies to my dog.
You obviously cant follow a recipe then. These are outstanding. Ive made them 100’s of times…
Nowhere in this recipe did the author recommend feeding these to your dog, so good for you on following directions. 😉
These cookies are wonderful. Though your dog didn’t get to enjoy them, I hope your family did!
best ever!!!!!
I love this recipe! Soft, chewy, delicious, easy. Can’t get any better than that. I highly recommend this recipe.
Love these cookies
Your recipe calls for 2-1/2 cups of AP flour with the weight listed as 355g. I’m wondering if 355g is by chance an error?
I use King Arthur’s AP flour, and 2-1/2 cups weigh just 300g (120g per cup).
Hi Phil, no it is not an error. I test all my recipes using 142 grams of flour per cup. Different recipe sites may test their recipes using different weights per cup, which is why it’s important to use the weight listed in any given recipe since it has been tested with that particular amount.
Thank you for clarifying that the weight listed is in fact correct.
Looking forward to trying your recipe.
Best I have ever made so much good buttery flavor . This recipe is a keeper
Hi! Hope this isn’t too silly of a question. Can my kids decorate these cookies after baking and cooling? I’ve looked everywhere for a good drop sugar cookie as I didn’t want to use cookie cutters and came across this well reviewed recipe. Thanks in advance!
Not yet…I left a question about decorating after cooled. Thank you! This recipe and reviews are great so I wanted to make them today.
Hi Pat, the cookies are a bit thin, but I don’t see why they couldn’t still decorate them!
The best sugar cookies I have ever tasted. Seriously so good. I make these more often than I care to admit to! I usually add an extra teaspoon of vanilla but I’ve also added a bit of almond extract before with delicious results.
LOVED THESE! Easy to make. The extra vanilla in this recipe pops that flavor. I did chill my dough for about 2 hours. I still rolled them in sanding sugar after chilling and they turned out beautifully covered! Perfectly chewy with a nice outer crunch. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 9 dozen 2.5″ cookies!
Omgoodness, these are SO delicious!
My husband was leaving on a camping trip and I wanted to make an easy dessert for him to take and share with his buddies.
He said I need to triple the batch, as they didn’t last long! Thank you!!
Would these cookies work as cookie sandwiches with frosting in middle?
Yes, I think so!
Oh my gosh, sandwich cookies would be amazing.
Wow!!! These cookies are FANTASTIC. I could eat a whole batch by myself. I used freshly milled soft wheat berries for my flour. It’s a good thing there was the flour’s weight listed in the ingredients list, as this aids with consistent results over numerous batches. I think these cookies are perfectly, lightly sweet and don’t require rolling into additional sugar. The trick to getting perfect cookies with freshly milled flour is to let the dough rest for 5 minutes after mixing, so the flour can properly absorb all the moisture before baking.
These cookies are fabulous! I didn’t change anything about the recipe.
This recipe was super delicious!! But for some reason my cookies never flatten do you know the reason why?
Hi Katlyn – how do you measure your flour? Usually if cookies aren’t flattening, the solution is to add a bit less flour
This is by far the best sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever come across! They baked perfectly, even with crinkled tops. My daughters both gave them the title of best cookies ever