This chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, soft sugar cookie recipe is topped with a creamy buttercream frosting. Perfect for any holiday or time of year!

Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe

Have you ever heard of Lofthouse Cookies? Chances are you’ve probably had one in your lifetime – whether you knew it or not. They’re in all the grocery stores, and they basically have a new color for every holiday there is. I think Lofthouse was technically the creator of the cookie, and now grocery stores just make their own for every holiday, but regardless of where you get them – they’re a childhood classic.

I remember we’d have the cookies in school for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Halloween, you name it; these soft sugar cookies were somewhere on the holiday table spread. They were always one of the first things to go to – something about the soft, buttery texture and the melt-in-your-mouth buttercream. Soooo I decided to try my own take on these soft sugar cookies, and it’s amazing how close you can get to the original while also making them taste so much better (without all the artificial ingredients). This soft sugar cookie recipe is a new favorite cookie recipe of mine, and I think you’ll understand why when you make them.

What are Soft Sugar Cookies?

These soft sugar cookies have an ingredient that not many other types of cookies have – sour cream. You may think this is a little bit counterintuitive, but picture the flavor of these cookies in your head – they kind of have a little bit of an acidic characteristic, right? Thank you, sour cream.

Not only does the sour cream add to the flavor of these cookies, it also carries a lot of moisture – which results in a perfectly chewy and delicious soft sugar cookie recipe. These are completely different than my sugar cookie cutouts recipe, but I’m all for any and all types of sugar cookies these days.

Why this soft sugar cookie recipe works

This soft sugar cookie recipe works because of the balance between ingredients that contribute to both tenderness and structure. Key components like butter and sugar provide richness and moisture, while the right amount of flour ensures the cookies hold their shape without becoming too dense. The addition of baking powder or baking soda gives these soft sugar cookies their slight rise, making them light and fluffy. Using a touch of cornstarch or chilling the dough can also help create that perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture. Whether you’re making these for holidays or as an everyday treat, a well-tested soft sugar cookie recipe ensures consistently soft sugar cookies every time, and I’m so glad you stopped by to check out this one!

Buttercream options

I topped these soft sugar cookies with the same buttercream recipe as my No-Chill Cut-Out Sugar Cookies because there’s no need to fix something if it’s not broken, am I right?

But, if you’re interested, here are a couple of other great buttercream options:

Chocolate French Buttercream (pictured above) – one of the most flavorful buttercreams I’ve ever tasted, and probably my all time favorite when it comes to icings. You won’t go wrong with this one, and the blog post has a step-by-step tutorial so you really can’t mess it up! Hint: it would be incredible on top of this soft sugar cookie recipe.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream – a classic favorite. It can be a little bit tricky to make, but this blog post also has a step-by-step tutorial for you! You can also head over to my instagram profile to see a story highlight of me making this! Videos are always more helpful.

How to make sugar cookies soft

Baking is a science, so here’s how to get the softest sugar cookies:

Focus on key techniques and ingredient choices. Using a higher ratio of butter to flour adds moisture, which helps create soft sugar cookies.

Another tip is to slightly underbake the cookies, removing them from the oven when the edges are just set but the centers are still soft. This prevents overbaking, which can dry out the dough.

Lastly, chilling the dough before baking helps the cookies retain their shape while ensuring they remain soft and chewy.

Some equipment you may need…

Measuring cups/spoons: I’ve been linking these in all of my posts because I love them SO much! They are beautiful and look just like some other expensive ones on the market (but wayyy cheaper).
Sheet pans: just a universal pan that every baker needs. You’ll need 2 for this soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies recipe!
Wooden spoon: I only use wooden spoons and rubber spatulas when I’m baking, and I love these!
Mixing bowls: I love these glass mixing bowls from Amazon. They’re especially perfect for food photography.
Stand mixer: you can make this recipe in just a regular bowl with a wooden spoon and a whisk, but stand mixers truly make life so much simpler. Especially since this is a thicker cookie dough, things will be much easier! I love mine from KitchenAid – I pray that it never breaks down on me because I use it almost everyday lol.
Cookie scoop: such a great thing to have on hand – especially if you want uniform cookies. I highly recommend you use this to scoop out your dough. This set has 3 different sizes – so you can have a small cookie or a huge one (let’s hear it for all the gigantic cookie lovers out there)!!
Food scale: if you want to be extra sure your soft sugar cookie recipe comes out with cookies of uniform size, use a food scale to measure the weight of your balls. It might be an extra step but there’s just something about a batch of cookies that are all the same size!

Ingredients for this Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe

All-purpose flour – I always use King Arthur flours when baking, and I suggest you do the same! Flours can differ in protein content from brand to brand, so sticking with something consistently is a great tip.
Cornstarch
Baking powder
Baking soda
Kosher salt – Diamond crystal kosher salt is the brand I always use in my recipes!
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Large egg
Sour cream
Vanilla extract
Almond extract
Powdered sugar
Heavy cream

Possible ingredient substitutions for soft sugar cookie recipe

Homemade vanilla extract

Have you ever considered making your own vanilla at home? This is the perfect way to make use of vanilla bean pods you may have scraped the beans out of. The most shocking thing you may be surprised to hear is that it only takes 2 ingredients: vanilla beans and vodka.

You can substitute homemade vanilla extract 1:1 with the vanilla bean paste and still get the softest sugar cookies ever!

Sour cream vs. buttermilk

I’ve never tried this, but the point of the sour cream is to introduce some acidity to the cookies. If you don’t have sour cream on hand, try substituting buttermilk instead. I would use 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup.

Tips for Making the Softest Sugar Cookies

Chill the cookie dough. I know it’s hard to do sometimes, you’re just so eager to eat your cookies!! But it’s so important that you wait and let this cookie dough chill for at least an hour. It will help you immensely when you’re rolling it into small balls and pressing it down with a glass. It also helps the texture of the final cookie be perfect!
Don’t overbake these cookies. This is a cookie that needs to be baked to perfection in order for the consistency to remain fluffy and soft. Normally, you’d bake a cookie until it begins to turn a golden brown color around the edges (like in my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe), but here we want to bake them until they’re no longer glossy on the tops. If they brown around the edges or even on the bottoms, they’re overbaked. They should be just barely set! This is similar to my Chewy Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies recipe – but when you bake them just right they come out perfectly.
Use an offset spatula to frost the cookies. I use my offset spatula for just about everything, it’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets! It’s especially helpful here when spreading the frosting on the cookies. I love this one from amazon, it’s so helpful when frosting cakes, cupcakes, you name it.

Some other sugar cookie recipes I love

This soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe is a unique one, but I do love any good sugar cookie. Here are a couple others on the site that are perfect for any occasion:

Funfetti Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs
Soft and Chewy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

What all of these have in common is that they’re basically a variation of sugar, flour, eggs, and butter (plus a few more things). But they differ in add-ins, method, and even bake time.

These soft sugar cookies are a new variation of some of my favorite ingredients, and I am in love with the cookie it results in!

Recipe FAQs

How long can these be stored?

I would store these soft sugar cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Can this soft sugar cookie recipe be made ahead?

Yes, these cookies can be made ahead, but I would only make the cookie portion ahead. Make and add the buttercream on the day you’re serving them for the most optimal texture!

Let me know if you bake these!

I hope you all love this recipe, and if you make these be sure to tag me on socials @sarahsdayoff so I can see all of them! I’ll probably make a batch of these for Noah for Valentine’s Day, so join with me and make a batch for that special someone in your life 🙂

Love,

Sarah

“Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” -1 Timothy 6:12-

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