These Chewy Sugar Cookies are perfectly soft bakery worthy cookies that are rolled in sugar and baked. A chewy center and slightly crispy edges make these cookies a surefire hit!
One thing that I think everyone needs in their recipe box is a good old sugar cookie recipe! Now I’m keen to these Chewy Sugar Cookies, I have always preferred my cookies chewy.
These cookies are exactly that. They have a delicious and delicate flavor that you get in each and every bite. Coated in sugar, you absolutely cannot go wrong with this recipe.
We have been making these for years. Now I do have some regular decorators sugar cookies on my site as well if you are more of the decorator, crispy cookie type, but these bad boys win them all for me.
I have come very keen on cookies over the years. Growing up I was never a fan because my mother and I had differences on how we liked our cookies and hers were always crispy.
So when I learned to start baking at a young age I decided to end that and make the type of cookies that I like, and low and behold they have become some of her favorite recipes!
These Chewy Sugar Cookies are good all year long, but we make them around the holidays mostly. I’m big on doing cookie exchanges and these are ones that are always included.
Everyone always asks for my recipe, so I figured it was high time that I also shared it with my readers! I really hope that you like it just as much as we do.
Some of our other favorite cookie recipes we have on our site include: Butter Pecan Cookies, Iced Oatmeal Cookies and Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- This makes a large batch of cookies, you can still double it as they store well or you can halve it.
- The rolling in sugar really sets these off with the flavor! So so delicious.
- Kids love helping with these cookies, they are basic and easy to make so they are perfect to get little hands on them.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
Sea salt
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Egg
Whole milk
Vanilla extract
Decorators sugar
HOW TO MAKE CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES, STEP BY STEP:
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper, set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth with an electric hand mixer.
- Add the egg and mix it in until combined.
- Add the milk and vanilla, stir it in until combined, scrape down the sides as needed.
- Lastly, add in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough onto the parchment-lined sheet tray. They can be close but not touching. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, but best if you can chill overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375ยฐF. Line sheet trays with parchment paper. Pour the decoratorโs sugar into a small bowl.
- Roll the cookie dough balls between your hands to form a smooth ball. Dip the tops of the dough balls into the decoratorโs sugar.
- Place them, sugar side up, onto the parchment-lined sheet trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
WHY DO I NEED TO LET MY COOKIES CHILL?
This is an important step that you do not want to skip with these Chewy Sugar Cookies. This helps the cookies from spreading.
Chilling cookie dough makes the fat more solid which in turn while it bakes the fat in the cookies melts slower letting the cookie stay thicker, and chewier.
This is one of the keys to the success in attaining your Chewy Sugar Cookies instead of having them crisp up and break apart.
WHAT MAKES THESE COOKIES CHEWY?
While I said above the chilling the dough helps the cookies stay thicker and chewy. But other factors go into it as well and that is the leavening agents.
You see a lot of recipes that either contain baking powder, baking soda or a combination of both like these do. When you combine both the two together you get a cookie that is not to thick or thin and just the right chew.
CAN I ADD OTHER EXTRACTS TO THESE COOKIES?
I consider this Chewy Sugar Cookie recipe a base sugar cookie recipe that you can add to. You are able to switch up the extracts to your liking and pretty much anything will work.
Some other extracts that we have used in these include almond (one of my favorite), butter, orange, lemon, etc. They really taste great with all of them honestly.
But a basic vanilla is what we went with with this one because we wanted to provide you with a nice basic Chewy Sugar Cookie recipe to have on hand for any occasion.
HOW TO STORE:
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag where they will keep for up to 4-5 days.
These can also be frozen! We love freezing cookies for later consumption. To freeze your cookies, let them cool and then place them in a freezer bag where they will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Let defrost on the countertop until soft and then devour!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- This makes a large batch, you can double it or halve it depending on what you are doing with the cookies.
- These are able to be frosted, frost with your favorite buttercream or icing.
- You can roll in sanding sugar instead of decorators sugar or no sugar at all.
- These need to be chilled, do not skip this step it is important for the outcome of these cookies.
- We use vanilla extract in these but almond works well too. Other extracts can be used also, see my tips above.
- This is a great base recipe for any cookies that you can build off of.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Roll these in sprinkles for the holidays instead of sugar!
If you want that perfect Christmas Cookie or just a good old soft cookie for any time of the year then you HAVE to make these Chewy Sugar Cookies!
If you like this recipe then you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ยพ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ยฝ cups granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- โ cup decorators sugar optional
Instructions
- Line a sheet tray with parchment paper, set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth with an electric hand mixer.
- Add the egg and mix it in until combined.
- Add the milk and vanilla, stir it in until combined, scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough onto the parchment-lined sheet tray. They can be close but not touching. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, but best if you can chill overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375ยฐF. Line sheet trays with parchment paper. Pour the decoratorโs sugar into a small bowl.
- Roll the cookie dough balls between your hands to form a smooth ball. Dip the tops of the dough balls into the decoratorโs sugar.
- Place them, sugar side up, onto the parchment-lined sheet trays about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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