Drop Sugar cookies are soft, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie perfection! Without even the slightest hesitation, I can declare this to be our family’s all-time favorite Christmas sugar cookie recipe.
If you polled them, it wouldn’t be just a wide majority. I believe you would get a 100% affirmative from each of them! These sugar cookies are that good!
Frosted Drop Sugar Cookies are the first cookies to disappear out of all that I make each year. (Even the ones I hide. lol)
My Drop Sugar Cookie recipe is the one everybody wants more of. That everyone wants the recipe for. That are most often requested for parties.
They also happen to be about the easiest cookie I make. What’s better than that?
Wanna know a secret? I make these all year round, not just for Christmas. Yeah…they’re that kind of easy and delicious!
Enjoy, my friend!
The Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- Butter I use salted butter, but use your own preference. It doesn’t seem to affect the outcome of this drop sugar cookie recipe.
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
For the Frosting:
- Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk
- Powdered Sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
FAQ’s
I don’t recommend rolling and cutting drop cookie dough. Technically, you could chill it and then put it between two sheets of parchment and roll it out. Then you could cut the cookies out. After that you would need to chill the cut cookies before baking and even then, this particular dough will spread more than you typically want for cut-out cookies. Your cookies will lose any definition and design during baking. This dough was made for delicious drop sugar cookies. In a few weeks, I’ll share a good cut-out cookie recipe.
Baking powder creates a bigger rise and a lighter, “cake-like” crumb. We want these cookies to be soft and chewy, not cake-like, so I don’t use any baking powder. Baking soda is the only leavening necessary.
No Need for Rolling and Cutting
It was so important to me to stress that you can still have fun and nicely decorate these delicious, soft and chewy sugar cookies.
If you don’t have the tools or patience for rolled and cut-out sugar cookies, you can still create wonderful decorated cookie designs.
Last year, before our family Christmas Eve get-together, my daughters, daughter-in-law and granddaughters all got together at my house for a sugar cookie baking and decorating party.
You guys! It was so much fun and hopefully the beginning of a new holiday tradition.
With just a basic buttercream recipe, these soft and chewy sugar cookies can be frosted and decorated to fit any occasion. We used butter knives or icing spatulas to simply spread the frosting over the tops of the cookies.
Then with some piping bags and half a dozen of the most common decorator tips, some mini M&Ms and various Christmas cookie and cake sprinkles, we set to decorating our sugar cookies.
I think everybody had great ideas and I love how varied the designs were. From the youngest to the oldest, everybody just created what made them happy. I think they turned out great!
And what a fun family time we had doing it! You guys have to plan a drop sugar cookie decorating party, this year! It’ll be a blast!
How to Make Frosted Drop Sugar Cookies
There’s no big secret to these delicious cookies. It’s the basic cookie formula, again.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything is fully incorporated.
- Drop them by the cookie-scoopful onto greased or lined cookie sheets.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes. The trickiest part of the whole recipe will be figuring out the time for your specific oven. (When I’m figuring that out, I’ll bake one sugar cookie, just to get a feel for how the dough acts in my oven.)
How to Know When the Cookies are Done
These cookies will puff up in the oven, the tops will have lost their dampness.
When you touch one, lightly, with your finger, the top of the cookie will feel dry, but you will be able to tell it’s still super soft in the middle. That’s when you pull them out of the oven. Trust me.
Set the cookie sheet right on your cooling rack for several minutes. The cookies will finish “baking” and setting up.
As they cool, they will lose there puffiness and be flatter. The tops may even look a little “wrinkled”.
You’ve done everything perfectly. That’s exactly how they should be. After 3 or 4 minutes transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Decorating Sugar Cookies
When they are completely cool, these scrumptious sugar cookies are soft and chewy.
You can get as elaborate or as simple as you want with your decorating.
Simply spread the frosting over the sugar cookie tops and call it good. That’s what we do when it isn’t Christmastime.
Or break out the piping bags, candy and sprinkles to create your own beautiful sugar cookie masterpieces.
However you decide to decorate them, you my friend, are going to get the title of Christmas Cookie Royal Baker when you put these out for friends and family.
Yes. Be prepared for Christmas Cookie infamy. It belongs to you, now!
Much love and Merry Christmas!
As always, thanks so much for being great supporters and my favorite blog readers!
If you do make drop sugar cookies using this recipe, i hope you’ll consider dropping by, again and leaving a comment on this post with a 5 star rating.
Those 5 star ratings help other readers find our recipes when they do searches on Google.
Thanks so much and happy baking!
The Recipe
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Frosted Drop Sugar Cookies
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 36–40 cookies 1x
Description
Drop Sugar cookies are soft, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie perfection! Without even the slightest hesitation, I can declare this to be our family’s all-time favorite Christmas sugar cookie recipe.
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup butter
- 2 Tablespoon vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons milk
- 2 lbs. powdered sugar
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Drop by cookie scoop onto a greased or lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. (Cookies will be puffed up and super soft. They will be barely dried on top. I promise, if you want soft, chewy cookies, you need to pull them out, now. Place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and allow the cookies to set for 3-5 minutes before taking them off the pan. They will lose their puffiness as they settle.)
- To make frosting, beat all ingredients together with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, until a thick creamy frosting has formed.
- Frost completely cooled cookies. You can add sprinkles or decorations if you choose.
- Store in airtight container once frosting has set up.
Notes
These freeze extremely well. Put wax paper between the layers if stacking. If freezing, you can frost them, but I would avoid sprinkle decorations as those will bleed as the cookie thaws.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 min
- Category: Desserts, Cookies
- Cuisine: American
More Deliciously Easy Christmas Cookies and Desserts
- Spritz Cookies with Jam, from Wendy over at Wendy Polisi blog
- Easy Yule Log Recipe, from Laura, at Little House Big Alaska
- Christmas Sandwich Cookies, from Arlene, at Flour on My Face
- Raspberry Jam Shortbread Cookies, from Lois, at Walking on Sunshine Recipes
- Fat Gingerbread Man Cookies, from Lenny, at Fat Dad Foodie
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.
About Glenda
I believe cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be complicated and that YOU can do it. My simple recipes, tutorials, and cooking tips will help you get weeknight dinners on the table with less stress. Forget takeout or the drive-thru. Let me show you how to make homemade easy. Read more...
my fam’s been making these every year for our cookie decorating get-together. they’re so good! glad to find one that uses real butter. always a hit
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, NE Mom! Thank you!
I’ve tried a few sugar cookie recipes and this one is the best. Even good without the frosting. I don’t like a crumbly cookie, and these are nice and soft. Will keep this as my go-to. Thanks!
Wallace, thanks so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
These turn out perfect every time, I don’t change a thing! Best sugar cookies, a classic. 👍
So glad to hear it, Lacy! We love them, too!
This recipe didn’t work for me. Did everything as instructed, used only 3 1/4 cup flour following directions as to have a soft but not to sticky dough. Baked 1st batch 8 minutes and still raw so gave 2 minutes more. Looked set so removed tray and set for minutes 5 minutes before removing to racks. They were undercooked and raw, disgusting to be honest. Did not raise way up as recipe I’d either and my soda is dated for next year. Next 2 batches raised a little but I cooked longer so now the edges are a little crispy but center soft. The only thing good for me personally is the frosting. Will not ever be making again. Beyond disappointed.
Pooh Lover, so sorry to hear about your trouble. As long as you didn’t substitute any ingredients, i.e. margarine instead of butter, etc. I can’t imagine what might have gone wrong. We just made a double batch here at home and they are as wonderful as always. It’s very possible you needed the full 3 1/2 cups of flour. Have you tested your oven temperature, recently to be sure it’s holding the temperature it’s set for? Or are you possibly at a high altitude that would require altering baking instructions. I’m at a loss for why this simple and popular recipe hasn’t worked for you. And I’m sure sorry to hear you were disappointed.
I’m not the most experienced baker so I am testing cookies early this year (twist my arm, right?) These came out perfectly. I’ll be bookmarking this recipe to use from here on out! Thank you!
Gen, I couldn’t be more excited for you! I love when I find recipes that just work, every single time. So happy you loved the cookies!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! I made these for Christmas and they were delicious! I did have a question about the amount of powdered sugar in the frosting. After I had added about one pound, the frosting seemed to be thick enough, so I didn’t add the remaining pound (I was afraid it would become too thick to spread easily.) The frosting was delicious, I just wondered if adding the remaining sugar would have made a difference in some way.
Hi Ann! Thanks for stopping by to let me know you enjoyed the recipe. As far as the powdered sugar, I’m not sure. If all your other ingredients were measured exactly as mine that would have been much too thin a frosting for us. We enjoy it being able to dry and firm up in the refrigerator and have enough body to be piped if we decide to decorate more elaborately. We also spread it on fairly thickly. Nothing runs over the edges or sides of the cookie. It is a thick, but soft spread. If 1 lb. worked well for you, I would go with what is best at your house. Happy New Year!
What size cookie scoop do you recommend?
I use the smallest scoop from this set, slightly heaped. https://amzn.to/33LSyDb It makes about a 1 1/2 to 1 3/4″ ball of dough. The scoop is a #50 size. It’s an affiliate link to the scoops I have.
Thanks for stopping by, today, Diane! Have a wonderfully blessed Christmas!
What a wonderfully easy cookie recipe and just in the nick of time. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you, Bernice! Merry Christmas!
These cookies are everything a cookie should be – soft, flavorful, a great vehicle for frosting but also great on their own! I will never make another recipe!
Jenni, you’ve made my day! So glad you love them. Have a Merry Christmas!
You can’t beat a good sugar cookie! These are great!
Thank so much, Paula! Have a great Christmas!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter for both the cookies and the frosting? Thank you!
Kristin, I use salted butter. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Thank you! You too! One last question. The recipe says 3-3 1/2 cups of flour. How much do you typically use and/or what determines it? Planning to make these this weekend! Thanks again.
Kristin
Hi Kristin! The time of year is a big factor in the amount of flour I use. If there is high humidity it usually takes a little more and in the winter when the furnace is going and the air is drier it’s closer to the 3 or 3 1/4 cup measurement. You want the dough to be soft, but not super sticky. It can help to bake up just one cookie for the first round to check the consistency of the dough. That way it’s easy to make adjustments before you bake a whole tray. We like them to spread a little, but not get too thin. We like a thicker, soft and chewy cookie, so I adjust the flour to be able to achieve that texture in whatever weather we’re experiencing.
Frosted drop sugar cookies looks delicious I would love to try it.
I hope you get a chance to, Swathi. They are the one cookie that the entire family is in agreement on each holiday season. Definitely the family favorite! Thanks for stopping by to leave a note, today!
I have been searching for a soft sugar cookie recipe like this! My kids can’t get enough of them!
Woot! Dana, that makes me so happy. I’m excited that you (and they( are enjoying them. Have a wonderful holiday season!
Love these cookies! So much easier to make than the cookie-cutter sugar cookies, and they taste so yummy!
It really is a simple recipe. I’m so glad you are enjoying them, Jaclyn!
Ooh these sound yummy. Can’t wait to try it.
Thank you, Relle! I hope you and your family love them!
These cookies look beautiful and festive. Perfect for Holidays. I’m going to bake them for sure.
Thanks so much, Natalie! I hope they are a great addition to your holiday baking.