Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
The best chewy sugar cookie that is a party favorite and perfect with a glass of milk.
This recipe came about when my best friend asked me to collaborate with her in her pharmacy blog (check her out – https://www.memory-pharm.com/) to create microbes on a cookie. This was to celebrate Halloween and inspire learning with cooking fun!
What’s great about this cookie:
- No prior refrigeration before baking.
- Cookies melt when baking- no need to flatten them before baking- makes baking faster!
- Easy to decorate- roll in sprinkles before baking.
- Great for parties- crowd pleaser.
- Can be used for all occasions- Halloween, Christmas (for Santa of course), birthday parties, etc.
Tips on making these cookies:
Softened butter and sugar should be light and fluffy after mixing for one minute. See photo below.
Finished cookie dough mixture below. To ensure cookie dough is nice and soft, butter should be softened before mixing.
Roll dough 1.5 ” in diameter. Roll cookie dough balls in decorative sugar or sprinkles. Cookie dough does not need to be rolled out or flattened. They melt nicely in the oven. See below for cookie dough rolled in decorative sugar.
Since I was making these cookies for my friend’s blog, I wanted to use fondant in order to create those microbes to promote her brand new coloring book and to celebrate Halloween. Microbes can be scary, but not the cute microbes I created. I used store bought fondant (Wilton) and added 1-2 drops of gel food coloring to dye the fondant. Be sure to wear food safe gloves when mixing fondant. Otherwise your hands will be dyed as well (trust me, I’ve done this without gloves before).
If you haven’t used fondant before, it’s very much like play-doh. Easy to mold. Small amounts of water can help fondant stick together when creating shapes. You can roll the fondant out or use cookie cutters. I like to form shapes with my hands and kitchen utensils. Working with fondant is easy for kids to use also. Below are some pictures of my microbe scary Halloween cookies to promote her antibacterial coloring book.
I used this recipe for my Halloween cookies, but really these cookies are great for all holidays. I find these to be a Christmas staple. Great for bringing to holiday parties and great for sharing.
Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Toppings (optional)
- Decorative sugar granulated sugar, or sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl with a standing mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together for about 1 minute. Mixture should be light and fluffy. (See photo above)
- Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture; mix until combined.
- Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Scrape down sides occasionally to incorporate all ingredients.
- Roll cookie dough into 1.5 ” balls. Optional- Roll cookie balls into decorative sugar.
- Place cookies about 2 ” apart. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!