Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies are the recipe that Lucia makes whenever she wants to bring something to a gathering that is simultaneously the most completely simple and the most deeply satisfying cookie possible. No rolling pins, no cookie cutters, no royal icing, no complicated decorating. Just the most buttery and tender and completely perfect drop sugar cookie rolled in sugar that produces the most genuinely gorgeous crinkled edge and the most impossibly soft center that stays perfectly moist for days.
The combination of both butter and oil in the dough is what makes these so extraordinarily soft because butter provides the flavor and oil provides the lasting moisture, and the powdered sugar alongside the granulated sugar gives the crumb a tenderness that regular all-granulated-sugar cookies simply cannot match.
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies are the most timelessly perfect and completely irresistible soft and buttery drop cookie rolled in sugar that requires no special equipment, no chilling beyond the essential two-hour rest, and no decorating technique of any kind. Butter, oil, both granulated and powdered sugar, vanilla, eggs, and flour with cream of tartar and baking soda combined into the most perfectly soft and tender dough that is scooped, rolled in sugar, and baked into the most beautiful golden-edged and soft-centered cookies imaginable. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful classic cookie recipes and easy everyday baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies recipe is the most universally beloved and completely accessible cookie recipe in the collection because it requires no special skills, no electric mixer for longer than two minutes, no cookie cutters, no decorating icing, and no baking experience beyond the ability to scoop and roll a ball of dough in sugar. The cookies are perfectly imperfect in their rustic round shape with slightly irregular crinkled edges and they are absolutely beautiful in their golden simplicity.
The dual fat combination of both butter and oil is the ingredient insight that makes these cookies so distinctively and lastingly soft. Butter contributes its rich and deep flavor and the air that creaming introduces into the dough. Oil contributes the moisture that remains liquid at room temperature and keeps the cookie soft for the full storage period in a way that a butter-only dough does not.
The powdered sugar blended with the granulated sugar produces a finer and more delicate crumb than granulated sugar alone because powdered sugar has no coarse granules that would create a slightly gritty texture at the edges of the cookie. Our Springtime Crinkle Cookies make a beautifully colorful and equally soft companion for a complete and lovely classic cookie spread.
Ingredients Needed for This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
- 1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 cup Neutral Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Granulated White Sugar, plus additional for rolling
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 cups plus 2 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
How to Make This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the softened butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs until fully creamed and combined, approximately 2 minutes. The mixture should look smooth and cohesive with the sugars fully incorporated.
Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and flour to the creamed mixture. Mix gently on low speed until a soft and cohesive dough forms. The dough will be quite soft at this stage.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. This chilling time is essential, cara mia. The chilled dough firms up enough to scoop cleanly and roll into balls without sticking to the hands. Cookies baked from unchilled dough spread too aggressively and lose their beautiful shape.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or spray lightly with cooking spray. Pour a generous quantity of additional granulated sugar into a shallow bowl.
Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, portion the chilled dough into rounded tablespoon-sized balls. Roll each ball between your palms until smooth, then roll generously in the bowl of granulated sugar to coat completely on all sides. Place on the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time for even baking, until the cookies are just set at the edges and very lightly golden at the bottom. Do not overbake. These cookies should look almost underdone when they come out of the oven, which produces the characteristic soft and moist center. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets before serving.
How to Serve This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
Serve these cookies on a simple white platter or a beautiful cake stand for the most charming and completely unpretentious presentation. The sparkle of the sugar coating on each cookie and the slight golden color at the edges makes them look genuinely beautiful in their simplicity without any additional decoration whatsoever.
These cookies are completely wonderful plain and equally wonderful with a thin smear of simple vanilla icing or a dip in colored sprinkles for celebrations. They make one of the most beloved and universally appreciated homemade gift cookies because absolutely everyone enjoys a perfectly soft and buttery sugar cookie and they travel and keep exceptionally well. Our Lemon Sugar Cookies make a beautifully bright and citrus-forward companion for a complete and varied classic homemade cookie collection.
How to Store This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 to 7 days. These cookies stay remarkably soft and moist throughout their storage period due to the oil content. To maintain maximum softness, keep the container tightly sealed and avoid storing with other cookies that have strong flavors.
For gifting, stack the cookies with small squares of parchment between layers in a beautiful tin or cellophane bag tied with a ribbon for the most charming and completely lovely homemade cookie gift.
Tips to Make This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
Chill the dough for the full 2 hours without exception. The soft dough with its high fat content from both butter and oil requires the full chilling time to firm enough for clean scooping and rolling. Dough that has chilled for less than 2 hours is too soft and sticky to roll cleanly in the sugar coating without the sugar dissolving immediately into the dough surface.
Do not overbake. The most common mistake with these sugar cookies is baking them until they look fully golden and done on the baking sheet. By the time they look done, they are already beginning to dry out. Pull them when they look almost underdone with just barely set edges and allow the residual heat of the pan to finish them during the cooling period on the sheet.
Helpful Notes for This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
The cream of tartar in this recipe is not optional even though it is an unusual ingredient. Cream of tartar is an acidic byproduct of winemaking that reacts with the baking soda to produce the carbon dioxide that helps these cookies rise. It also contributes to the characteristic slightly tangy flavor that distinguishes a truly great sugar cookie from a plain and one-dimensional one. Many old-fashioned sugar cookie recipes that people describe as having a uniquely addictive quality owe much of that quality to the cream of tartar.
These cookies are wonderful completely plain without any icing and this is genuinely the preferred and most classically authentic way to enjoy them. The sugar coating baked on each cookie and the soft, buttery, vanilla-fragrant crumb inside is more than sufficient. These are not a platform for decoration. They are a complete and entirely satisfying cookie in their own perfectly simple right.
Variation of This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
Maria made a version rolling half the cookies in cinnamon sugar rather than plain sugar for a warmly spiced version that was completely wonderful alongside a cup of hot tea. Teresa tried adding a teaspoon of almond extract alongside the vanilla for a warm and slightly nutty note that made the cookies taste more complex and interesting while remaining perfectly clean and simple.
For a festive celebration version, add a few drops of gel food coloring to the rolling sugar to create colored sugar-coated cookies in any color for any occasion. Pink sugar for a baby shower, red and green for Christmas, or pastel rainbow for a birthday party all produce the most beautiful and festive presentations from the same perfect dough. Our Matcha Lavender Sugar Cookies make a beautifully sophisticated and equally soft companion for a complete and elegant homemade sugar cookie spread.
FAQs About This Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe
Why does this recipe use both butter and oil?
The combination produces a cookie that is more lastingly soft and moist than a butter-only recipe while retaining all the rich buttery flavor. Butter contributes flavor and the air from creaming but solidifies at room temperature, which firms the cookie. Oil remains liquid at room temperature and contributes moisture that keeps the cookie soft for the full storage period. Together they produce the ideal balance of rich flavor and lasting tenderness.
Can I freeze old-fashioned sugar cookies?
Yes. These cookies freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Allow to cool completely, then layer between parchment sheets in an airtight container and freeze. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. The cookie dough can also be frozen in scooped balls for up to 3 months. Roll in sugar and bake directly from frozen, adding 2 minutes to the baking time.
Can I make these into cut-out cookies with cookie cutters?
This specific dough is not designed for cut-out cookies because the high fat content makes it too soft to roll thin and cut clean shapes even after chilling. For cut-out sugar cookies, use a lower-fat recipe specifically designed for that application. These old-fashioned cookies are at their absolute best as drop cookies rolled in sugar, which is their most classic and completely perfect format.
Conclusion
These Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies are the completely timeless and universally beloved classic that proves the most extraordinary cookies in any collection are often the simplest ones. Buttery, soft, perfectly sweet, and completely wonderful in every single sugar-coated bite without a single decoration required. We hope they bring the same nostalgic warmth and the same completely satisfied kitchen to your home that they have always brought to ours. Make them, share them, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
Print
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies The Most Soft and Buttery Classic Cookie You Will Bake
- Total Time: 2 hours 11 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most soft and buttery Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies made with a combination of butter and oil granulated and powdered sugar vanilla eggs and cream of tartar scooped chilled 2 hours then rolled in granulated sugar and baked until just barely golden with soft and tender centers. A completely classic and easy drop sugar cookie recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup 2 sticks Unsalted Butter softened
1 cup Neutral Vegetable Oil
1 cup Granulated White Sugar plus more for rolling
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 large Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 tsp Salt
4 cups plus 2 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
1. Beat softened butter, oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, and eggs in stand mixer 2 minutes until creamed and combined.
2. Add baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and flour. Mix on low until soft dough forms.
3. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with mats or spray lightly.
5. Pour granulated sugar into a shallow bowl.
6. Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of chilled dough. Roll smooth between palms.
7. Roll each ball generously in sugar to coat completely.
8. Place 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.
9. Bake 9 to 11 minutes rotating pans halfway until just set at edges and barely golden. Do not overbake.
10. Cool completely on baking sheets before serving.
- Prep Time: 2 hours chilling plus 10 minutes active
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 110mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 34g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
Keywords: old fashioned sugar cookies, soft old fashioned sugar cookies recipe, classic drop sugar cookies rolled in sugar, easy buttery sugar cookies
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake Recipe The Most Easy Reduced Apple Cider Cream Cheese Swirl Brown Sugar Streusel Individual Fall Brunch Cake - September 29, 2026
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake The Most Easy Moist Reduced Apple Cider Sour Cream Butter Brown Sugar Streusel Cider Glaze Individual Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
- Apple Cider Cake Recipe The Most Easy Moist Bundt Reduced Apple Cider Oil Brown Sugar Cinnamon Nutmeg Apple Cider Glaze Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
