Soft and Chewy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
These soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies that are perfect for any gathering. They’ve become a go-to soft sugar cookie recipe in our house and a staple around the holidays.
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
There are few things better than the combination of vanilla beans and sugar cookies. The two have always gone right together, and they will always go right together.
Sugar cookies are extremely simple, there’s really not much to them. But there’s just something special that happens when the flour, sugar, and butter get thrown together, smooshed into a fluffy disc, and baked at 350°F. Don’t just take my word for it, you really really need to try this recipe. Like really.
This recipe is slightly adapted from a co-worker of mine, Rebecca Lyons. I’ve learned almost everything I know about cooking and baking from her and this recipe is no exception. She is a genius in the kitchen!
Why this recipe works
Like I said above, buttery sugar cookies are fairly straight-forward. They tend to have a very basic set of ingredients and little chill time. Like many of the cookies on my site, you’ll have the option to freeze the dough after you roll it into balls and before you bake them. This makes any vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe perfect for enjoying only a few at a time (if you don’t want to make the entire batch).
Not surprisingly, butter and granulated sugar will be our main ingredients. You’ll find this is the case in my cut out sugar cookies and shortbread cookies as well. In addition to these, we’re adding a secret ingredient that will make these vanilla bean sugar cookies extra fluffy: cream of tartar. This is an out-of-the-ordinary ingredient for a soft sugar cookie recipe, but I’ll get more into it’s purpose below.
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:
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 and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies are a new variation of some of my favorite ingredients, plus a secret ingredient (more on that later).
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 and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies are all uniform in 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 Soft and Chewy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
- Unsalted butter – with great vanilla bean sugar cookies comes lots of butter. You’ll need quite a bit for this recipe, so be sure to grab a box next time you’re at the grocery store. Just make sure you’re using unsalted butter.
- Granulated sugar – we’ll be creaming the sugar and butter together in our stand mixer in step 1. If you don’t have granulated sugar or you want to try this recipe with brown sugar instead, check out the details below under ingredient substitutions.
- Large eggs – a critical ingredient for these soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies – they’ll add structure and some extra chewiness!
- Vanilla bean paste – this is an essential ingredient in our vanilla bean sugar cookies because we want to see those little vanilla bean specks! Another option is to make your own homemade vanilla extract, that way you’ll have some bean flecks come through when you pour it out of your jar.
- All-purpose flour – I almost always use King Arthur flours, because I think consistency is important when developing recipes. Protein content can vary between brands, so I’d recommend sticking with King Arthur as well!
- Baking soda – this will react with the cream of tartar (an acid) to create the most beautiful chewy and fluffy texture in our vanilla bean cookies.
- Cream of tartar – you’ll be amazed at how much such a small amount of an ingredient can alter an entire recipe. This will react with the baking soda (a base) to create the perfect chewy texture in our soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies. I love baking with cream of tartar and I think you will too.
- Kosher salt – Diamond crystal kosher salt is the brand I always use in my recipes!
Possible ingredient substitutions for vanilla bean cookies
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 in this soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies recipe.
Vanilla beans
If you have a vanilla bean that you’re just dying to use in a recipe, go ahead and scrape those bean specks straight into your cookie dough. I’d recommend substituting the vanilla beans scraped from 1 vanilla bean for the vanilla bean paste in this recipe.
Light brown sugar
If you want to try making these cookies with brown sugar instead of granulated, be my guest. The texture may be similar to these brown sugar cookies, but I’d also recommend adding cinnamon to the bowl of sugar when you roll the dough balls around before baking. Then you’ll be making more of a snickerdoodle but it will taste delicious.
Why the cream of tartar?
This is quite an unconventional ingredient to add to a cookie recipe, but one that makes sense in a soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe. But I’m telling you cream of tartar in these fluffy sugar cookies makes magic happen.
Cream of tartar is actually a byproduct of the winemaking process. It’s a white, powdery substance that’s often used as a stabilizer in meringues and other buttercream recipes. In a cookie recipe, it works to prevent sugar from crystallizing (which in turn prevents crispiness), and yields a more chewy cookie. Aside from it’s chemical properties, it’s also a flavor-carrier. It brings some tanginess to the table, which balances the sweetness of the sugar perfectly, and pairs well with the warmth from the butter.
Because it’s an acid, it reacts with the baking soda (a base), and creates the most beautiful rise in your cookies. Aka where the fluffiness comes from in this vanilla bean cookie.
How to Make Soft and Chewy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Step 1 – Cream the butter and sugar
First you’re going to cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. You’ll then add all of your dry ingredients to the bowl
Step 2 – Add the eggs and dry ingredients
You’ll then add the eggs, one at a time, until they’re fully incorporated. Make sure they’re room temperature so they get emulsified into the dough properly!
Step 3 – Beat in the dry ingredients
Slowly beat in the dry ingredients until they’re fully incorporated. Be sure not to over mix here – we don’t want hockey pucks instead of vanilla bean sugar cookies!
Step 4 – Roll the dough into balls
This takes a little bit of time, but I’d recommend using a cookie scoop to ensure you have evenly sized dough balls! That way, everything will bake evenly and each cookie will be roughly the same size.
Step 5 – Roll the dough in toppings
You can either roll this dough in sugar or sprinkles, both are delicious and it’s a super easy way to make seasonal cookies as well.
My Kitchen Tips…
Work with room temperature ingredients
You don’t want to get stuck with ingredients that don’t integrate into the dough properly. This is what happens when we don’t start with room temperature ingredients. So in this case, I’d recommend setting out your butter and eggs a few hours before you plan to make these soft and chewy vanilla bean sugar cookies. If you forget, though (like I do all the time), here’s what to do:
-
- Eggs: fill up a bowl of hot water (just as hot as your tap water will get), and place your eggs in the water for at least 5 minutes. Feel them after 5 minutes – they should be about room temperature!
- Butter: Place the butter on a plate standing up tall. Microwave in 10-second intervals until it’s soft to the touch and not melted anywhere.
Chill the dough
I know, such a snooze. But we need to wait a good 2 hours (at least) for the flour to hydrate and the flavors to mend together. I honestly don’t think anyone really knows what goes on in that refrigerator when cookie dough is chilling, but it’s just better. I even wait 1 full day – the longer the better IMO.
Add toppings!
If you want to, this cookie is the recipe I used for these Fluffy Sugar Cookie Sandwiches. We love them in our house, and you really can get creative here. You can mix in sprinkles, dip them in chocolate, drizzle them with homemade caramel sauce. I could go on and on with these things.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make these vanilla bean cookies ahead?
Yes!! These soft vanilla cookies are the perfect cookies to make ahead of any party or gathering. You can make the dough completely and let it chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I’d probably bake them after that 🙂
How to store
If you have enough left over to store.. keep these soft vanilla cookies in an airtight container or plastic bag and just let them sit at room temperature. It’s best to eat them up in about 3 days though!
If you’ve been around here for long enough you’ve probably come to realize that I love a good cookie. From cut-out cookies to brownie cookies for classic chocolate chip cookies, I really never get sick of them. My freezer will forever be full of them and they’ll always be what I bring to a get-together. You can find all my favorites here. 🙂
But, I have to stop and share with y’all my love for sugar cookies really quick. Growing up my go-to cookie was always the famed chocolate chip cookie, I mean, what’s not to love, right?! But as time went on and my palate became a bit more *refined,* I began to realize that there’s something so special about a buttery sugar cookie rolled in sparkling sugar that no word could ever describe.
This is always a delightful recipe in our house, and I hope you all love it as much as I do! It will forever have me coming back for more… happily.
Feel free to always reach out to me via email (sarah@sarahsdayoff.com), through my Instagram DMs (@sarahsday0ff), or by leaving a comment on one of these posts. I’m happy to answer any questions I can!
“But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.” -Psalm 59:16-
Soft and Chewy Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (335g) granulated sugar divided
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or use pure vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups (387g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- Sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Beat the butter and 1 cup (221g) of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the vanilla bean paste.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a separate large bowl. Gradually beat into butter mixture until fully combined (I do this in 2 additions), being careful to not overmix.
- Cover the cookie dough and chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar (or sprinkles) to a small shallow bowl.
- Roll cookie dough into 1-inch balls, drop in sugar and roll to evenly coat. Place cookie dough balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Use the bottom of a glass to gently press down on each cookie dough ball (they don't spread very much in the oven so they need a little bit of help on the front end).
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are just slightly golden brown; cool 2 minutes on pans before moving to cool completely on wire racks.
Notes
This post contains affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Sarah’s Day Off!
