Perfect small batch sugar cookies with a soft and chewy bite and light sweetness tinted with vanilla extract.
If you want to make just enough cookies for your family or just two of you to finish them all while they are still fresh (and not gone stale or too soft), you should definitely opt for a small batch.
Gina’s Recipe Rundown:
Texture: Perfect balance between the soft and chewy texture of the cookie dough and the little crinkle on top.
Taste: Delicious cookies, buttery and sweet with a light touch of vanilla extract.
Ease: Easy peasy homemade cookies you can make in about 30 minutes. This is the perfect sugar cookie recipe for two.
Why I love it: So easy to make and there is just enough without having all the leftovers.
My trick to make these sugar cookies so addictive and soft is to skip baking soda, do not use melted butter, but instead I beat mine up to make soft and fluffy cookie dough, and I add egg yolk to the cookie dough.
I think it is also one of the easiest cookie recipes since you only need a few ingredients that are pantry staples and super cheap and barely 30 minutes of your time including baking. If you or your kids crave something sweet, this can be a great fix.
- Gina’s Recipe Rundown:
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients Notes
- Kitchen Equipment
- How To Make Small Batch Sugar Cookies
- Storage
- Substitutions & Variations
- Expert Tips To Make The Best Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Popular Questions
- What Is The Secret Ingredient To Keep Cookies Soft?
- Why Put Cream Of Tartar In Sugar Cookies?
- Why Are My Homemade Sugar Cookies Hard?
- Should I Use Parchment Paper When Baking Sugar Cookies?
- What Happens When You Add An Extra Egg To Sugar Cookies?
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect small batch recipe to make sugar cookies so you don’t have to worry about scaling down the measurements or wasting ingredients
- This neat cut-out sugar cookie recipe is coming together without a long chilling time.
- Just 7 basic ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen!
- Super affordable and all-time family favorite cookie recipe (especially kids love these chewy cookies!)
- Great “blank canvas”. You can make any frosting for any occasion or color the dough for these cookies.
Ingredients Notes
- Unsalted butter – softened at room temperature for easier mixing. I don’t use melted or cold butter and I discovered that using just softened unsalted butter will give the best results. Butter from the fridge takes around 45 minutes to an hour to soften.
- Granulated sugar makes chewier and crispier cookies. You could make this recipe with brown sugar too – the cookies will have a subtle toffee taste and be much chewier.
- Egg yolk has tons of fats and they help us make chewy and flavorful cookies. You can discard or save the egg white for something else (like homemade meringue). If you can’t eat eggs, simply skip it, but it won’t have the same texture.
- Vanilla extract for a very subtle flavor. You can use other extracts, of course, like almond extract, coconut, or lemon.
- Flour mixture: all-purpose flour + baking powder + salt. I don’t use baking soda because it makes slightly domed cookies, puffed up, or spread too much and I prefer them flat and crinkled. Make sure to measure the flour correctly otherwise, the sugar cookies will crumble.
Kitchen Equipment
- Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutter. I used a 2 ⅝ “ cutter – this gave me 10 cookies
- Measuring cup
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric mixer/hand mixer and a large bowl
How To Make Small Batch Sugar Cookies
1: Prepare Cookie Dough
- Combine the butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, for about 30-45 seconds (a bit longer on medium speed).
- Beat in the egg yolk and extract until blended.
- Slowly add in half of the flour, all of the baking powder, and salt until moistened. Then stir in the remainder of the flour, beating on low speed just until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix or the cookies will be super flat.
- Work on a lightly floured surface or use a silicone mat.
2: Divide Dough
- Using your hands, form the dough into a disk.
- Roll the dough on the floured surface or use a baking mat. Roll to about ¼ “ thick or enough to cut 6-8 shapes. Gather the dough back into a ball and roll it out again, cutting more cookies until you have used all of the dough.
- Place the cut cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (about 5 minutes)
3: Bake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place dough 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to brown. The whole cookies are barely brown, more yellow-beige, and pale, so don’t wait for the center to become brown, look for the edges!
- Cool baked sugar cookies on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Serve with a glass of milk or pack for work or school.
Storage
Store sugar cookies in an airtight container for 3 days with a slice of white bread to maintain moisture and keep them from hardening.
Homemade sugar cookies do not freeze well, however, it is still possible to let them cool, wrap them tightly, and freeze them for 2 months. You can freeze the dough but baking frozen dough will take longer and may result in domed cookies.
You can also refrigerate the dough for a week to make these cookies ahead.
Substitutions & Variations
- Dairy. You can use half and half of vanilla and almond extract or if you like a strong traditional sugar cookie flavor, you can use all almond extract.
- Frosting. These soft sugar cookies can be enjoyed unfrosted or they can be decorated with a buttercream frosting, royal icing, or sprinkles. Frosting should be added only after the cookies are cooled on the wire rack.
- Double sugar cookies. After you form the cookie dough balls you can roll them in some powdered sugar before baking.
- Use salted butter to add a little salty touch and balance out the sweetness.
- For thicker and softer cookies, you can add some corn syrup to the cookie dough.
- You can make these chewy sugar cookies with a cookie scoop instead of rolling them out.
Expert Tips To Make The Best Sugar Cookies Recipe
- To shape cookies without cookie cutters, simply roll the disk, and cut it in half. And divide each half into equal portions of the dough. If you want big cookies, make three balls from each half.
- You can try this new recipe with melted butter. You first melt it and then add the dough ingredients to the melted butter. The rest of the recipe is the same. The dough may be too sticky, then you have to let it chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- If the dough feels dry and crumbles, you can add a bit of milk.
- If your first trial, the cookies spread too much, next time, chill the dough balls for 30-45 minutes. It will help them hold the shape. I find that using melted butter makes cookies overspread so I stick with room temp.
- Do not use a whole egg if doubling or tripling this recipe. Only use egg yolk! If double batch — two egg yolks and so on.
Popular Questions
What Is The Secret Ingredient To Keep Cookies Soft?
You need to store baked cookies in a properly sealed airtight container with a piece of fresh white bread. It will keep the moisture in and keep them soft for 2-3 days.
When baking, to keep cookies soft, remove them from the oven when the edges are just set. The cookies will still harden while cooling and it is better to slightly undertake than overbake sugar cookies.
Why Put Cream Of Tartar In Sugar Cookies?
You don’t have to use cream of tartar in sugar cookies, but some recipes call for it as it adds a tang and helps make a thicker chewier cookie.
Why Are My Homemade Sugar Cookies Hard?
Overbaking often leads to dry and hardened sugar cookies. Try not to bake them longer than 10 minutes and let them cool on the wire rack to avoid heat from the baking sheet keep cooking the centers of the cookies.
Should I Use Parchment Paper When Baking Sugar Cookies?
Yes, to make sure cookies don’t stick to the cookie sheet, use parchment paper or special silicone mats.
What Happens When You Add An Extra Egg To Sugar Cookies?
Adding more than necessary eggs can make cakey, thick cookies with a little dome. They may not be as crispy on the edges. Only use egg yolk making sugar cookies.
If you love this cookie recipe, you’re going to love these other cookies too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
More Great Sugar Cookie Recipes
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies – Copycat Recipe
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Small Batch Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter – softened – unsalted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/16 tsp salt – or 1 pinch
Instructions
- Combine the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg yolk and extract until blended.
- Slowly mix in half of the flour, all of the baking powder, and salt until moistened. Then mix in the remainder of the flour, beating just until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix.
- Dust the counter lightly with flour or use a silicone mat.
- Using your hands, form the dough into a disk.
- Roll the dough on the floured surface or use a baking mat. Roll to about ¼ “ thick or enough to cut 6-8 shapes. Gather the dough back into a ball and roll it out again, cutting more cookies until you have used all of the dough.
- Place the cut cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (about 5 minutes)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Created by Gina Kleinworth
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