Christmas dinner · adapted traditional recipe
Soft Sugar Cookies (No Chilling)
Soft, buttery drop-style sugar cookies rolled in sugar: no rolling pin, no cutters, no chilling. They freeze as dough or baked, which makes them the dessert you can finish before the week of Christmas.
An adaptation of a traditional recipe, written in our own words. Ovens vary, so go by the doneness signs as well as the times.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Makes
- 24 cookies (3 per person for 8)
Ingredients
- 3 cupsall-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tspbaking powder
- ½ tspbaking soda
- ¾ tspsalt
- 1 cupunsalted butter, 2 sticks, softened
- 1 cupgranulated sugar
- ½ cuppowdered sugar
- 1large egg
- 2 tspvanilla extract
- ¼ cupgranulated sugar, for rolling
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment.
- 2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
- 3
In another bowl beat the butter with the granulated and powdered sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- 4
Stir in the dry ingredients on low speed just until no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
- 5
Scoop portions of about 1½ oz (a heaping 2-tablespoon scoop), roll into balls and roll each ball in the sugar for rolling. Place 2 inches apart on the sheets.
- 6
Flatten each ball gently with the bottom of a glass. Bake 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and barely golden and the centers still look soft.
- 7
Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Frost or decorate once completely cool.
How to know it is done
The edges are set and pale gold while the tops still look slightly underdone. They firm up as they cool.
Make ahead
Roll the dough balls (without flattening), freeze them on a tray and then in a bag for up to 3 months; bake from frozen with 1 to 2 extra minutes. Baked cookies keep 5 days in a tin and freeze up to 3 months; decorate after thawing.
Storing and freezing
Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 5 days with a piece of bread to keep them soft, or freeze.
Tips
- Spoon the flour into the cup and level it off: scooping packs in up to 25% more and makes dry cookies.
- Pull them out while the middles look underdone; overbaking is the usual cause of hard sugar cookies.
- Use the same size scoop for every cookie so they bake evenly.
Allergens
- Wheat/gluten
- Egg
- Milk (butter)
Always check the labels of the products you buy.
Questions
Can sugar cookies be made ahead and frozen?
Yes. Freeze the unbaked dough balls for up to 3 months and bake from frozen, adding a minute or two. Baked cookies also freeze well for about 3 months: thaw them at room temperature before icing.
Why did my sugar cookies spread?
Usually the butter was too soft or the dough too warm, or too little flour. Use butter that is cool and just soft enough to dent, and if the dough feels greasy, chill it 20 minutes.
Why are my sugar cookies dry or hard?
Too much flour (from scooping straight from the bag) or too much time in the oven. Spoon and level the flour and take them out while the centers look slightly soft.
Do these need to be chilled?
No. Because they are scooped and rolled in sugar rather than cut out, you can bake right away. If your kitchen is very warm, 20 minutes in the fridge helps.