This is one of my favorite sugar cookie dough recipes because they are my no-spread, no-chill sugar cookies. Soft, chewy cookies made with just four main ingredients that take 10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to cut shapes, and 10 minutes to bake.
Table of Content
Have you ever needed to make sugar cookies urgently? Well, it happens to me sometimes. I have on occasion been really late to make the dough and then realize - oh no... I forgot about the cookies.Â
I'm not a cookie decorator, but being a cake decorator gets people to automatically assume that I also do cookies. So often, I get the job of baking cookies for the kid's school bake sale or other events. These and my no-spread sugar cookies are always there to my rescue.
Why make these cookies?
- This recipe is derived from my popular sugar cookie recipe. The best part is you do not need to chill the dough before you roll these, nor do you need to chill the cookies before you bake them. A big bonus is that they do not spread when baking. So, no chill, no spread, sugar cookies.
- The recipe needs only 4 main ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. And I also add salt and vanilla extract. These are simple pantry staples that are always on hand.
- The dough as well as the cookies have a great shelflife. You can prepare the dough and keep it in the fridge for up to a month. Perfect for the busy holiday season.
- They are amazing to roll and cut into shapes. I also used this cookie recipe to make my Marbled Sugar Cookies and when I made my Valentine Heart Cookies.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Unsalted butter - I like to use unsalted butter in all my baking so I can control the amount of salt. And yet, if you must use salted butter just omit the salt in the recipe.
- All-purpose flour - I always use all-purpose flour with great success. You do not need any other flour.
- Sugar - Use fine grain sugar similar to castor sugar. This will dissove easily in the butter giving you a light and fluffy dough.
- Vanilla extract - You can use vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste as well as vanilla sugar.
Step by step instructions
Prepare dough
- Preheat the oven at 350°F / 177°C / Gas Mark 4.
- Sift together the flour and salt (as well as cocoa powder for the chocolate sugar cookies).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing each until well incorporated.
Pro tip - Incorporating each egg well before adding the next one will ensure the dough does not curdle. - Next, add the flour mixture and combine well but do not overmix.
Pro tip - We do not want to activate the gluten and make our cookies tough so just bring it all together until no dry flour is visible. - Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap well and set aside. It is easier to work with smaller portions rather than the whole batch at once.
Pro tip - If you are not using it immediately, this dough can be stored in the fridge for 2 to3 days or frozen for up to a month.
Roll, cut-out, and bake
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Dust the rolling pin and surface of the dough lightly with more flour as needed.
Pro tip - Use only enough flour as necessary and dust off excess to prevent the cookies from drying out. - Roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. You can roll them thinner than ¼ inch but I would not recommend below ⅛ inch as the cookies will bake crisp.
Pro tip - I like using a rolling pin with spacers so I know the dough is even all over. - Cut the dough using the desired shaped cookie cutters and place them on a cookie sheet one inch apart.
Pro tip - I like to cut the cookies on parchment paper and remove the excess dough around the cut shape. This will ensure the cut shape is not distorted. - If necessary, transfer the cookies to a baking tray with parchment paper. Bake the cookies from the center rack for 8 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies.
Pro tip - The cookies will bake white and should have a slight color on the bottom. So do not overbake these cookies. - When baked, let cool on the cookie sheet for 7 to 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a cooling rack to cool further.
Pro tip - The cookies will continue to bake with the residue heat on the cookie sheet until cooled completely. - Store in an airtight container. These are delicious on their own or can be frosted with buttercream, royal icing, fondant, or sugar glaze.
Sugar glaze
- In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar with milk until you have a thick pouring consistency.
Pro tip - It is better to keep the consistency for icing thick. Thinner icing will flow outside easily and not dry as well.
Storage
- This cookie recipe can be halved or double without any issues.
- The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Or, it can also be frozen for up to three months. If frozen, thaw in the fridge over-night before you roll out.
- The baked cookies will stay at room temperature for up to 2 weeks but best eaten within a few days.
More sugar cookie recipes
- Best Vanilla Sugar Cookies - chocolate sugar cookies
- Soft Almond Sugar Cookies
- No Spread Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Gingerbread Sugar Cookies
- Cinnamon sugar cookies
- Rice flour sugar cookies
- See all cookie recipes
Frequently asked questions
Are you sure I do not need to chill the dough? Do I need to chill sugar cookie dough?Â
It is always a good practice to chill cookies while the oven is preheating. Chilling cookie dough helps solidify the butter in the cookies, which helps when baking. It prevents the cookie from spreading as chilled dough takes longer to melt compared to room temperature fat.
However, in these no chill sugar cookies, the starch added is a bit more than regular sugar cookies so that prevents the cookie from spreading too much.
Is it ok to chill cookie dough overnight? Do I have to make the cookies immediately?Â
Sugar cookies have a good shelf life as dough as well as cookies. The dough, if wrapped well can stay in the fridge for 5 to 6 days before rolling and baking. You can even roll the cookies and place them on a parchment-lined tray wrapped well with plastic wrap for about 3 to 4 days. Sugar cookies dough can be frozen for a month or more if wrapped well.
Why are my sugar cookies flat?Â
Always, follow the recipe correctly. Adding extra flour will give you dry crumbly cookies. Too much sugar or butter can make the cookies spread and lose their shape when baking. Rolling the cookies too thin will give you hard flat cookies.
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Printable Recipe
No Chill Sugar Cookies
Print Pin Rate Share by Email Share on FB Save Grow Coooking Temperature: 356°F/ 177°C/ Gas Mark 4.
Difficulty: Easy
Calories: 164kcal
Adjust Servings Here: 24 cookies
Description
This is one of my favorite sugar cookie dough recipes because they are my no-spread, no-chill sugar cookies. Soft, chewy cookies made with just four main ingredients that take 10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to cut shapes, and 10 minutes to bake.
Ingredients
No-Chill Vanilla Sugar Cookies
- 4 cup (500 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted, room temperature
- 2 cups (400 g) Sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
No-Chill Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- 3 ½ cup (435 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 g) Cocoa powder
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 2 cup (400 g) Sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
Sugar glaze (optional)
- 3 cups (360 g) Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Milk (or half and half )
Instructions
Prepare dough
- Preheat the oven at 350°F / 177°C / Gas Mark 4.
- Sift together the flour and salt (as well as cocoa powder for the chocolate sugar cookies).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract followed by the eggs, one at a time, mixing each until well incorporated. Pro tip - Incorporating each egg well before adding the next will ensure the dough does not curdle.
- Next, add the flour mixture and combine well but do not overmix. Pro tip - We do not want to activate the gluten and make our cookies tough. So, just bring it all together until no dry flour is visible.
- Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap well and set aside. It is easier to work with smaller portions rather than the whole batch at once. Pro tip - If you are not using immediately this dough can be stored in the fridge for 2 to 3 days or frozen for up to a month.
Roll, cut-out, and bake
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Dust the rolling pin and surface of the dough lightly with more flour as needed.Pro tip - Use only enough flour as necessary and dust off excess to prevent the cookies from drying out.
- Roll the dough between ¼ to ⅛ inch thickness. You can roll them thinner than ¼ inch but I would not recommend below ⅛ inch as the cookies will bake crisp. Pro tip - I like using a rolling pin with spacers so I know the dough is even all over.
- Cut the dough using the desired shaped cookie cutters and place them on a cookie sheet one inch apart.Pro tip - I like to cut the cookies on parchment paper and remove the excess dough around the cut shape. This will ensure the cut shape is not distorted.
- If necessary, transfer the cookies to a baking tray with parchment paper. Bake the cookies from the center rack for 8 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies. Pro tip - The cookies will bake white and should have a slight color on the bottom. So, do not overbake these cookies.
- When baked, let cool on the cookie sheet for 7 to 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool further. Pro tip - The cookies will continue to bake with the residue heat on the cookie sheet until cooled completely.
- Store in an airtight container. These are delicious on their own or can be frosted with buttercream, royal icing, fondant, or sugar glaze.
Sugar glaze
- In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar with milk until you have a thick pouring consistency. Pro tip - It is better to keep the consistency for icing thick. Thinner icing will flow outside easily and not dry as well.
Recipe Notes
- Always use room-temperature ingredients for the cookies.Â
- Cream butter and sugar until the batter is light and fluffy this will give light and airy cookies.Â
- Roll the cookies between ¼ and ⅛ inch thickness. Too thin will cause the cookies to become hard and too thick will keep the center soft.Â
- Cool the baking tray between cookies, never bake cookies on a hot baking tray.Â
- Never crowd the cookie sheet, making to leave enough room for air circulation.Â
Storage
- This cookie recipe can be halved or double without any issues.
- The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to three months.
- If frozen thaw in the fridge overnight before you roll out.
- The baked cookies will stay at room temperature for up t0 2 weeks but are best eaten within a few days.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 164- kcalCarbohydrates: 20- gProtein: 2- gFat: 8- gSaturated Fat: 5- gCholesterol: 38- mgSodium: 56- mgPotassium: 23- mgFiber: 0- gSugar: 7- gVitamin A: 265- IUCalcium: 7- mgIron: 0.7- mg
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Kay
You have such an amazing selection of cookie recipes, we are slowly working our way through, this was perfect for my daughter's unicorn cookie cutter so it stayed in shape. Going to try your cinnamon sugar cookies next!
Veena Azmanov
Happy you enjoyed these cookies, Kay. Thank you for the lovely feedback.
Dannii
These look like the perfect little cookies. I will give them a try this week.
Maria
Thank you for this sugar cookie recipe! I've been looking for a baking recipes that a beginner can do and yours is perfect! It is not time consuming and it only takes a couple of ingredients to make, so smart.
Veena Azmanov
Happy you enjoyed this recipe, Maria. Thank you for the lovely feedback.
Jessie
I love how soft these are to many times sugar cookies turn out dry. These were so amazing.
Beth
These are so fun and adorable! My daughter and I are going to love making these tomorrow! Thanks for this fun and easy recipe!