Super Soft Sugar Cookies (2024)

These no-fail soft and chewy Sugar Cookies are my all-time favorite, made with simple ingredients and easy to decorate for any holiday or party! Top them with cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting.

I am pretty particular about my sugar cookies, and I only enjoy them thick, soft, chewy, and frosted! This recipe is the BEST!

You’ll notice I use shortening instead of butter in my sugar cookies, and that is because I’ve tested them both ways and found that shortening yields a much softer cookie, that doesn’t get hard after cooling and storing. They last longer and freeze beautifully. You can substitute butter if you want, but the results will not be quite the same.

How to make Sugar Cookies:

• In a mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar.Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix.
• In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients–(flour, baking powder, and salt). Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet mixture until you form a large dough ball. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
• Lightly flour your counter top. Roll dough ball out to ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. Cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters (or use a round drinking cup).
• Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.

• Bake at 350 degrees F for about 8-11 minutes. Cookies will be very light colored and just set (not shiny on top), when you take them out. They will harden as they cool, so don’t over bake them.

Pro Tips:

Roll the cookies out thick– at least ½ inch.

If you roll them out too thin then they are more likely to over-bake and harden as they cool. No one likes a hard, dry sugar cookies!

Don’t over-bake them.

If you wait to see golden brown along the edges like you would with other types of cookies, they will be overcooked! Look for them to be just set on the top, no longer shiny, but still pale. They will set up and harden as they cool.

Frost them:

Use buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting and color the frosting different colors with food coloring. Use different cookie cutters and colored sprinkles to decorate for holidays like Christmas or Valentine’s Day.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

Sugar cookies will last for 3-5 days stored in an air-tight container at room temperature unfrosted, or refrigerate if frosted.

You can freeze sugar cookies with or without frosting for up to 3 months. If frosted, flash freeze them for 30 minutes and then add them to an airtight container, with parchment paper between the stacked layers and return to freezer.

Sugar cookie dough can also be frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the freezer about 2 hours ahead of time to allow it to soften enough to roll out.

FOLLOW MEonFACEBOOK,TWITTER,INSTAGRAM andPINTERESTfor more great recipes!

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated December 2020.

This post contains affiliate links.