Why choose between cookies that are chewy, and cookies that are soft? Our Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies deliver both textures in one delicious sweet treat that will earn a spot in your regular baking rotation.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Soft Sugar Cookies
- Tips for the Best Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
- How to Serve Chewy Sugar Cookies
- How to Store and Freeze Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More of Our Best Baking Recipes
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe
This recipe is…
Every baker needs a stellar recipe for sugar cookies in their back pocket. And while some people like their cookies to be pillowy soft – and others prefer a more texture – this crowd-pleasing version has a delicious, dual texture that will make everyone happy.
In fact, the recipe development team at Fed and Fit tested and tweaked these cookies no less than 13 times (!!!) before we finally reached sugar cookie nirvana. In addition to the ideal chewy-soft texture, we used a SECRET ingredient to give these cookies the perfect richness (keep reading to find out what it is), and tasty vanilla flavor.
Looking for more classic cookie recipes to sate your sweet tooth? Once you’ve baked up a batch of our best sugar cookies, try our Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies, 3-ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Brownie Cookies, and Paleo Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies too!
Why You’ll Love This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Sorry to boast…but we may have just achieved sugar cookie perfection!
- Out of the oven in about 30 minutes start-to-finish
- A classic sugar cookie recipe you’ll want to make again and again
Sugar Cookie Recipe Ingredients
This recipe calls for all of the basic baking ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen already, and also for a secret, key-to-a-chewy-cookie ingredient that we’re really excited about! While we kept these cookies frosting-free, feel free to add your favorite icing (or even sprinkles!) if you wish. Here’s what you’ll need to add to your grocery list. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Gluten-Free Flour – for this recipe, you’ll need 3 cups of gluten-free flour. We always use King Arthur Measure for Measure for our gluten-free baked goods!
- Baking Powder – you’ll also need a few basic baking ingredients here: 1 teaspoon of baking powder,…
- Baking Soda – …a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda,…
- Sea Salt – …a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, and…
- Butter – …1 cup of softened butter.
- Cream Cheese – ah, our mystery ingredient! 2 ounces (or 3 tablespoons) of softened (room temperature) cream cheese makes these cookies chewy and delightful.
- Sugar – what is a sugar cookie without sugar?! For this recipe, we’ll use 1 1/2 cups white sugar, plus another ½ cup for rolling the dough in.
- Vanilla Extract – finally, you’ll need 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and…
- Egg – 2 eggs to finish everything off!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Dress ‘em up – we love these sweet sugar cookies on their own. But if you’d like to make them a little bit fancier, feel free to add your favorite icing – with or without colorful sanding sugar or sprinkles!
How to Make Soft Sugar Cookies
This easy sugar cookie recipe is totally fuss-free and simple enough for anyone (no matter your baking experience) to pull off! Here’s what you’ll need to do (step-by-ste!) to whip these tasty treats.
Step 1: First, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Step 2: Add the butter, cream cheese, and ¾ cup of sugar to a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer for about one minute, until fluffy and fully combined.
Step 3: To the bowl with the butter mixture, add the vanilla extract and egg, and mix for about 30 seconds, until fully incorporated, then add in the flour mixture a ½ cup at a time, mixing constantly (and scraping the sides of bowl as needed), until the dough is formed.
Step 4: Once your dough is formed, stick it in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour, or up to overnight.
Step 5: When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop out the dough by the heaping tablespoon and roll into a ball, then roll each ball in sugar and place 12 dough balls on each prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have puffed up and just started to brown. Let your cookies cool on a cooling rack or right on the baking sheet, frost if you’d like, and then enjoy!
Tips for the Best Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
The best gluten-free flour – our favorite is King Arthur’s Measure for Measure flour, hands down. After sampling many options, we had the best results with this brand, and didn’t have any problems with our dough spreading.
Chill out! – while it may be tempting to skip the step of chilling your cookie dough to get that cookie dough in the oven sooner, don’t skip this step! Chilling the dough makes the dough cook a little more slowly, which prevents the dough from spreading too much.
How to Serve Chewy Sugar Cookies
Serve these cute cookies warm from the oven, or at room temp.
We think they’re pretty perfect on their own, but you could add a frosting or icing or your choice if you’d like. You can even add some colorful sprinkles or sanding sugar too!
How to Store and Freeze Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
These cookies will stay fresh, chewy, and delicious for 4-5 days (we bet they won’t last that long though!) if stored in an airtight container on the counter.
Alternatively, feel free to freeze a batch of cookies if you’d like them to last longer. Simply pull one (or two!) out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave for 30-second increments until warmed through, and then enjoy whenever your sweet tooth strikes!
Frequently Asked Questions
These sugar cookies are the absolute best because of two things – the texture and the taste. Texture-wise, they’re chewy and soft (which is my personal cookie texture preference), and taste-wise, they are EVERYTHING you want a sugar cookie to be: super-rich (due to our secret ingredient: cream cheese) with a mild vanilla flavor. They’re sugar cookie perfection, for sure.
First off: you don’t have to stress about making your cookies perfectly round…they’ll taste delicious regardless! But it is helpful when baking to make them fairly uniform in size so they bake evenly. Here, we recommend using a tablespoon to divvy up the dough into equal portions. (If you have a small cookie scoop, you could use that too.) Then roll the dough between your hands until you’ve got a fairly uniform ball. This will ensure both that your cookies look great, and that they bake at the same rate.
If you like sugar cookies with slightly crispy exteriors, don’t skip the step of this recipe where you roll the dough balls in sugar. As the dough melts and bakes, the sugar on the exterior will caramelize, forming a deliciously crispy crust.
More of Our Best Baking Recipes
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Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups 372 g gluten-free flour (we used King Arthur Measure for Measure)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup butter, 2 sticks or 16 tablespoons, softened
- 2 ounces or 3 tablespoons softened cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar to roll the dough in, optional
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
- Add the butter, cream cheese, and sugar to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for about one minute, until fluffy and fully combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and egg to the bowl with the butter and sugar and mix for about 30 seconds, until fully incorporated, then add in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing constantly, until the dough is formed.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop out the dough by the heaping tablespoon and roll into a ball, then roll each ball in sugar and place 12 dough balls on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have puffed up and just started to brown, then remove from the oven and let cool.
Nutrition
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Can you use regular flour instead of Gluten free?
Hi Lynn! Great question! Regular flour will work great in place of the gluten free flour!
Could these be rolled and cut into fun shapes for the kids?
I’m not sure if that would work with this recipe, Ashley, but it definitely would with THIS one!
Could Xmas sprinkles be added before baking for some fun or do you recommend after baking?
Either way, Estrella!
Would regular flour work here?
We haven’t tested with regular flour, but I think it should work great, Jen!