Food Recipes Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe 4.3 (346) 3 Reviews If you find yourself searching for a plain cookie recipe every holiday season, look no further. By Sara Quessenberry Sara Quessenberry Sara Quessenberry is a recipe developer, food stylist, and cookbook author with nearly two decades of experience in the culinary arts. She was a food stylist and recipe developer at Real Simple for five years. She's currently the food director at doitDelicious.com. Highlights: * Food director at doitDelicious.com * Collaborates with Jessica Seinfeld on recipes for her cookbooks and website * Wrote an award-winning cookbook, The Good Neighbor Cookbook Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 17, 2021 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: zoff-photo Hands On Time: 25 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins Yield: 36 medium cookies Jump to Nutrition Facts This basic sugar cookie recipe is simple, straightforward, and downright delicious. The key to the dough is working with room temperature butter. Soft, pliable butter will whip more easily with the sugar, resulting in a creamy, fluffy base for the rest of the cookies. Once you're finished with the dough, there's an endless assortment of easy holiday treat you can make. Think: Chocolate-hazelnut sandwich cookies, pecan logs, and jam thumbprints. Oh, and don't forget the classic: Cut-out sugar cookies in all your favorite shapes. Ingredients 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the work surface ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Coarse sanding sugar or turbinado sugar (optional) Directions Heat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. On a floured surface, roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut into shapes. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1½ inches apart. Sprinkle with the sanding sugar, if using. Bake until just beginning to brown at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Total time includes cooling time Print Nutrition Facts (per serving) 180 Calories 11g Fat 21g Carbs 2g Protein Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label Nutrition Facts Calories 180 % Daily Value * Total Fat 11g 14% Saturated Fat 7g 35% Cholesterol 39mg 13% Sodium 43mg 2% Total Carbohydrate 21g 8% Total Sugars 8g Protein 2g *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.