Soft Sugar Cookies are the recipe that Lucia makes whenever she wants something that is simultaneously completely simple to prepare and genuinely extraordinary to eat without any decorating, any rolling pins, any cookie cutters, or any complicated technique that stands between her and a warm tray of perfectly chewy and completely delicious cookies in thirty minutes.
She creams the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, adds the egg and vanilla without overbeating, folds the flour mixture through in increments, scoops the dough into balls, rolls each one generously in extra sugar, and bakes them until the tops begin to crack in that unmistakable way that tells every experienced cookie baker that the cookie inside is going to be exactly as soft and as perfectly chewy as they were hoping. The cracked top is the signal. Remove them immediately.
Soft Sugar Cookies are the most completely irresistible no-chill chewy sugar cookies that require no decorating, no rolling, and no complicated preparation of any kind. Simple pantry ingredients, twenty minutes of baking, and the most perfectly soft and chewy sugar cookie with a beautiful crackled sugar-coated top and a tender and completely satisfying interior. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cookie recipes and easy baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
This Soft Sugar Cookies recipe is the no-chill no-decoration cookie that proves the most completely satisfying and genuinely irresistible sugar cookie does not require a rolling pin, a cookie cutter, or a pastry bag. The simplicity is the beauty. Cream, mix, roll, roll in sugar, bake. That is the entire process from start to perfectly crackled finish.
The baking soda is the ingredient that produces the most characteristic and completely beloved cracked top surface that distinguishes these soft sugar cookies from a plain and undistinguished drop cookie. The baking soda reacts with the sugar to produce the surface cracking during baking that looks so beautiful and signals the perfectly soft interior beneath. Without baking soda the cookies would not spread and crack in the same way, cara mia. Our Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies make a beautifully buttery and equally simply irresistible companion for a complete and lovely classic sugar cookie collection spread.
Ingredients Needed for This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Coarse Salt
- 1 cup Vegetable Shortening or Vegan Butter (or regular unsalted butter)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- Extra Granulated Sugar for rolling
How to Make This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and coarse salt until evenly distributed. Set aside.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for approximately 1 minute until the mixture is light and fluffy. The creaming process introduces air into the fat and sugar mixture that is essential for a soft and tender finished cookie. Do not rush this step.
Add the egg and vanilla extract to the creamed shortening mixture and beat only until the egg is fully incorporated. Overbeating after adding the egg develops too much air and produces a cookie that does not set properly. Beat just until combined and then stop.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in half-cup increments, mixing to combine after each addition and scraping the bowl sides as needed. Adding the flour gradually in increments ensures more even mixing and prevents the flour from flying out of the bowl. Continue adding and mixing until a cohesive dough forms that begins pulling away from the bowl walls on its own.
Pour extra granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, portion the dough into 2-tablespoon balls. Roll each ball between your palms until smooth and round, then roll generously in the extra sugar until completely coated on all sides. Place on the prepared baking sheets approximately 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 to 11 minutes until the cookies have spread and the tops have begun to crack visibly. The cookies may not look completely set when you remove them from the oven. This is correct. They will continue to cook and set from the heat of the baking sheet during the 5-minute rest. Allow to sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
How to Serve This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Serve at room temperature or very slightly warm for the most completely soft and chewy eating experience. These cookies are at their absolute peak texture on the day they are baked but remain wonderfully soft and pleasant for the full 5-day room-temperature storage period.
Arrange on a simple white platter or stack in a beautiful glass jar for the most charming and completely inviting presentation. Our Springtime Crinkle Cookies make a beautifully colorful and equally soft companion for a complete and vibrant homemade cookie collection spread.
How to Store This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These cookies stay remarkably soft throughout their storage period due to the fat content of the shortening. To maintain maximum softness, keep the container tightly sealed and avoid exposing to air.
Tips to Make This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Do not over-beat after adding the egg. The egg incorporation step is the most critical mixing moment in this recipe. Once the egg is added, beat only until you can see no streaks of unincorporated egg remaining and then stop immediately. Continuing to beat beyond this point develops too much structure in the dough and produces a cookie that does not spread and crack as beautifully.
Watch for the cracked top as the visual indicator of doneness rather than color. These cookies do not need to be golden brown when removed from the oven. The cracked surface appearing across the top of each cookie is the signal that they are done and ready to be removed. If you wait for golden color you will have overbaked your cookies.
Helpful Notes for This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Vegetable shortening is specified rather than butter in this recipe for a very specific reason. Shortening has a higher melting point than butter and produces a more stable cookie structure that holds the soft and tender crumb texture for longer during storage. Butter can be substituted in exactly the same quantity but produces a slightly crispier edge and a cookie that firms slightly more quickly during storage.
These cookies are also completely dairy-free as written when using vegetable shortening, making them one of the most genuinely accessible and inclusive cookie recipes for guests with dairy restrictions without requiring any special ingredient sourcing or any modification that affects the final flavor or texture.
Variation of This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Maria made a version rolling the cookies in cinnamon sugar rather than plain sugar for a warmly spiced version with the most beautiful fragrance and a subtle cinnamon note that complemented the vanilla in the dough beautifully. Teresa tried adding a teaspoon of almond extract alongside the vanilla for the most deeply fragrant and beautifully complex soft sugar cookie that she served at a spring gathering and received requests for the recipe from every single guest.
For a festive holiday version, add a drop of red or green gel food coloring to the dough before scooping and roll in colored sugar for the most completely festive and beautiful holiday cookie display. Our Lemon Sugar Cookies make a beautifully bright and citrus-forward companion for a complete and vibrant homemade sugar cookie spread.
FAQs About This Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe
Why do my soft sugar cookies not crack on top?
The most common reason soft sugar cookies do not crack is omitting or having expired baking soda. Baking soda is the specific leavening agent that produces the surface cracking during baking. Test your baking soda by combining half a teaspoon with hot water and a splash of vinegar. It should bubble immediately. If it does not, replace the baking soda before baking.
Can I use butter instead of vegetable shortening?
Yes. Use equal amounts of room-temperature unsalted butter in place of the shortening. The cookies will have a slightly more buttery flavor and may be slightly crispier at the edges than the shortening version, but the overall soft and chewy quality will be maintained with just a small difference in final texture.
How do I know when these cookies are done?
Remove them when the tops have visibly cracked and the edges look just barely set. The centers may still look slightly underdone and that is completely correct. The residual heat of the baking sheet during the 5-minute rest finishes setting the centers to the perfect soft and chewy texture.
Conclusion
These Soft Sugar Cookies are the no-fuss no-decoration no-chill cookie that makes every kitchen smell like warm vanilla and sugar and produces the most completely satisfying and simply perfect soft and chewy cookie with the most beautiful crackled top that anyone could ask for. We hope they bring the same completely easy joy and the same deeply satisfied cookie tray to your kitchen 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
Soft Sugar Cookies The Most Easy No Chill Chewy Cookie You Will Ever Bake
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Description
The most easy no-chill Soft Sugar Cookies made with vegetable shortening creamed with granulated sugar egg vanilla flour baking powder and baking soda rolled into balls coated in extra sugar and baked until the tops crack for the most perfectly chewy and tender crumb. A completely simple and irresistible no-chill soft sugar cookie recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Coarse Salt
1 cup Vegetable Shortening or Vegan Butter or unsalted butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 large Egg
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Extra Granulated Sugar for rolling
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream shortening and sugar with electric mixer 1 minute until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until just combined. Do not overbeat.
5. Add flour mixture in 1/2 cup increments mixing after each addition until dough forms and pulls from bowl walls.
6. Pour extra sugar into a shallow bowl.
7. Scoop dough into 2-tbsp portions and roll smooth between palms.
8. Roll each ball generously in sugar until fully coated.
9. Place 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.
10. Bake 10 to 11 minutes until tops have cracked. Edges just barely set. Centers may look underdone.
11. Rest on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 149
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 68mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 7mg
Keywords: soft sugar cookies, easy soft chewy sugar cookies no chill, best soft sugar cookies recipe, simple sugar cookies with cracked tops
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