by Alyssa Rivers
Cut out homemade Sugar Cookies that have a crisp edge and the softest center! Topped with my favorite cream cheese frosting and sprinkles this is a tried and true family sugar cookie recipe! You will agree that they are the BEST!
Sugar Cookie Recipe
I sure do love sugar cookies! If a neighbor brings me over a plate of sugar cookies with frosting they will instantly become my new BFF. What is it about a fresh baked sugar cookie with frosting that is so delicious?
I have had a lot of sugar cookies in my day. Some are way to crisp and not soft enough on the inside. I love this recipe because it is the best of both worlds. A little crisp on the outside, but not too crisp, and they have the softest center! The edges don’t expand while baking and they come out looking in the perfect shape.
The recipe is a pretty basic and traditional sugar cookie recipe. The dough comes together in a matter of minutes. But I found that the secret to the best sugar cookie is added almond extract. The almond extract add such a rich and delicious almond flavor making them absolutely perfect.
How do you make sugar cookies?
- In a large bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy for about one minute. Add the sugar and continue to beat until creamy for about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and continue to beat until incorporated.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to the creamed mixture and continue to beat until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for one hour and can be chilled overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough out to desired thickness (mine were 1/4 inch thick) and cut with cookie cutters. Transfer to baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes or until just set. I like mine more soft so I cooked mine for 8 minutes. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until it is smooth and creamy. Frost cooled cookies.
Do I have to chill the sugar cookie dough?
The dough does require an hour of chilling time. So go change and fold some laundry or get caught up on a netflix show. 🙂 They are ready to be rolled out and cut into perfect and cute sugar cookies.
My kids love to help make sugar cookies and we loved spending some time in the kitchen making cookies together. We ate way to many cookies to count and had fun delivering them to friends.
How long do sugar cookies last after baking?
Store your cookies in an airtight container. They will last for up to a week.
These cookies are perfect for your Valentine’s Day festivities and are so good that you will want to make them throughout the year! This will become your favorite go to sugar cookie recipe that you will make again and again.
You are going to quickly agree that they are the best! Trust me. I made sure by eating at least 3! ?
Sugar Cookie Recipe
The Best Sugar Cookies Ever!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- food coloring if desired
Instructions
- In a large bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy for about one minute. Add the sugar and continue to beat until creamy for about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and continue to beat until incorporated.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to the creamed mixture and continue to beat until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for one hour and can be chilled overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough out to desired thickness (mine were 1/4 inch thick) and cut with cookie cutters. Transfer to baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes or until just set. I like mine more soft so I cooked mine for 8 minutes. Let cookies cool completely before frosting.
- To make the cream cheese frosting: Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until it is smooth and creamy. Frost cooled cookies.
Recipe Notes
Originally published 2016
these look so good!! Yummy!
SIMPLY ADORABLE!! Can you please share what brand the SPRINKLES are or what they are called? TIA! 🙂
They were in a multi pack of sprinkles with Valentine’s Day Colors. I got them from our local grocery store and they were Betty Crocker. I hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks so much for responding! They are the cutest! 🙂
How long do you think the dough will keep in the fridge/freezer?
Omg thank you so much for this recipe my family loved it! It was incredibly great❤❤?
How does this dough freeze?
How well does this dough freeze?
These look so good I can’t wait to try them! It says 3/4 cup sugar, is that granulated sugar or icing sugar. Sorry if question seems dumb but I’m new to baking cookies that you don’t just cut up from the store lol,
Thank you for the recipe! Turned out wonderful!
Omg the cookies tasted amazing. This is my new favorite recipe. I definitely give this a ?. Thank you so much.
That is great to hear! They are one of my favorites too! Can’t get enough of them! XOXO
Wonderful cookiesummer! How well does this dough freeze?
OMG I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! ITS SO DELICIOUS AND HAS THE PERFECT FLAVOR! I personally made royal icing to go on top and omg it was da bomb! Thanks so much!
That is SO great! I am so happy that you loved it! I love royal icing! Great idea! Thanks for sharing! XOXO
Can you stack the cookies after they’re frosted?
Not until the frosting is completely dry. Otherwise the frosting will get messed up.
Sugar cookie recipe
Do you use real butter?
Yes I do but I’m sure margarine would work,
Great recipe! I will say–this made an insane amount of icing. I made 3/4 of the recipe, knowing I don’t like thick icing. I used less than half of what I made. Thanks for the recipe! My daughter and I made these into christmas cookies.
Can you hold the sugar cookie dough in frig for a few days or should I freeze it?
Yes, of course! 2-3 days at the longest then you will want to freeze the dough. Hope that helps! XOXO
do i leave uncovered in frided or in a sealed container or wrapped ? im gonna wrap in tinfoil this time se how that works…this is first time i have made cookies from scratch 🙂
Maybe I missed it, but how many cookies will this recipe make?
About 24 cookies:)!
Do you use salted butter or unsalted? Thank you!
I prefer unsalted butter but salted butter will be great too in these cookies.
And do you let them cool on the baking sheet or transfer to wire racks for cooling? Thanks!
Yes, I let them cool on wire racks. Hope that helps! XOXO
very good, but you might want to add more flour
Hi, what type of sugar do you use ? White or caster sugar
I use white sugar! Enjoy your cookies! XOXO
Hello. I’m making these for the first time, and so far, so good. However, I won’t be frosting them until tomorrow, but I already made the frosting. Can I leave the frosting in the fridge overnight?
Yes, of course! Enjoy your cookies! XOXO
They were the best cookies I ever had
That is great to hear! Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO
IS there anything I can use instead of the almond extract (nut allergy)?
Vanilla will work too!
is it okay if i don’t use vanilla
Yes, of course! It just adds a great flavor. Almond extract is great to if you need a substitute.
HOW DO YOU GET THESE TO COME OUT CRISPY ALL THE WAY THROUGH—NOT SURE BUT I THINK MY MOM LEFT THEM IN THE REFRIG. OVERNIGHT AND THATS HOW I THINK THEY WERE SO CRISPY AND TASTED SO GOOD WITH COFFEE—WHAT TO DO???
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
RICHARD BRAGG
The refrigerator is okay to do. I would just recommend leaving them out to room temperature when getting ready to bake. You can lower the temperature on the over to 325* and cook for the same amount of time or cook them for a few minutes shorter and leave them on the cookie sheet until they have cooled. Hope that helps! XOXO
This has now become my go to sugar cookie recipe it’s absolutely delicious. So soft yet crispy. Look forward to trying out your other recipes.
Hi Lara!
Thanks for the comment. I am happy that you like the cookies! Thanks for following along with me and for your feedback! xoxo
Very good sugar cookie following recipe precisely. Mine needed more baking time to have a golden finish on the bottom, but still have a soft inside. About 12 minutes. Frosting was a huge waste producing 3X amount needed for basic (one color) frosting.
Typo 350 Fahrenheit not degrees. I burnt my first batch 🙁
Degrees can be referred to Celsius or Fahrenheit. If you bake a lot of cookies, you would know that 350 is referred to Fahrenheit.
UCan I substitute lemon extract or strawberry extract instead of almond extract?
Sounds great!
These sound excellent! Does the icing get hard enough that you can stack them? With cream cheese in the icing, do they need to be refrigerated?
It does once dried.
Hi Alyssa,
I have made a few of your recipes over time and they’re always a big hit with my family, so I’m excited to bake these cookies for Valentine’s Day! I just had a question about how to store them once they’re iced. Do they stay soft in the middle once stored in the refrigerator? Thanks 🙂
Once they are thawed they are still soft! So delicious!
May i use vanilla extract instead of almond?
Yes! That is delicious too!
Do you have to refrigerate the cookie once it’s frosted?
You can! I just store in an air tight container and they last a few days.
Truly my idea of the perfect sugar cookie.
Hey!!
These cookies are best!! I am glad that you like them!
Best ever
A question on the oven setting. Is the degrees celsius or fahrenheit? Also, is the oven on fan forced?
Fahrenheit and not on fan forced.
I just tried your recipe with my daughter and they are awesome. The taste and texture are perfect. Definitely will do these for her birthday party in July. Thank you for sharing.
Best sugar cookies ever!!!!!
To change it up, could you substitute lemon extract for the almond extract? If so, would you still use the vanilla?
These are also good with a small amount of fresh lemon zest added in:)
Thanks for sharing all your great stuff..
This is no doubt the BEST sugar cookie recipe!
I made them for family and friends and everyone loved it and can’t seem to get enough of them! I received tons of compliments of how amazing the cookies taste every time I make these, so I’m definitely keeping this recipe and will be making them on repeat. Thank you for this great recipe! xx
(For my nut allergy friends- I took out the almond extract and added another 1/2 tsp extra of vanilla extract just to get that rich vanilla cookie taste)
can i substitute anise for almond extract
Yes, that will be great!
This is the first time I made sugar cookies, Acually any kund of cookies my mom and sisters always baked and I was clean up These cookies turned out very well However I never made frosting I bought the philladelphia cream cheese frosting and used glitter sprinkles A huge hit
These are delicious, however there is about twice the icing you need. I would recommend making a double batch of the cookie dough for that amount of frosting as it really didn’t make that many cookies. My 4 year old granddaughter ate 3. Don’t tell mom!
When i am making sugar or short bread cookies . I take about two cups of icing sugar and sift it and when counter and rolling pin get sticky i dust them both with icing sugar
I have tried so many sugar cookie recipes over the years! I found this and used it for my son’s grad party, as well as a friend’s. This is PERFECT. I’ve also shared the recipe with a few others who asked for it after tasting the cookies, and it is now the go to for all of us.
Delicious. Refrigerated dough for half an hour. Very easy to roll out. Halved the frosting recipe and still had some left over. Will definitely make again.