Perfect Sugar Cookies

Name: Perfect Sugar Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 19 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened ( 12 tablespoons )); 1.5 cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract; 1/2 tsp almond extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour (see note); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 4 oz. cream cheese (softened); 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened); 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1.5 cup powdered sugar (see note)

October 15, 2019 by Anna 31 Comments

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Perfect Sugar Cookies – the best chewy sugar cookies with vanilla cream cheese frosting and festive sprinkles!

These cookies are great for any holiday, just like my Chewy Snickerdoodles and Molasses Cookies.

Perfect Sugar Cookies with sweet vanilla cream cheese frosting make an appearance on our holiday table each year. This is the cookie we leave for Santa ( along with oats for the reindeer! ). They are chewy, with slightly crispy edges and can be dressed up for any theme and occasion. I adapted my ginger molasses cookies recipe to get the same perfect texture and look. These cookies are bound to become a family favorite!

These Sugar Cookies are perfect for a few reasons: they are super easy to make, the can be frosted and decorated with sprinkles or enjoyed plain. They are chewy, sweet with slightly crackly tops and frosted with my favorite cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients (your shopping list):

unsalted butter
granulated sugar
egg
vanilla extract
almond extract
all-purpose flour (bleached)
baking soda
salt
cream cheese
powdered sugar

Instructions

Sugar cookies are most often made with white granulated sugar, butter, egg, flavor extract, flour and baking soda. It is important to let the butter soften at room temperature before creaming for the best texture of the cookie.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Beat butter with sugar and cream for 3 minutes.
Add egg, extracts and mix in.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Scoop the dough into 1.5 tablespoon size balls. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool before frosting.

How to form sugar cookie dough:

The ready dough can be:

scooped, rolled in your hands into a smooth ball and placed on a baking sheet (cookie nr. 1) ;
rolled in your hands, placed on baking sheet and gently pressed with a bottom of a glass (cookie nr. 2). Cookie nr.2 will be bigger which gives you more surface to decorate.
dropped right at the baking sheet (cookie nr. 3) and baked.
You can also roll the dough balls in white granulated sugar before placing on a baking sheet.

The frosting

My favorite sugar cookie frosting is made with cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar. To make the best frosting, make sure the cream cheese and butter and very soft. Mix them together until smooth. Add vanilla and powdered sugar, half of a cup at a time. Beat until you reach the desired texture. You can also add food coloring to this frosting.

Expert tips

butter: it should be very soft so you have to scrape it off the wrapper. It will cream better.
vanilla: I highly recommend using a quality vanilla extract, not imitation. Add almond extract for that signature sugar cookie flavor.
flour: use bleached all-purpose flour (un-bleached changes texture of baked goods, especially cookies) and measure it out by fluffing it in the containers you store it in, then using a spoon scoop it out into your measuring cup, then level off the top and use in the recipe.
frosting: make sure cream cheese is softened for the best smooth frosting texture.

Freezing

You can prepare the dough, scoop it with a cookie scoop and place on a baking sheet. Freeze, then place in a ziploc bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. If you want to freeze already baked cookies, do not frost them beforehand. Cream cheese products don’t freeze well.

Storing

To keep the cookies chewy and soft, I recommend storing them in an air-tight container. Some cookie jars have a rubber seal which makes them air-tight and perfect for storing chewy cookies.

More holiday cookies:

For more recipes like this one, feel free to browse our Cookies Category.

If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀