Learn to make easy small batch of sugar cookies recipe with simple ingredients, sour cream or cream cheese. No chilling necessary. No spreading during baking. These cut out cookies hold their shape perfectly and taste great. Great for cookie decorating, especially during Christmas holiday season.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from CakeWhiz
This was one of the first recipes I shared on my site many years ago. Over time, I have received a lot of wonderful comments and some feedback as well. Based on that and some more experiments in the kitchen, I have updated this recipe to make it even better.
My husband ate the whole batch in two sittings, which means this recipe is a winner. It's totally dummy proof and never fails, just like these Coconut Sugar Cookies (Cut Out). Depending on the size of your cookie cutter, you can make 1 dozen small cookies or about 6-8 large cookies. If you are fond of small batch baking, be sure to also check out my recipe for Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips.
Jump to:
Key ingredients
- Butter- Make sure to use unsalted for best results.
- Eggs- Only an egg yolk is required. Please don't use the whole egg or else you will end up with a very sticky dough.
- Sugar- You'll just need simple granulated or table sugar for this recipe.
- Sour cream- Adds a moist, rich texture to the cookies.
- Flour- Brings all ingredients together to form a nice dough.
- Salt- Balances out all that sweetness.
- Baking powder- Used as a rising agent.
- Vanilla extract- Brings in a warm aroma.
Why is this cut out cookie recipe perfect for you?
- These cookies hold their shape. There is no spreading during baking, which makes them perfect for cookie decorating.
- Unlike most classic cut out cookies, which become hard as rock in a few hours after baking, these 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 dough, cut out shapes and bake.
- You can easily change the flavor through the use of various spices and different extracts.
- Great for days when you suddenly have cravings but only want a small number of cookies to munch on.
Variations
- You can decorate- Them with Royal Icing or Glace Icing. Both will dry hard.
- For soft frosted cookies- Try my Best Sugar Cookie Frosting.
- Another option- Is to decorate them with my Homemade Marshmallow Fondant.
- Tint dough- With gel food coloring to make colorful cookies. I did that here with these Rainbow Cookies.
- For orange favor- Replace vanilla extract with ½ tablespoon orange extract and also add ½ tablespoon orange zest. You can add more or less zest depending on your preference.
- For almond flavor- Add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
- Spiced option- Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder.
How to make easy small batch of sugar cookies from scratch?
1. In a large mixing bowl- Add butter, sugar, egg yolk, sour cream, and vanilla.
2. Mix- Until light and fluffy.
3. Add flour- And mix until you have a crumbled dough.
4. Go in with your hands- And knead to form a ball of dough.
5. Roll dough- Between two sheets of parchment paper or wax paper.
6. Remove- The top sheet.
7. Cut out- Cookies with various cutters.
8. Bake- Until golden brown and firm along the edges.
Tips and techniques
- Don't ice or decorate your cookies- Until they have cooled fully to room temperature.
- You are only using an egg yolk- If you use the whole egg, the dough will be very sticky.
- If your dough is too crumbly- Mix in some water. Only add 1 teaspoon at a time because a small amount goes a long way.
- Line your pans with parchment paper- To ensure the cookies don't stick to the pan.
- Don't over bake- Because that will dry out the cookies and make them as hard as a rock.
- The number of cookies you get from this recipe- Depend on the size of your cutter (big or small) and how thick or thin you roll it. You can easily get 1 dozen small cookies that have a diameter of 2 inches. If you use a large cutter with a diameter of 3 inches, you can get 6-8 cookies.
- Make sure to use unsalted butter- To prevent these cookies from becoming too salty.
- Use room temperature ingredients- To ensure the dough comes together evenly and smoothly.
Recipe FAQs
This can happen when ingredients are not measured properly. Often the culprit is too much butter but it can also be not enough flour. It is also important to chill the dough prior to forming and baking.
Full fat plain greek yogurt or full fat cream cheese works well if you don't have sour cream on hand.
No, because the butter gives it a specific flavor and texture that oil will not.
Storage
- Refrigerate- Place in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
- Freeze- Unfrosted and non-decorated cookies can be stored in a sealed container for up to 1 month. Thaw, frost, and enjoy.
- Room temperature- Store in a cookie jar for up to 3 days.
- Make ahead- You can make these 1-2 days in advance and can also place in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week before serving.
More easy cookies
- Easy Funfetti Cookies (Cut Out)
- Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookies (With Cake Mix)
- Vanilla Crackle Cookies (Sugar Crinkle Cookies)
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies (Cut Out)
- Christmas Pinwheel Cookies (Spiral)
Recipe
Small Batch of Sugar Cookies (Cut Out)
Video
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from CakeWhiz
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Butter Unsalted, Room temperature
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- 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 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 dough will look odd and crumbly. That’s perfectly normal. You haven’t done anything wrong.
- Now it’s time to use your hands and knead this mixture into a ball of dough.
- Roll this dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
- Bake these cookies on a cookie tray, lined with parchment paper at 350 degrees F 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 and slightly soft in the center.
- Allow the cookies to cool down completely in the tray before removing them from the parchment paper. Enjoy!
Notes
- The number of cookies you get from this recipe will depend on the size of your cutter (big or small) and how thick or thin you roll it. You can easily get 1 dozen small cookies that have a diameter of 2 inches. If you use a large cutter with a diameter of 3 inches, you can get 6-8 cookies.
- Line your pans with parchment paper to ensure the cookies don't stick to the pan.
- Don't over bake because that will dry out the cookies and make them as hard as a rock.
- Don't ice or decorate your cookies until they have cooled fully to room temperature.
- You are only using an egg yolk. NOT the whole egg!
- For orange favor, replace vanilla extract with ½ tablespoon orange extract and also add ½ tablespoon orange zest. You can add more or less zest depending on your preference.
- For almond flavor, add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
- To make spiced flavor, add ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a cookie jar at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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.
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
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
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
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
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!
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
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....
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
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....
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!