About These Perfectly Chewy Drop Sugar Cookies
This drop sugar cookie recipe makes perfectly chewy, buttery sugar cookies—no cookie cutters or icing needed! The recipe instructs you to scoop the cookie dough like you would in a recipe for chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles.
Doing so makes a chewy cookie similar to a snickerdoodle or a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate. If you like shortbread flavors of vanilla and butter, this drop sugar cookie recipe is perfect for you. It’s basically shortbread, but with a chocolate chip cookie exture.
You don’t need icing or frosting like you would a cut out sugar cookie recipe that requires you to roll the dough. The best part? Your pantry and fridge probably already has all the ingredients you need to make these cookies. No chilling of the dough required!
Looking for a cut out sugar cookie recipe perfect for the holidays? Check out my Best, Foolproof Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe!
For more perfect, chewy cookies on Hummingbird High, check out this popular Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream of Tartar and these Lavender Earl Grey Cookies.
Ingredients and Substiutions
Now that I’ve convinced you to make this easy drop sugar cookie recipe, let’s talk about key ingredients and any potential substitutions:
Ingredient Sources and Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour: You can use a 1-1 gluten free all purpose flour replacer to make the recipe gluten free. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour or King Arthur Flour Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
- Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!
- Unsalted Butter: In a pinch, you can use salted butter to make the cookies. The cookies will come out slightly saltier than usual. Don’t worry—the difference is subtle. There’s no need to adjust the salt in the recipe.
Making The Cookies (With Photos!)
Here are some photos of key steps in the recipe:
Norpro 3-Tablespoon (50MM) Stainless Steel Cookie Scoop
Storing The Sugar Cookies
After baking, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Can you freeze the cookies?
Yes! You can freeze the cookies in the following ways:
- Freeze the UNBAKED cookie dough.
Follow the recipe instructions to make the cookie dough and scoop them out into cookie dough balls. Place the cookie dough balls in a small sheet pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour, or until the cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 1 year.
To bake the frozen cookie dough balls, line sheet pans with parchment paper and position the cookie dough balls at least 3 inches apart on the sheet pans. Then, follow the recipe instructions to preheat the oven and coat the cookies in sugar. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey. - Freeze the BAKED cookies.
Individually wrap any leftover cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes before serving.
Best Recipe Tips
Tips About Baking The Cookies
- I like to bake the cookies one pan at a time. I find that doing so makes the best cookies, ensuring that none of them have overly burnt bottoms or raw centers. However, to save time, you can bake two sheet pans at a time. Position a rack in the upper-third position of the oven, and a second one in the lower-third position of the oven. Bake a pan on each rack, swapping their positions half way through the Bake Time.
- If you find that the cookies are coming out with burnt or overly brown edges, don’t panic! Simply refrigerate the dough for an hour (scooped or otherwise) before baking.
A Tip About Customizing The Recipe
- This perfectly chewy drop sugar cookie recipe is great for customizing! You can add fruit zest and extract to give the cookies a zesty, fruity flavor like I did in this Chewy and Zesty Lemon Sugar Cookies recipe.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Uh oh! Did the cookies come out puffier than expected? Check out my troubleshooting guide on How To Fix Puffy Cookies (And Other Cookie Baking Fails)!
Get the Recipe: Perfectly Chewy Drop Sugar Cookie Recipe (No Frosting Needed!)
Ingredients
For the Sugar Topping
- ¼ cup (1.75 ounces or 50 grams) granulated sugar
For the Cookie Dough
- 2 ¼ cups (10.15 ounces or 288 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups (8.75 ounces or 248 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Equipment
- a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop
Instructions
- Prep the oven and baking pans. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Prep the sugar topping. Pour the sugar for the topping into a shallow bowl.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream the butter and sugar, then add the egg, vanilla, and dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 4 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg and vanilla, and beat until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
- Assemble the cookies. Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls. Roll each in the sugar topping, covering them completely. Place the coated cookies at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.
- Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey. The cookies will look puffed when you pull them out of the oven, but will fall and crack into the perfect cookies as they cool. Cool the cookies on the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
- Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
buy the book
Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
Cookies can be called by other terms in different countries like a biscuit or crisp as examples. I’ve never heard them referred to as muffins as you do in your post so I am curious what part of the world you are from and do you have other muffin recipes?
Ingredient Sources and Substitutions
All-Purpose Flour: You can use a 1-1 gluten free all purpose flour replacer to make these muffins gluten free. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour or King Arthur Flour Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!
Unsalted Butter: In a pinch, you can use salted butter to make these muffins. The muffins will come out slightly saltier than usual. Don’t worry—the difference is subtle. There’s no need to adjust the salt in the recipe.
Oops, sorry! That was a typo. I’ve fixed the post.
I’m not one to leave reviews but I had to come back to this recipe and tell you how amazing it was. I am an avid baker but haven’t made sugar cookies like this before, and my whole family raved about these and said how they were better than crumbl cookie. My daughter asked me to “add this to my recipe box” so I wanted to share this has the very exclusive honor of being added our family recipe box. Thank you for a great recipe and I’ll be excited to try some others of yours!