If you want to make the best sugar cookie ever, Our Favorite Sugar Cookie is the recipe for you! When my kids were young, we always made this recipe for Christmas, Valentines Day, and Halloween. We have been making and baking these soft sugar cookies for over 30 years and they are still our favorite!
sugar cookie recipe made with butter
Our Favorite Sugar Cookies are a traditional sugar cookie recipe. Back in my mom’s baking days, most sugar cookie recipes were made with shortening or a mixture of shortening and butter. The shortening helped to preserve the cookies and also helped to hold their shape.
Many cooks also preferred shortening because it was less expensive than butter. I personally like the taste of butter (better than a shortening) in this cookie!
Tips for making sugar cookies…
If you are making sugar cookies for the first time, there are a few tips to remember. When making sugar cookies with all butter, it is best to refrigerate the cookie dough to help the cookies hold their shape.
Remember, if you refrigerate the dough, it needs to be rolled out and cut and then baked as soon as possible. Don’t refrigerate the dough and then let it sit out on the countertop for a long period of time.
The dough should be cold when the cut out cookies go into the oven. Refrigerating the dough will keep the cookie from spreading too much!
don’t roll too thin!
When rolling out the dough, don’t roll the cookies too thin. I usually roll to about 1/4 inch thickness. I like a thick sugar cookie, not a thin crunchy cookie! And make sure to prepare frosting with butter, never use shortening or margarine in frosting! The frosting is key in this cookie.
try using a decorating tip to frost!
A pretty way to decorate cookies is to double the frosting, and then spoon it into a bag with a 4B star tip.Frosting with a star tip is an easy way to make the cookies look festive.
They aren’t perfect. But each time I try to use a cake decorating tip, I get a little better. Let’s put emphasis on the word “little”. Wilton has tips for piping with the star tip I used here. Also, I loved this article by Orson Gygi on “Everything You Need to Know About Piping Tips” .
I’m anything BUT a cake decorator, I can barely squeeze the frosting out of the bag without having it get all over my hands! I am always amazed at people like my friend Courtney, who can make decorating a cake look effortless!
For me, I love the look, but it’s a once in a while sort of event! Most of the time, I simply frost the cookies and throw on some fun sprinkles.
roll and cut or scoop and bake sugar cookie
This cookie is also easy to make as a scoop and bake treat if you don’t want the mess of rolling out and cutting cookie shapes. Follow the directions on this post for Gluten Free Sugar Cookies if you are looking for the easiest method EVER for making frosted sugar cookies! Also, if you need to bake gluten free, I’ve never eaten a better GF treat in my life.
Our favorite sugar cookies recipe makes about 35-40 large cookies, enough for eating and sharing! The cookies by themselves are not very sweet.
The frosting on these cookies adds just the right amount of sweet to make this the most wonderful sugar cookie ever. I hope this becomes your favorite sugar cookie too!
This recipe was originally posted in 2011. Recipe and photos updated in 2025.
Our Favorite Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Please read recipe notes before starting to cook!
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup solid shortening or 1 cup additional unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 6 ¼-½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup milk
- plus additional flour for rolling out cookies
Butter Cream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring
- about 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Cream the butter, shortening and sugar together.
- Mix in vanilla and eggs. Beat on medium speed until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, mix together 6 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Mix at low speed just until all flour and milk are mixed into the butter mixture. Do not over mix. If the mixture feels too sticky, fold in another 1/4-1/2 cup of flour. I try to add as little extra flour as possible to keep the dough soft but not sticky!
- You may refrigerate at this point, overnight or up to three days before baking. It is best to refrigerate covered dough for at least 1-2 hours.
- Roll out on floured surface in batches about 1/4-inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters into desired shapes.
- Place immediately on ungreased baking sheets about one inch apart.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden on edges.
- Yields about 35-40 3×5 inch cookies
For the frosting
- Beat butter until soft. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar. Continue mixing on low.
- Add salt and vanilla.
- Add 2 more cups of the powdered sugar. Mix until smooth.
- Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, along with the last cup of powdered sugar.
- Scrape down sides of bowl, and mix until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Add food coloring if desired.
- Yields enough frosting for about four dozen cookies* see recipe notes.
Notes
- The dough will spread and puff up. Do not place the cookies too close together. If the cookie dough is refrigerated, the dough will not spread as much.
- There are many factors that effect the final product when baking. Some of those factors are: temperature of butter, mixer speed, temperature in the kitchen, altitude, if using butter or shortening or both. For this reason, I suggest baking a test batch of two cookies This will give you an idea of how much the cookies spread while baking, so you can make adjustments as needed.
- This recipe originally was given to me by a friend back in the 80’s. Back then, many cooks used shortening in cookies. The shortening in this recipe will help the cookies hold their shape, but I prefer to make cookies with all butter.
- To get a light frosting color, mix the food coloring at half strength. For instance; the directions to color a batch of orange frosting calls for 12 drops of yellow and 4 red. Use half of this amount.
- *If decorating the cookies using a large tip, make another 1/2 recipe of the frosting so you will have enough to decorate all of the cookies. If frosting the cookies using a knife, the amount in the recipe will be sufficient.
- If using any type of sprinkles, make sure to have the sprinkles handy right after frosting and apply. If you wait, the frosting will set up and the sprinkles will not adhere to the frosting.
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment and rate this recipe! I’d love to see a photo, tag @abountifulkitchen on Instagram!
Anne
How do you get the Icing to be
multi tinted
Referring to Christmas trees
Can’t tell by picture whether
it is white piping over green or whether frosting is not mixed fully
to achieve tone on tone appearance
Thank you
Jillian
Hello Anne!
I’m not sure how to make the icing different colors either. In this recipe Si uses food coloring to tint the frosting and she uses a couple different bowls for each color. One for green, one for white, one for yellow, and one for pink.
Happy baking!
Jillian
ABK Team
Becky Bradshaw
I noticed that this is the same cookie recipe that is in your book, except here you use 1 cup butter and 1 cup shortening, whereas in your book, you use 2 cups of butter. Which way do you prefer?
Si Foster
Hi Becky!
I prefer 2 cups of butter; it adds the perfect flavor and texture! However, the shortening is great to add and will still make fantastic cookies.
Happy baking!
XO,
Si
Nancy
I can’t wait to try these. I am forever trying to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe! I have a question on the amount of powdered sugar for the frosting. Do you have a tip for how you measure your powdered sugar? I wish every recipe listed grams or ounces instead of cups for things like flour and powdered sugar. Thanks!
Si Foster
Hi Nancy,
I just use a normal measuring cup; however, in grams it would be about 1680 grams. Hopefully this helps!
Happy Baking!
XO,
Si
Tavia
Great recipe! The cookie is not too sweet and the all butter frosting really makes these cookies delicious. I added in the baking soda in step 3 because it wasn’t mentioned in the recipe but in the ingredients. The 1/4 inch dough is a great thickness to work with–very easy to cut out!
Si Foster
Hi Tavia,
Thanks for the heads up! We will correct the recipe and add the baking soda into the steps!
xo
Si
Heather Dykstra
THE.BEST.SUGAR.COOKIES. E. V. E. R!
Si Foster
Thank you Heather!
xo
Si
Emily Buckley
This is a great recipe! The cookies are not too sweet, which makes them perfect with frosting. I used 6 1/2 cups of flour, plus just a little more for rolling out. After refrigerating for about an hour the dough was easy to work with (even for my little kiddos) and kept shape great. I accidentally baked one tray a couple minutes longer, and while they weren’t burned they definitely didn’t taste as good and were dry. 12 minutes is just right, so watch your time! This will be my go-to sugar cookie recipe now! (For reference we live in high altitude.)
Si Foster
Emily,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I agree, the bake time is just right and it makes a difference when they are over baked!
Thanks for reading ABK,
xo
Si
ValErie fowler
I love this recipe! So easy to make, and turns out great every time I make them! I use all butter, and add lemon essential oil to the buttercream.
Si Foster
Valerie,
Lemon essential oil?! I haven’t ever used it in buttercream. I will try that next time. Thanks for the tip!
xo
Si
heather Dykstra
These are THE only sugar cookies I’ll ever make! Seriously the best! P.S. I posted them on my insta story and I’m having a bunch of ladies and their kids over and I’m gonna “teach” them all how to make YOUR cookies. Thank you again! 😘
Si Foster
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that Heather, these are the funnest cookies to make with the kiddos! Thanks for sharing,
xo
Si
Elizabeth Bulfin
Si, do you make any adjustments for altitude? Ever since moving to NSL I haven’t found a sugar cookie recipe that works. The problem is the dough is so soft (even after refrigerating) that I can’t transfer the dough to the baking sheet. When I add flour they become tough and dry. I just made this recipe and it turned out great but I had to roll and cut them straight on the silicone baking mat (so lots of waste). Any suggestions? Thanks!
abountifulkitchen
Hi Elizabeth,
I don’t make adjustments for sugar cookies. I made this recipe for Christmas, and they turned out perfectly at about 4500 feet in elevation. No idea why these aren’t working for you? You will need to add some flour to the dough when rolling out, as it is quite soft, but the added flour shouldn’t make the dough tough. Make sure the flour is at room temperature and you are using all purpose flour in the recipe. Hope this helps!
Thanks for reading ABK,
so
Si
Erica
Do you still prefer these over the Cutler’s cookies?
abountifulkitchen
Erica,
Good question! I haven’t ever tried these side by side next to Cutler’s Sugar Cookies. I will have to make a batch of each sometime soon. When I do, I will let you know!
corryfever
Si…..Miss you!! Love your blog! I always come on here when I can't think of anything to make. It is so pretty and Colton was most impressed by your photographs! You are one talented lady! xo Tara
Dzoli
Will try as obviously my mom did not know this recipe;)
Bonnie
Si, I have used this same recipe for years for cutouts. Did we grow up with the same mother? My mom used it for years before I did. I love the softness of this cookie. It's the perfect vehicle for the frosting.