Our ALL-TIME favorite Sugar Cookie recipe!! These homemade sugar cookies are so soft and have the best, creamy frosting with hints of almond. They can’t be beat!
Sugar cookies are our all-time favorite cookie!! If you feel the same, you’ll love our sugar cookie bars and no roll sugar cookies.
so soft and so good!
I LOVE homemade cookies, and especially sugar cookies! But, I’m also kinda picky about them.
- They cannot be crunchy. They have to be super SOFT!
- Frosting to Cookie Ratio needs to be spot on.
- Hints of almond are always a must (If you’ve never had a cookie with a hint of almond extract, you haven’t truly lived.)
Fortunately, my mom found the BEST Sugar Cookie recipe years ago and we’ve been making them ever since.
In fact, they are so good that we get requests to make them for different events and/or wedding receptions. They’re really just that good.
In my opinion, the reason this cookie recipe is so good is because it meets all of my above requirements. The texture is soft, they have the perfect amount of frosting and the best flavors of almond in the cookie and frosting.
We think you’ll love them too!
How to Make Sugar Cookies
Even though we like to have these cookies a certain way, they’re still quite simple to make – and they don’t need to chill making them even easier.
CREAM. Make sugar cookies by creaming together the butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg and almond extract in a large bowl. Beat at medium-high speed until fluffy.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In another bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
COMBINE. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir (or mix with hand mixer or in stand mixer) until soft dough forms.
ROLL OUT. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin onto a lightly floured surface to about 3/8″ thick. Cut with a cookie cutter (we typically use round cookie cutters but change the shape often for holidays).
BAKE. Place on baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.
Recipe Tips + Tricks
Here are some tips and tricks to make sure these cookies turn out nice and soft:
- When making your dough, do not handle it too much. Over-mixing the dough can make it tough.
- Roll out the dough to about 3/8″ thick. Thinner dough will cook too fast, making crunchy cookies.
How do I know the cookies are done? There should no longer be a shine to the cookie when they are done, but we also like to use a metal spatula to look at the bottom of the cookie. It should be slightly golden brown, but if it’s completely golden brown, then it’s overdone.
What to do when sugar cookie dough is too dry? If your dough is literally crumbling apart and cracking as you try to roll it, the best thing to do is sprinkle on small amounts of water (water is least likely to change the form of the cookie dough as it bakes) and knead it in until the dough stops breaking.
Be careful to not overdo it and make it gooey!
What to do when sugar cookie dough is too sticky? Make sure you use proper techniques when measuring out your flour so that you get the correct amount that the recipe calls for. If you need to add extra flour, sprinkle in a few tablespoons at a time, until you get the right consistency.
our favorite Frosting
Everyone has different preferences on their sugar cookie icing. Some like cream cheese frosting, buttercream frosting or even royal icing.
Because there is cream cheese in the cookie recipe, we like this classic sugar cookie frosting, which includes:
- ⅓ cup butter
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- food coloring (optional)
To make the frosting, mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer. Add more milk until it’s the consistency you desire most.
And you can add food coloring if you want to (we prefer the gel food coloring). Top it with some delicious jimmy sprinkles, and you’re set!!
NOTE: Keep frosting in the fridge until ready to frost. Stir well before adding to cookies.
FAQ
How to store? We recommend storing them in an air-tight container (after the frosting has set) and keep them on the counter. They should last for up to 4-5 days. You can extend this by a day or two with putting them in the refrigerator.
How to freeze? If you’re planning on freezing your cookies, try to freeze them before you add the frosting. They’ll hold up better unfrosted. Either way, stack them in an airtight container separated by sheets of wax paper or parchment paper in the freezer.
They should stay good for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature before frosting.
How to change up for the holidays? This is easily done based on the cookie cutter shape, color of your frosting and what sprinkles you use to decorate. You can see samples below, but here are links as well:
- Valentine’s Sugar Cookies
- Easter Sugar Cookies
- Halloween Sugar Cookies
- Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Sugar Cookies
I could seriously eat a dozen of these sugar cookies! They are just so soft, so flavorful and so delicious! I highly recommend these cookies and would love to get your feedback. 😉
For more sugar cookie recipes, check out:
- No Roll Sugar Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
BEST Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Cookie
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Frosting
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cream butter, cream cheese, sugars, egg and almond in large bowl (or Kitchen-Aid) until fluffy.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.
- Roll out and cut with cookie cutter. Thin dough will make crunchy cookies. If you want soft dough, it needs to be about ⅜ in. {NOTE: Try not to handle the dough too much}
- Bake 8-10 minutes on greased pan. Let cool.
- Make frosting by mixing all ingredients with hand mixer. If too thick, add a tad more milk. Frost cookies and ENJOY!
My family loves sugar cookies!! This is our new favorite recipe!! ❤️
These are great! Doing a Christmas cookie baking day with friends and plan on using this recipe!
Planning on making Christmas cookies with this recipe soon! It’s great!
Amazing! My go to recipe! We love all your recipes!!
My daughters favorite! So yummy!!
True to the name of these cookies, they really are the best! My kids had a blast making cookies and decorating them! It was so easy!
Can you freeze the dough?
You bet!
My all time favorite cookie recipe 😋
We really loved these cookies! Easy to follow recipe and great flavor. I’m too impatient to have a refrigerated sugar cook dough. Ours were a little sticky so we had to add a little flower.
This dough is insanely hard to work with. Probably one of the worst recipes I’ve ever tried to follow. Maybe if I used like half of the amount of cream cheese it calls for?? There’s just something wayyy wrong with the texture and I had to add more than a cup of flour to roll it out.
Thanks for the feedback. It definitely is a softer dough, so we like to make sure we have plenty of flour on the counter when rolling it and cutting into shapes. Sure makes a soft cookie though! Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try.
I am not a fan of almond, what could I use for a substitute?
You could use vanilla or perhaps even a lemon extract if you like that flavor.
These are the softest cookies ever! Full of so much flavor and yummy goodness.
Sry but what is the amount per serving?
It’s about 1 cookie, depending on how big they are made.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
I love these for any occasion. Always come out soft and delicious!
Definitely need to add 1/2 cup- 1 cup extra flour to roll out, but great flavour with the almond and cream cheese!
Thanks for the feedback!! Glad you enjoyed the flavor!
This is the only sugar cookie recipe I will use from now on. The Almond flavor is just right and it is a super soft cookie. I keep a bit of flour out until rolling them. This makes it easier since the dough is super soft. Excellent!!
Oh I’m so glad to hear you enjoy the cookies!! Thanks for sharing!
Love that these are soft and have the best flavor. Great sugar cookie! We made them into hearts for valentines but could easily be switched for any occasion. My kids loooved them!
Bars are perfect!! Thank you for letting me know!
Tried the recipie. So sticky not firm enough to roll out. Had to grab a glob and flatten with my hand. Big mess. I followed the exact amount of ingredients.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try. Not sure if you tried this, but we like to generously flour the surface of the counter as we roll out, which helps it not seem so sticky and roll out better.
Hello, I want to ask if 375 is in degree Celsius or Fahrenheit?
It’s in Fahrenheit. 🙂
The BEST sugar cookies ever!!!