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So, I tried my hand at a variety of sugar cookie recipes, but each time we always came back to this one. It’s my husband’s favorite, and becoming one of mine also. This is the sugar cookie recipe that my mother-in-law made while my husband was growing up. She would of course triple the batch for her three ravenous sons, and ever so patient daughter, and would exclaim with love, “When their gone, their gone!” The problem at our house is that when their gone, I just make more.
Cut them into any forms you’d like! Christmas shapes in July? Why not?!
The trick to making these soft is to not over bake them! I like to roll them out thick, around 1/4 an inch, and then bake them for 7-8 minutes (usually 7 minutes). If I roll them thinner then I reduce the time down to 6 minutes.
However, if you like thinner, crispier cookies, then just roll them thinner and bake them for 8-10 minutes.
So here they are, the deliciously soft sugar cookies. I’ve included two different types of frosting, a Buttercream frosting (my favorite), and a Cream Cheese Frosting (my husband’s favorite). Enjoy!
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 1/2-6 cups flour (sifted-spoon into your measuring cup)*
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or real salt
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3-4 Tbsp milk or Kefir
- 1 package of Cream Cheese (8oz)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, and lemon juice together with a whisk or beaters.
- Stir in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
- Cover and put in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. (This helps the cookies keep their shape once you cut them out.)
- Roll out cookies to 1/4" thick and cut out with desired shape.
- Bake on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet for 6-10 minutes. (6-7 minutes if you like them softer-6 minutes for thinner cookies, 7 minutes for thicker cookies-or 8-10 minutes for more firm cookies.)
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack or parchment paper.
- Frost cookies when cooled.
- For the frosting, mix all the ingredients together for which ever frosting you choose (the Buttercream or the Cream Cheese).
- Make sure to sift or spoon your flour beforehand. For higher altitude (above 4,000 feet) you will need closer to 5-3/4 to 6 cups of flour. For sea-level, you'll probably use 5-1/2 to 5-3/4 cups of flour.
- If you find that your dough is too dry or crumbly, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. You just want the dough to come together. It should be easy to manage not sticky. And try not to over mix!
I’ve never seen a sugar cookie recipe that calls for lemon juice! Definately want to try these I love me some super soft sugar cookies! They look delish!
Haha, so do I! Let me know how you like them! 😉
I’m making them this weekend..
I was just going over the ingredients, because I would love to make these. The recipe calls for 6 cups of flour and the yield is 24 cookies? Is that correct?
Hi Kristi,
Great question! Yes, it calls for 6 cups of flour. It can yield more than 24 cookies, but I tend to make them on the thick side. If you make them thinner you’d probably get closer to 48 cookies.
This was my first time making sugar cookies, but I bake pretty often, and after adding the 6 cups of flour the dough was quite crumbly which caused me to have to add liquid to the batter. They came out more like pancake or biscuit flavored and textured than I had anticipated.
Hi Courtney, thank you for your comment! Make sure you scoop the flour into your measuring cups, or sift it before adding it. That is something I will update in the recipe, so thank you for bringing that to my attention! Also, if you live closer to sea-level, you can also try reducing the flour by 1/4-1/2 cup. 🙂
Hello! Thank you for the great recipe! I might be the worlds worst baker…but this recipe is wonderful, easy and basically fool proof! It is the only cookie I can consistently make without screwing up. And the cream cheese frosting is delicious. I too like to roll the dough out thick, then bake for seven minutes, which produces a perfectly baked cookie! Thank you for making me believe I can bake!!! 🙂
That is such a sweet comment Sarah! We all have bad days in the kitchen so you’re definitely not alone! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thanks for sharing this great recipe, I made them this morning for Valentine’s Day and tinted the frosting a dark pink. They turned out great. I got 46 even though I thought I was making them pretty thick. I baked them 7-8 minutes like you said so they’d be soft. Since I got so many I ran out of homemade frosting and had to resort to using Pillsbury to finish the last 12 cookies cuz the store was out of powdered sugar.
My husband LOVES them and so do I. also shared a few with our neighbor’s. What a great treat. Thanks again.
That’s awesome Carol! I’m glad you and your husband love them so much! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
I would love to make these but wanted to know if you can bake them then freeze them wanted to start my Xmas baking early
Yes you can! Just make sure to separate them with parchment or wax paper to keep them from sticking together. Good luck! 🙂
Does the cookie have a lemon flavor?
No you don’t taste the lemon flavor, but it helps add to the chewiness of the cookie. 🙂
We loved this super easy recipe! This is the first time I’ve had sugar cookies turn out soft and fluffy rather than crunchy :). We frosted them and set them in the fridge for an hour and they were so good! Thanks for the recipe, I will make it again for sure.
Thank you Jasmine! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Hi! I am wanting to make your cookies but I want to use royal icing instead of the cream cheese do I have to store the cookie itself in the fridge? Or can I just keep them in a airtight container?
Hi Tiffany, The fridge or freezer will keep them fresher longer, but an air tight container will still keep them fresh for a day or two.
Do they freeze good?
Yes, I freeze these often. 🙂
Dumb question but is this 1 cup of butter melted or 1 cup of melted butter? Are you measuring pre or post melt?
Jennifer, that’s a great question! It’s 1 cup of butter, melted. I’ll fix that in the recipe. Thanks for asking and bringing that to my attention!! 🙂