The best small batch sugar cookies recipe! These soft, lofthouse-style sugar cookies melt in your mouth and are topped with a rich buttercream frosting.
If you're looking for the best sugar cookies recipe, you've come to the right place. This cookie recipe is a keeper and has been in my recipe files for years.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Small batch sugar cookies recipe: This is a scaled-down version of the sugar cookie recipe I've used to make lofthouse cookies for my kids' classroom parties, for school bake sales, and for holiday parties.
- Soft sugar cookies: The cookies are easy to make and they're buttery and soft. The ingredients are mixed in one bowl and the cookies bake for 10 minutes.
- This recipe will yield about six perfect sugar cookies.
- Everyone loves them!: Sugar cookies are wonderful cookies to make for the holidays or to bring to cookie swaps. They're actually perfect for Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas, or Valentine's Day too.
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Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
- Butter: I use softened salted butter which adds flavor and buttery goodness to every bite. You want to use softened butter in this sugar cookies recipe because you want to cream the butter and the sugar together to create air pockets. These air pockets are what help make these cookies light and airy. Softened butter should still be cool to the touch but when you press your finger into the butter, your finger will leave an indentation.
- Sugar: Use granulated sugar to deliver the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Egg: 1 egg is all you need to add structure to the cookies.
- Vanilla extract and salt: For flavor.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder: This helps give the cookies a little lift.
How To Make A Small Batch Of Sugar Cookies
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, mix together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the egg.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing just until the ingredients are combined. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, heat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Scoop up a quarter cup of the dough and roll it into a ball and place it on a baking sheet.
- Flatten the ball slightly with your fingers or a spatula and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and space the cookies at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cookie rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream Icing Ingredients
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts.
- Powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
- Milk or cream
- Food coloring (optional)
- To make the frosting, whisk together powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
If you want to color your frosting, you can mix in 3 to 4 drops of food coloring.
- Use a knife or offset spatula or spoon to frost the cooled cookies. Finish the cookies off with a topping of sprinkles, if desired.
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Expert Tips
- Use softened butter, not cold butter in this sugar cookie recipe. Softened butter should still be cool to the touch but when you press your finger into the butter, your finger will leave an indentation. The best way to soften your butter is to put it out on the kitchen counter for a half hour before you want to use it. Another way to quickly soften butter is to put the cold butter in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. If you use this method, be sure to watch carefully - you don't want the butter to melt at all.
- Measure the flour by using the spoon and level method. To measure flour correctly, use a spoon to scoop flour into a dry measuring cup and slightly overfill it. Then, use the back of a knife or other straight-edged utensil to level the flour across the cup. Do not scoop the flour. When you scoop, the flour gets packed too tightly and you will end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
- The key to making spectacular sugar cookies is to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking. The reason is that chilling the dough solidifies the fat. As the cookies bake, the fat (butter) takes longer to melt which means the cookies won't spread out as much.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sugar cookies stay fresh for 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If refrigerated, they last for 1 week.
Yes! If you want to make a dozen cookies, this sugar cookie recipe can be doubled.
The frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to frost the cookies.
For best results, bring the frosting to room temperature before using it and mix it with a spoon or hand mixer. You might need to add additional milk so that the frosting is easier to spread.
Are you familiar with lofthouse cookies? They're the ones that you often see in the bakery section of supermarkets. Lofthouse cookies are popular because they're not only soft and sweet, but they're so pretty too. Often topped with colorful frosting and a scattering of candied sprinkles, they're perfect for parties.
These soft sugar cookies are very similar to lofthouse cookies but they're so much tastier.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small batch sugar cookies recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes.
- Flour: Mini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, Apple Dutch Baby, Flour Tortillas, Peach Crisp
- Baking powder: Corn Muffins, Carrot Souffle, Pancake Mix, Strawberry Shortcake
- Butter: Mini Texas Sheet Cake, Graham Cracker Crust, Rice Krispies Treats, Mini Pecan Pie
- Sugar: Mini Dutch Apple Pie, Peanut Butter Pie, Pralines, Refrigerator Jam
- Vanilla: Whipped Cream, Mini Hummingbird Cake, Vanilla Ice Cream, Butter Pecan Granola
- Egg: Eggs Benedict, Mini Boston Cream Pie, Cheesy Baked Eggs, Coconut Cream Pie
- Powdered sugar: Apple Fritters, Triple Chocolate Scones, Chocolate Cupcakes, Cranberry Orange Scones
- Milk: Butterscotch Pudding, Hot Chocolate, Panna Cotta, Biscuits
- Food coloring: Shamrock Shake, Red Velvet Donuts, Mini King Cake, Sugarplums
- Sprinkles: Frozen Chocolate Banana, Strawberry Milkshake, Vanilla Cupcakes
Other Small Batch Cookie Recipes
- Lace Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Pecan Cookies
- Meringue Cookies
- Tropical White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Soft Ginger Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Butter Cookies
- Ricotta Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
For this easy sugar cookies recipe, I use a quarter sheet pan and a quarter-sized silicone baking mat. Both of these items can be found on our bakeware page.
If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
To see examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
RELATED: 15 Easy Dessert Recipes For One
If you’ve tried these soft sugar cookies or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
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Recipe
Small Batch Sugar Cookies Recipe
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Video
Equipment
- quarter sheet pan
- quarter sized silicone baking mat
Ingredients
FOR THE SUGAR COOKIES
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter , softened
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
FOR THE FROSTING
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
- 1 ½ tablespoons salted butter , softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk (Start off by using 2 tablespoons of milk. If you would like the frosting to be thinner, add more milk). Use cream as alternative.
- 3 to 4 drops food coloring , optional
- sprinkles , optional
Instructions
TO MAKE THE SUGAR COOKIES
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, mix together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
- Beat in the vanilla and the egg.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, heat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Scoop up a quarter cup of the dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and space the cookies at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. The edges should be very slightly browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cookie rack to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE FROSTING
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
- Tint with food coloring, if desired.
- Use a knife or offset spatula or spoon to frost the cooled cookies.
- Top with sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
- Use softened butter, not cold butter in this sugar cookie recipe. Softened butter should still be cool to the touch but when you press your finger into the butter, your finger will leave an indentation. The best way to soften your butter is to put it out on the kitchen counter for a half hour before you want to use it. Another way to quickly soften butter is to put the cold butter in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. If you use this method, be sure to watch carefully - you don't want the butter to melt at all.
- Measure the flour by using the spoon and level method. To measure flour correctly, use a spoon to scoop flour into a measuring cup and slightly overfill. Then, use the back of a knife or other straight edged utensil to level the flour across the cup. Do not scoop the flour. When you scoop, the flour gets packed too tightly and you will end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
- The key to making spectacular sugar cookies is to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking. The reason is because chilling the dough solidifies the fat. As the cookies bake, the fat (butter) takes longer to melt which means the cookies won't spread out as much.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Colleen Orrick says
Hi Joanie, we made these cookies with gluten free flour and they turned out really well except we had to bake them for a total of 18 minutes. It was a brand new stove so I don’t think it was the oven and I’ve never had that problem with gf flour before. Despite this they were melt in your mouth yummy!
Joann says
Delicious recipe! If I wanted to make the butter cream frosting look like a matt finish so I could write on it would you recommend heating the butter cream frosting for 30 seconds to loosen it up? Thanks
Joanie Zisk says
I would add in more powdered sugar which will absorb some of the frosting's oil from the butter. You can also cool the frosting by putting it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes. This should make the frosting easier to write on.
LaDonna says
I made these yesterday, I was just wondering how to adjust the recipe to make cutout type cookies. We really liked them, I have never made a successful sugar cookie before. I am going to add a tad more sugar to the dough. These were really good!
Joanie Zisk says
I'm so glad you enjoyed the cookies. This sugar cookie recipe doesn't work very well for cut-out sugar cookies and we don't have a recipe for those types of cookies yet - stay tuned though.
MJ says
Hi,
Is this suitable for preparing ahead of time and freezing (without the icing)?
Thanks!
MJ
Joanie Zisk says
The baked cookies can be frozen. I haven't frozen the cookies before baking but I see no reason why you couldn't.
Roxie says
Joanie,
Do you have diabetic (keto) recipes? I live alone and enjoy your recipes, but I must watch my sugar.
Thanks
Joanie Zisk says
Yes we do, Roxie. Please use the search box which looks like a magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the page and search for low carb and keto recipes.
Christina says
I made these cookies for me and my daughter since we were craving something sweet. These were so easy to make and came out delicious! So buttery and soft! Will be making them a lot for Christmas
Joanie Zisk says
I'm so glad you and your daughter enjoyed the cookies. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Katie says
My cookies didn’t spread/rise, do I need to add more baking powder or maybe use baking soda instead?
Joanie Zisk says
Hi Katie,
The cookies really don't spread all that much. They should be big and puffy though. The ingredient amounts are accurate, I would check the expiration date of the baking powder you used. Expired baking powder loses its potency after its use-by date and this can cause your cookies to improperly rise.
Pat Rose says
Delicious! This is my second batch, hubby who is a die-hard chocolate chip cookie fan has just declared his new favourite.
Only change I made was to use a mocha buttercream frosting- thanks for sharing.
Joanie Zisk says
Hi Pat,
I'm so glad you and your husband enjoyed the cookies - they're some of my favorites too. I bet they were fantastic with mocha buttercream, I'll have to try that.
Take care,
Joanie
Jayne says
Can I add Ricotta cheese to the Sugar Cookie recipe, reminds me so much
of the Italian cookies. Thanks for your time and trouble
Joanie Zisk says
Hi Jayne,
I've never tried adding ricotta cheese to the recipe. If you add it, please let me know how they turn out.
Thank you.
Joanie
Jayne says
Thanks Joanie for your quick reply... Will start experimenting and let
you know.
Beth Kleinschmidt says
Hello..I was just wondering what amount of almond extract to use instead of vanilla? These cookies are magnificent by the way ❤
Angela says
Can’t I substitute cake and pastry flour and not add baking powder.
Joanie Zisk says
Angela,
Just about any substitution will alter the taste and texture of anything you are baking. In the case of these sugar cookies, I have not tested the recipe with anything other than the ingredients listed in the recipe. If you do use cake or pastry flour, you would still need to add baking powder because flours need a leavener to make the cookies rise. Feel free to experiment though and if you do, please let me know how they turn out.
Joanie