Learn to make a small batch of sugar cookies recipe. This easy sugar cookie recipe requires no chilling. The cookies hold their shape and taste great.
I already shared my very small batch of sugar cookies recipe when I first started off this blog.
But over time, I have received a lot of feedback and suggestions.
Based on that, I have updated my small batch of chewy sugar cookies recipe and it’s so much better!
My husband ate the whole batch in two sittings, which means this recipe is a winner!
Depending on the size of your cookie cutter, this can be a 1 dozen sugar cookie recipe or you can easily double the recipe to make 2 dozen sugar cookie recipe.
I want to be clear and point out that these are NOT small batch drop sugar cookies.
These are a small batch of cut out cookies!
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This easy sugar cookie recipe is PERFECT because:
- The cookies hold their shape. There is no spreading during baking, which makes them perfect for cookie decorating.
- Unlike most classic cut out sugar cookies, which become hard as rock in a few hours after baking... these cut out cookies remain crispy on the outside and slightly soft on the inside.
- There is NO chilling required! You just mix all the ingredients, roll out the small batch sugar cookie dough, cut out shapes and bake.
- These sugar cookies from scratch can easily be modified with various spices and extracts to yield different flavors.
- This small batch sugar cookie recipe is perfect for days when you suddenly have the craving for cut out cookies but only want a small number of cookies to munch on.
- You can also use gel coloring to color the cookie dough and bake a tray of colorful sugar cookies.
How to make a small batch of sugar cookies from scratch?
The process is very SIMPLE. Start off by creaming together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk, vanilla extract, sour cream and mix until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until you have a small batch of sugar cookie dough. Roll between 2 sheets of wax paper. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake and enjoy!
This small batch of sugar cookies recipe is always a hit with my family and friends and the recipe is pretty much always REQUESTED!
I have made this simple sugar cookies recipe for birthday parties/ tea parties, decorated them and used them as party favors at small events and even taken them at family picnics.
You can decorate them with royal icing or glace icing (both will give you a hard finish) or classic American buttercream frosting.
By the way, if you like this small batch of soft sugar cookies recipe, you might also like some of these other delicious cookie recipes:
Recipe
Small Batch of Sugar Cookies
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup Butter Unsalted, Room temperature
- ⅓ cup Sugar Granulated
- 1 Egg yolk From large egg
- 1 tablespoon Full fat sour cream OR greek yogurt OR cream cheese
- ½ tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Baking powder
Instructions
- Cream sugar and butter in a deep bowl.
- Add egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is well-blended.
- Add sour cream and mix again. I think sour cream added some moisture to these cookies and prevented them from becoming very hard.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt.
- Mix everything. The batter will start to curdle and look odd. That’s perfectly normal… you haven’t done anything wrong.
- When the curdling happens, it’s time to use your hands to start mixing until you form a ball of cookie dough!
- Roll this dough between 2 sheets of wax paper or parchment paper.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes.
- Bake these cookies on a cookie tray, lined with parchment paper at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Then rotate your tray and bake for another 3 minutes. Your baking times may vary depending on the thickness of your cookies. Cookies are done when they are light golden brown along the edges.
- Allow the cookies to cool down completely before removing them from the parchment paper. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You are only using an egg yolk... NOT the whole egg!
- To make Orange sugar cookies, replace vanilla extract with ½ tablespoon orange extract or orange oil and also add ½ tablespoon orange zest. You can add more or less zest depending on your preference.
- To make Almond sugar cookies, add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
- To make Spiced sugar cookies, add ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Until next time, tata my lovelies!
Olivia
Can this recipe be made without wax paper?
cakewhiz
@Olivia...I have made these cookies once or twice, using foil paper sprayed with a VERY light coating of oil spray. Most cookies didn't stick to the pan but very few did. Wax paper/ parchment paper work the best.
Ruba
How many does this make please reply quickly as this is urgent xxx thanks
cakewhiz
@Ruba... The number of cookies you get depends on the size of cutter you are using and how thick you like to keep your cookies. I wish I could help you more...
Julie
I had my little sister over and made this dough. The only addition we had was a few drops of green food coloring. We then used one of her sandwich cutters as a cookie cutter. We ended up with green dinosaurs and decorated with pink and blue sugar crystals before baking, then used a small chocolate chip to press in a bit to act as an eye. This dough is one of the best ive tried. Great work!
Carolina
Can I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Here in Brazil I can't find sour cream
Abeer Rizvi
I have never tried that. So, I am sorry but I don't know how that would work in these cookies....
dancergirl
I love this recipe! I was wondering if you knew about how many calories per serving?
Abeer Rizvi
So happy to hear you like it! I have no idea about calories but I am guessing it won't be low coz of all that sugar and butter...lol
Tammy
Don't use a lot of sour cream, can it be substituted with anything. Would hate to buy a container just a teaspoon or so.
Abeer Rizvi
Hey Tammy, I haven't tried any substitutions but a reader emailed me, saying that she tried full fat greek yogurt and it worked well. I don't know how it affected the flavor though coz greek yogurt is a little tangy....
han
Hi..
You recipe is awesome!! I didn't have sour cream so I replaced with cream cheese I have in the fridge. The dough was really soft, after cut out shape, I can't transfer to baking pan. So I put in the freezer for 15 minutes (meanwhile I clean up the kitchen). Bring out the freezer, transfer cookies to tray and bake. They spread a bit. I followed advice from other blog, roll cookie dough around 2-3 cm thick. Cookies retain their shape, not too crunchy.
Thanks for the best cookies ever!
Abeer Rizvi
Hi Han,
I am so happy to hear you liked these cookies, Han. I just made a batch last night for my little kiddo
Chiron
Thank you so much! Made these tonight and were perfect! Kept shape and very easy to roll out and cut out. I prefer small batches with no fussy ingredients esp when I realised I had exacty 2 cups of flour! . I did not have sour cream so added a touch of milk. I added nutmeg, cinammon n ginger and loved that they were not too sweet as I was planning to decorate. Again thanks: this will be my go to. May try as stained glass next time!
Abeer Rizvi
That's so good to hear, Chiron! Thanks for letting me know about the addition of milk... I haven't tried that yet but many people have asked me what they can use instead of sour cream. So, this would be very helpful to them!
ps: I have made these as stained glass cookies before and they turn out beautiful! You are gonna love them!
Regina
Your recipe reminds me my mothers, which does not require chilling. For some reason I can not roll the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper because the papers keep moving. Do you have any tips on how to keep the 2 sheets without moving when rolling the dough?
Thank you
Abeer Rizvi
Hey Regina... i know exactly what you mean about the wax paper moving around. It's so annoying! lol. But, this is what I do. I rub a little shortening on my countertop and then place a sheet of wax paper on top of it. This way, the wax paper sticks to the surface and doesn't move around. But, if you have that really shiny smooth marble surface, then you can just tape down the wax paper to the counter top. That works well too. Hope this helps
Michelle
Lol, for those wanting to take avantage of good results from small batch recipe have a question regarding doubling it: if double (or triple) recipe do you staight out multiply the yolks also? Or if multiply recipe can just put whole egg in place of two yolks?
Abeer Rizvi
Since this is a small batch recipe, I have never tried doubling it or multiplying any ingredients. I have another big batch recipe that I use for Christmas cookie exchanges but I haven't posted that yet.
Shelby
I have doubled the recipe and it works perfect. And yes I doubled the egg yolks as well.... I have made the recipe with whole eggs and it is richer tasting, but does require refridgeration due to the extra liquid. Hope that helps. BTW - this is THE best sugar cookie recipe hands down. Tastes like my Great-Great Grandma's did. Yummy
Abeer Rizvi
Awesome! Thanks for sharing that... I am always scared to double recipes but I am delighted to hear it worked. Woohoo!
Fiona Edwards
I have also doubled and quadrupled the recipe and it works perfectly just multiplying up all the ingredients. I use extra large eggs and replace the sour cream with the same quantity of full fat milk. In the UK I haven't found anywhere you can buy waxed paper so I just roll it out using lots of cornflour. I've passed your recipe onto a few friends and they have had the same success. Everyone loves these biscuits and I decorate using a thin layer of ready coloured fondant. Just made 50 for my husband to take into work to celebrate his birthday. They went down a storm.
Abeer Rizvi
I am so happy to hear these cookies are such a big hit with your family and friends. Thanks for sharing all your recipe changes as well
Jenna
This is by far the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever found! Thank you so much, it is amazing! The dough stays together without crumbling or cracking when rolling it out. It also holds it's shape while baking, and it tastes amazing as well!!!! Thank you again!
Abeer Rizvi
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies! They taste even better when they are frosted or dipped in chocolate... yummmm!
Jenna
Agreed! I love decorating them
Alex
This is my go-to recipe for sugar cookies for 4 years now. Everyone loves them! My tip is to add more vanilla. The more the better!
Abeer Rizvi
I get sooooo happy when I see messages like yours about this recipe's success. This is our go-to sugar cookie recipe too and has been for years now! My hubby loves a lot of vanilla as well and I agree... the more, the better
Paula
Can you re-roll the scraps to use up all the dough?
Abeer Rizvi
I do that and never had any issues although, the dough will get tougher the more you knead it and roll it out. So, I only recommend re-rolling it ONCE and then just bake any leftover scraps. Those won't be pretty but still taste great
Brianna
Hi! Do you mean 1/2 tsp for the vanilla??
Abeer Rizvi
Nope. That quantity is correct. I LOVE vanilla extract and always use a lot! You can use less, if you like.