Simple Sugar Cookies

Simple sugar cookies are a tender, buttery base for decorating or eating plain. The dough comes together quickly and rolls out easy, baking to edges that are just set while the centers stay soft. Room-temperature butter and careful measuring make them consistent every time.

Ingredients for Simple Sugar Cookies

Butter creams with sugar to trap air and keep the dough tender. Granulated sugar sweetens and helps the cookies spread slightly for even baking. Egg binds the dough and carries vanilla flavor throughout. Vanilla extract adds warmth and depth. All-purpose flour gives structure without making them tough. Baking powder lifts the cookies so they bake through evenly. Salt balances sweetness and strengthens the vanilla.

Why This Simple Sugar Cookies Works

Creaming soft butter with sugar incorporates air, which helps the cookies rise gently in the oven and gives them a tender crumb. The dough stays workable at room temperature, so you can roll it out and cut shapes without chilling for hours.

Baking powder does the work of leavening, so you get an even lift across the whole batch. The egg is just enough to bind everything without making the dough sticky or the cookies cake-like. A modest amount of flour keeps them tender instead of tough.

The cookies bake at a moderate temperature until the edges set and pale golden but the centers still look slightly underbaked. They continue to firm up as they cool on the pan, so you pull them off at the right moment without overbaking.

Mistakes To Avoid

Melted or warm butter mixes into the dough without trapping air, so the cookies spread thin and bake flat instead of staying tender and slightly puffy. Bring butter to room temperature by leaving it on the counter for 30 minutes, not by microwaving it.

Overmixing the dough after you add flour makes gluten develop, turning the cookies tough and chewy instead of tender. Mix just until the flour disappears, then stop.

Baking too long or at too high a temperature dries out the centers and makes the edges hard and brittle. Watch the clock carefully and trust the visual cue: the edges should be pale gold, not tan or brown.

Cutting warm cookies breaks them apart instead of giving clean edges. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before decorating or storing.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Step-by-step Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl once.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed for 1 minute until the mixture is pale and smooth.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir on low speed until the flour just disappears, about 30 seconds. Do not overmix.
6. Divide the dough in half. Roll one half between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Refrigerate for 5 minutes if the dough is too soft to cut cleanly.
7. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough.
8. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are pale gold and the centers look set but not browned. The cookies should not look wet in the middle.
9. Remove the pans from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 2 minutes.
10. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before decorating or storing, about 15 minutes.