This sugar cookie recipe makes soft and chewy cut out cookies that keep their shape. Perfect for your traditional cookie decorating day, these healthier sugar cookies with a simple icing are just sweet enough, and pair with other holiday favorites like Candy Cane Cookies and Snickerdoodles.
Decorating sugar Christmas cookies wasn’t a tradition in my family growing up.
We made Chocolate Chip Cookies for sure, and even Brownies, but setting a day aside to specifically make and decorate sugar cookies just didn’t happen in our house.
My step-mom, though, started this tradition with my own kids when they were barely old enough to walk.
My step-mom now lives with Jesus, so it’s up to me to carry on her tradition of making my own healthier sugar cookies with the kids.
WHY MAKE HOMEMADE SUGAR COOKIES
I love making these easy sugar cookies because they’re:
- Healthier. These are low sugar cookies, meaning they are made with less sugar, yet they are as delicious as the classic sugar cookie recipe.
- Versatile. This healthier sugar cookie recipe can be made any time of the year – not just for Christmas!
- Fast. I know some recipes call for overnight chilling. I promise that if I had to make the dough YESTERDAY, cookies aren’t happening.
- Short ingredient list. Some recipes have a VERY long list of ingredients. The basic essentials of any cookie recipe are flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, and salt… if the ingredient list is any longer than that, then I’m looking for a different recipe.
BEST SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE INGREDIENTS
For the cookies:
- Flour. I tested this sugar cookies recipe using 100% all-purpose, 100% whole wheat and every combination in between. My favorite, and what I suggest using, is 100% all-purpose flour (I like this brand).
- Sugar. When I choose to use sugar in recipes, I like to use Turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is less processed than traditional granulated sugar, and still tastes great!
- Unsalted Butter. Sugar cookies need butter for the rich flavor and creamy texture. Use room temperature butter for the best results.
- Vanilla Extract. Classic sugar cookies need a touch of vanilla to give them their flavor. You can make a bottle of Homemade Vanilla Extract or use one of these vanilla substitutes. Almond extract also works in a pinch.
- Eggs. There are ways to substitute eggs in a lot of recipes, but this chewy cookie recipe needs regular eggs to help hold everything together.
- Salt. Just a pinch of salt helps bring out the sweetness of the other ingredients. Omit if you use salted butter.
- Baking Powder. For just a bit of lift, so we don’t end up with flat, chewy cookies.
For the icing:
- Powdered Sugar. Did you know you can make your own powdered sugar? Use this tutorial!
- Vanilla Extract. Vanilla, of course, is used to give the icing the classic sugar cookie flavor!
- Whole Milk. I would say you can substitute other types of milk, but you won’t get the same consistency as whole milk. Keep that in mind if you don’t have whole milk on hand.
- Salt. Again, a pinch to complement the other flavors.
Psst…Did you know that many salts contain MICROPLASTICS? It’s a sneaky toxin that may be in your everyday salt, and thus your everyday food (um, gross). I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because their salt is FREE of microplastics, and it tastes delicious! (PLUS, you can get your own penny bag of salt on this page!)
HOW TO MAKE SUGAR COOKIES
Step 1: In a bowl of a stand mixer OR using a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the sugar and butter until it is very light in color, about 5-10 minutes.
Step 2: Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
Step 3: Add 1 cup of the flour, the salt, and baking powder and mix on low. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough is no longer crumbly and starts to stick together, possibly cleaning the sides of the bowl.
Step 4: Wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Step 5: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F and line a large cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Step 6: When the dough is chilled, lightly flour a Silpat mat (or your working surface) and place your dough on top of the flour, sliding it around slightly in the flour so that the underside is lightly coated. Take the same plastic wrap that the dough was wrapped in, unroll it, and place it on top.
Step 7: Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to either ⅜″ thick for thicker, chewy, bakery-style cookies OR roll it out to ¼” thick for classic sugar cookies.
Step 8: Use the cookie cutters to cut your desired shapes. Place the shapes on the lined baking sheet, leaving 1” of space between each cookie.
Step 9: Knead the scraps together and repeat the previous two steps until all the dough has been cut.
Step 10: Bake the cookies for 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 1-2 minutes more, just until the edges are barely golden brown. They might seem under-baked, but they’re not!
Step 11: Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes. Carefully move the cookies from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Sugar Cookie Recipe Frosting Instructions
Step 1: Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 3 tsp of whole milk in a small bowl.
Step 2: Use your arm muscles to whisk very well until the icing is smooth and makes thick ribbons when you hold the whisk up from the bowl.
Step 3: Add the last teaspoon of milk if the icing is too thick.
Step 4: Either pipe the icing onto the cookies, use a butter knife to spread the icing, or use a wet finger to smooth the icing over the cookies.
Step 5: Let the cookies dry at room temperate for at least 2 hours before stacking.
Step 6: Store cookies in a container with a lid for up to one week.
TIPS FOR USING LESS SUGAR IN SUGAR COOKIES
If you are making strides to reduce sugar, here are some guidelines:
- If you’re used to a very sweet sugar cookie recipe, I suggest making a batch with ½ cup of sugar. Ice and decorate as you normally do. These will be sweet for sure, and I promise you won’t notice the reduced sugar.
- If you’re used to baking with less sugar, I suggest keeping the ⅓ cup sugar. This alone will make a delicious sugar cookie that is just barely sweet. You can decorate if you want, but you will certainly notice the higher level of sweetness if you use a lot of icing or a super sweet icing.
- If you’re used to eating less sweet foods AND you want to decorate the cookie, I suggest reducing the sugar to ¼ cup. You’ll end up baking a cookie whose sweetness comes mainly from the icing, which you can control even more to adjust the level of sweetness.
- I do not recommend using maple syrup or honey in place of sugar for this recipe. Using a liquid sweetener will result in a difficult dough to work with.
QUICK EASY SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE TIPS
If you want these easy sugar cookies to resemble those thick sugar cookies you can get at the grocery store bakery, roll them out to ⅜” thick. These will make a deliciously chewy and AMAZING cookie. If you want them a bit thinner, aim for ¼” thick.
This sugar cookie recipe makes just enough cookies to enjoy over a few days. If you have extras, or you make a double batch for extra decorating fun, store the cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Flash freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet, and then store in a freezer bag.
SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE FAQS
Do you have to chill sugar cookie dough?
Yes. Even if all you have is 30 minutes to chill the sugar cookie dough, do it! If you don’t chill the dough, it will spread out too fast in the oven and they will taste doughy rather than chewy.
Why are my sugar cookies so dense?
Too much flour may be to blame. Other possibilities include butter that was too soft, or baking powder that was old or expired.
Do you decorate Christmas cookies before or after baking?
Decorate your sugar cookies with icing after they are baked and cooled completely. If you want to skip the icing, but still add sprinkles, you can add those on top of the sugar cookie dough after cutting the shapes but before baking. They will stick to the wet batter and stay on the cookies once they are baked.
Can you freeze homemade sugar cookies?
Yes. First, freeze the sugar cookies separately on a cookie sheet, then store them in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer. To thaw, leave them in the container on the countertop at room temperature for around 2 hours before enjoying them.
Can I make this sugar cookie recipe gluten free?
I haven’t tried making this particular sugar cookie recipe with gluten free flour, but I would suggest using your favorite 1-to-1 gluten free flour mix.
Will this recipe work with cookie stamps? Or is the consistency too crumbly for defined cookie stamps?
This will work for cookie stamps! Once it’s chilled and you roll it out, you’ll find that the dough isn’t too crumbly to stamp.
NOTES ON TOOLS AND SUPPLIES FOR HOMEMADE SUGAR COOKIES
Something else I’ve learned over the years is that kitchen tools make cooking EASY and enjoyable. I don’t own a lot of tools, but what I do own, I often use and love. For this recipe, in particular, I used:
- KitchenAid Mixer (plus here’s a post on 30+ Creative Ways to Use a KitchenAid Mixer)
- Parchment Paper (buy what you need now, then watch out for sales after the holidays and stock up for the year!)
- Plastic Wrap
- Silpat Mats (You can bake on these too, but they’re great for rolling out dough and keeping the counters clean.)
- Cookie Cutters (I have a few sets, but I used this set for this sugar cookie recipe)
- Large Cookie Sheet (I used to have several smaller ones, but have invested in a few larger ones over the years instead.)
- Cooling Rack (I use these for cooling cookies of course, but also when flash-freezing foods and need to stack cookie sheets on top of each other!)
MORE SIMPLE COOKIE RECIPES
- Easy Candy Cane Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Healthy Thumbprint Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Healthier Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Healthier Sugar Cookies
This sugar cookie recipe makes soft and chewy cut out cookies that keep their shape. Perfect for your traditional cookie decorating day, these healthier sugar cookies with a simple icing are just sweet enough, and pair with other holiday favorites like Candy Cane Cookies and Snickerdoodles.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 47 minutes
- Yield: 14–19 iced cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Cookies
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (I used Turbinado)
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups flour (I used all-purpose)
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ tsp + ⅛ tsp baking powder
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar (make your own)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
- 3–4 tsp whole milk
Instructions
Make the Cookies:
- In a bowl of a stand mixer OR using a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the sugar and butter until it is very light in color, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Add 1 cup of the flour, salt, and baking powder and turn on low. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough is no longer crumbly and starts to stick together, possibly cleaning the sides of the bowl.
- Wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F and line a large cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- When the dough is chilled, lightly flour a Silpat mat (or your working surface) and place your dough on top of the flour, sliding it around slightly in the flour so that the underside is lightly coated. Take the same plastic wrap that it was wrapped in, unroll it, and place it on top.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to either ⅜” thick for thicker, chewy, bakery-style cookies OR roll it out to ¼” thick for classic sugar cookies.
- Use the cookie cutters to cut your desired shapes. Place the shapes on the cookie sheet, leaving 1” of space between each cookie.
- Knead the scraps together and repeat the previous two steps until all the dough has been cut.
- Bake the cookies for 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 1-2 minutes more, just until the edges are barely golden brown. They might seem underbaked, but they’re not!
- When they’re done, remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Carefully move the cookies from the pan to the cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
Ice the Cookies:
- Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and 3 tsp of whole milk in a small bowl.
- Use your arm muscles to whisk very well until the icing is smooth and makes thick ribbons when you hold the whisk up from the bowl.
- Add the last teaspoon of milk if the icing is too thick.
- Either pipe the icing onto the cookies, use a butter knife to spread the icing, or use a wet finger to smooth the icing over the cookies.
- Let the cookies dry at room temperate for at least 2 hours before stacking.
- Store cookies in a container with a lid for up to one week.
Notes
- If you’re used to very sweet sugar cookies recipes, I suggest making a batch with ½ cup of sugar. Ice and decorate as you normally do. These will be sweet for sure, and I promise you won’t notice the reduced sugar.
- If you’re used to baking with less sugar, I suggest keeping the recipe as written, with ⅓ cup sugar. This alone will make a delicious sugar cookie that is just barely sweet. You can decorate if you want, but you will certainly notice the higher level of sweetness if you use a lot of icing or a super sweet icing.
- If you’re used to eating fewer sweet foods AND you want to decorate the cookie, I suggest reducing the sugar in the cookies to ¼ cup. You’ll end up baking a cookie whose sweetness comes mainly from the icing, which you can control even more to adjust the level of sweetness.
- I do not recommend using maple syrup or honey in place of sugar for this recipe. Using a liquid sweetener will result in a difficult dough to work with.
Nutrition
- Calories: 113
Will this recipe work with cookie stamps? Or is the consistency too crumbly for defined cookie stamps? Thanks
Hi Brenda,
This recipe will work for cookie stamps! Once it’s chilled and you roll it out, you’ll find that the dough isn’t too crumbly to stamp.
hi..
if using whole wheat flour would the Measurment be the same?
Hi Kerri,
Yes, the measurement would be the same. I, however, prefer this recipe with all-purpose rather than whole wheat flour. Hope this helps!
Tips for making portions of this recipe days in advance? How long can the dough be left in the fridge before rolling out, and how long can the frosting be refrigerated prior to use? Thanks so much and happy holidays to you! 🙂
Hi Emily!
The dough can be refrigerated (be sure it is well-wrapped) for three to five days before baking. I’d refrigerate the frosting for a day or two in advance, tightly sealed. Happy Holidays to you too, Emily!!! 🙂
Can you make this with unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk?
Hi Brooke!
Yes, you can use unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk for this recipe. Thank you for posting. 🙂
The cookies are delicate, light and not very sweet. For icing I mix turbinado sugar and starch instead of powder sugar with vanilla and whole milk with no salt. It tastes so good!
Thank you
My 3 years old daughter helped me make it.
That’s awesome that you got your daughter involved Keecha! So glad you liked it.
I accidentally posted my comment as a reply above and couldn’t see a way to edit it. Sorry for the duplicate post but didn’t want it to be missed! TIA!
The link for the flour isn’t working, which flour do you use? I saw on other posts that your husband and daughter are gluten intolerant. On your recipes that call for all purpose flour, do they just not eat those recipes, or do you sub gluten free or einkorn flour for them?
I just made these with GF self raising flour but omitted the baking soda. They were AMAZING.
Sounds delicious Sharni! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Deeanna, Try this link for the flour -> https://amzn.to/2NxwSQA. The 3 links to the flour in the article are working when we test it. It’s an Amazon link. Are you logged into Amazon on the browser you’re reading from or have the Amazon app on your phone?
You can totally try this with gluten free flour or einkorn. It might change the texture slightly but they’re still delicious!
Great recipe! Easy to make and the cookies have a wonderful taste! Thank you!
These were exactly what I was looking for! Not insanely sweet like most sugar cookies but still something both the adults and kids enjoyed. I followed the recipe to the T (including using turbinado). At first I was worried since Turbinado granules are so much bigger than regular white sugar so it doesn’t blend, even after cooking. But. it tasted so great! Also – the frosting made the EXACT amount somehow. It was magical all around. Thank you for sharing!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your experience!
These are great! Just a note, 3/8” is thicker than 1/4” 😉
Thank you for the note Alice, the fractions must have been mixed up.
Does this icing work well with a natural food coloring? Trying to make cleaner Christmas cookies 🙂
I have not tried it but I don’t see why not.
Tried these out today and used almond extract instead of vanilla for a twist! Lovely cookie and easy recipe, I appreciate the attention to a “cleaner” cookie!
Perfect texture. Perfect taste. A big hit in my house!! We made ours with organic Turbinado sugar and yep…absolutely amazing!
Ilene, I am so glad your family likes this recipe!
These look absolutely amazing! Do you know the calories in a serving by any chance?
Hi Arianna,
I’m sorry, but we do not list calories for our recipes. But there are plenty of apps online that will give you the calories by entering the recipe. Hope this helps. Thank you for the question. 🙂
Hi! I was wondering if these cookies will still be sweet enough to eat by themselves, or will you have to put icing on them?
Personally, I think these are “just sweet enough” w/o any icing. The kids enjoy them too, but (being kids, lol), they like the icing. If you want a sweeter cookie w/o icing, I’d increase the sugar to 1/2 cup.
My kids love sweet icing so much, but they adore these cookies without icing. My hubby hates sweet, and he loves these too. They’re perfect for everyone.
Thank you for sharing your experience Sharni!
I made these yesterday for my grandchildren. We all loved them. I followed your recipe and they were sweet enough and so light. Yummy! Thanks. It will be on my go to list for cookies now.
My mom and I have made these two Christmas’s in a row now and are OBSESSED! The texture is perfect, and they are not too sweet. Easy to make and a crowd-pleaser!
Aw, that’s the highest compliment possible. Thank you Leah!
Can sprinkles be added right after icing to decorate? Wondering how much time it takes to set up…thanks!
Yes! The icing sets up pretty fast IMO, so I’d ice and sprinkle and let them sit about 10-15 min!
Can this recipe be doubled?
Absolutely!
Have you tried oat milk as a substitute for whole milk? Oatly’s oat milk is thick, rich and creamy. To me it is very similar to whole milk unlike most other alternatives. Oatly makes a full fat oat milk version as well which is very think and creamy. You should try it if you haven’t yet. Consider testing it with this recipe as well. The Oatly brand is the best oat milk I’ve had. I don’t care much for the Aldi’s grocery store brand in comparison.
I did this recipe for Halloween. Jack o lantern cut outs. I didn’t even chill it. I used g f flour, and rolled it between parchment paper. My 5 year old niece loved it! They came out so good. Love this recipe!
Will using Lakanto granulated sweetener give the same results?