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Chewy, easy sugar cookies come together in a snap with zero chilling, rolling out, or cutting required. Make these cookies extra colorful and fun by adding nonpareil sprinkles or sandwiching them with buttercream frosting. 

Easy sugar cookie with nonpareil sprinkles leaning against a stack of 5 cookies.
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I’m a self-professed sugar cookie connoisseur. I’ll take ’em frosted, cut-out, rolled in sugar, soft, chewy, crispy, or straight out of the plastic container from the bakery section at Walmart.

What I’m saying is that I’m fairly obsessed with sugar cookies and I’m honestly not very picky about them.

Wait, maybe that makes me less of a connoisseur and more of a human sugar cookie garbage disposal. Whatevs.

While I do appreciate a beautiful sugar cookie complete with royal icing, I’m more of a buttercream type of girl. And I’m impatient. It’s why I love no-chill sugar cookies when I do want to make cut-outs.

And I’m definitely not fancy, so these easy sugar cookies are totally my thing. They come together in less than 10 minutes with everyday ingredients that I’m betting you have in your fridge and pantry right now.

Close up of easy sugar cookie sandwiches on a white platter.
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Fun and colorful easy sugar cookies

This easy sugar cookie recipe is perfect for multiple reasons.

First, there’s no chilling, rolling, or cookie cutters require, so they’re super quick and simple to whip up.

All you have to do is mix up the dough, roll the dough into little dough balls and bake them up! Easy peasy.

They also bake up perfectly chewy. So if you love chewy cookies, like my chewy lemon sugar cookies or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, you’ll love these.

And finally, there are so many ways you can change them up to make them even more fun.

I love mixing colorful nonpareil sprinkles right into the dough for a fun pop of color. The nonpareils also add a great crunchy texture to the cookies. Use different colored sprinkles based on the holiday or occasion!

Roll them in sugar for a sparkly finish, or sandwich or top them with my simple buttercream frosting

Are you sold yet? These are bound to be your go-to easy sugar cookies, especially if you have kids or grandkids who love to bake with you.

If you’re looking for more simple cookie recipes like these easy sugar cookies, be sure to check out my no-bake cookies and m&m cookies!

easy sugar cookies rolled in granulated sugar arranged on a white plate.

How to make my easy sugar cookies

This recipe is great for making with kids. They’ll love helping you mix and roll the dough into balls, and I know they’ll adore the colorful sprinkles. 

And since you don’t have to chill the dough, it’s the perfect recipe for impatient kiddos (and impatient adults!). 

Ingredients you’ll need

To make the cookie dough, you will need:

  • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup room-temperature unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

All of these are pretty standard ingredients in most of my cookie recipes, so you probably already have them on hand. 

Before you start baking, make sure your butter is softened to room temperature. If you forgot to set it out ahead of time, check out my tips for softening butter quickly.

You will also want to make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. This will help your sugar cookies to turn out perfect every time!

In addition to basic ingredients for the cookie dough, there are a few optional additions you can make:

  • 3 tablespoons nonpareil sprinkles, for adding to the dough
  • ½ cup granulated sugar, for rolling the dough balls before baking
  • vanilla buttercream frosting, for frosting or turning the cookies into cookie sandwiches

Again all of those are optional, but they are great, easy ways to make these cookies even more fun and delicious.

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Making this recipe

These sugar cookies are easy as 1-2-3 to make.

Start by whisking together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set these dry ingredients aside.

Dry ingredients for easy sugar cookies whisked together in a white bowl.

Now, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take about 3-5 minutes with an electric mixer. If you aren’t sure what to look for, learn how to cream butter and sugar

Add in the egg and the vanilla. Mix until well combined, then slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

If you are using the nonpareil sprinkles, add them to the cookie dough now.

Use a small cookie scoop to create dough balls about 1 tablespoon each. Roll the dough into smooth balls and place them onto lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

If you want, you can also roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before placing them on the cookie sheets. This will make for a sparkly finish, but will also make the final cookies a bit sweeter.

Balls of easy sugar cookie dough with nonpareil sprinkles arranged on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake the cookies at 375°F for 9-11 minutes, until the centers are just set. They will be puffy when they come out of the oven, but will fall and crinkle as they cool. 

Let the sugar cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they have fully cooled, you can add buttercream frosting if you desire. 

Easy sugar cookies with nonpareil sprinkles arranged on a wire rack.

Storage tips

Store these easy sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. You could also freeze the cookies for 2-3 months.

Or  you can even enjoy these cookies warm from the oven any time by following my tips for how to freeze cookie dough.

Overhead view of a white platter filled with easy sugar cookies three ways: with nonpareil sprinkles, rolled in granulated sugar, and turned into cookie sandwiches.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer?

This easy sugar cookie dough does not need to be chilled before baking, but you can store it in the refrigerator before baking if you need to. I would recommend chilling it for no more than 1 day; you will also need to bring the dough to room temperature before scooping and rolling.

If you want to freeze the dough, I suggest rolling it into balls and freezing the dough balls. That will allow you to bake them right from the freezer instead of needing to thaw the dough first.

Can I roll and cut out this dough with cookie cutters?

This is not the type of dough for turning into cut-out cookies. If you are wanting cut-out sugar cookies, I suggest using the dough from my snowflake sugar cookies.

Four easy sugar cookie sandwiches arranged on a white plate next to a glass of milk.
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Easy Sugar Cookies

By: Jamie
4.60 from 5 ratings
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 42 cookies
Chewy, easy sugar cookies come together in a snap with zero chilling, rolling out, or cutting required. Make these cookies extra colorful and fun by adding nonpareil sprinkles or sandwiching them with buttercream frosting.

Ingredients

Optional:

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl down.
  • Gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. If using, mix in the nonpareil sprinkles.
  • Use a small cookie scoop to create dough balls about 1 tablespoon each. Gently roll each scoop of dough into a ball and place onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, until the centers are just set. They will be puffy when they come out of the oven, but will deflate and the tops will crinkle as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Video

Notes

Adding nonpareil sprinkles into the batter adds a colorful pop. Try using different colors for different seasons or occasions!
For a sparkly finish, roll the dough balls in ½ cup granulated sugar before placing them on the baking sheets. Keep in mind that this will make the final cookies slightly sweeter.
These cookies are delicious on their own, but can also be topped or turned into sandwich cookies with buttercream frosting. If using the buttercream frosting linked above, I recommend halving the recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 101kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 47mg, Potassium: 12mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 141IU, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 0.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

4.60 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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21 Comments

  1. laura fisher says:

    everyone seems to have had no trouble with this recipe but for me it simply would not come together but remained mealy like pie dough before the water is added … I finally added another egg to the dough and had to work it in …. I was expecting a total disaster but the cookies turned out pretty well considering ,good consistency and lovely taste … but the wet ingredients didn’t seem adequate for the amount of flour…