I vividly remember being in grade school and having to choose between chocolate chip, peanut butter, or sugar cookies to round out your otherwise drab cafeteria meal. I usually shuffled through the three options based on my mood that day, but I distinctly remember being pleasantly surprised by how soft, chewy, buttery, and just downright delicious the sugar cookies were. Well, this recipe reminds me of those sugar cookies. And I added sprinkles just to make them even more nostalgic and festive. AND they’re drop cookies, so no need to worry about rolling out and cutting cookies like in our cut-out cookie recipe.
Your grocery list
Dairy
- Unsalted butter
- Large egg
Baking & Pantry Items
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract (optional)
- Sprinkles
Equipment you’ll need
- Cookie (or baking) sheet
- Ice cream scoop
- Stand or hand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons/cups
- Parchment paper
- Wire racks for cooling
The process of making drop-style sugar cookies
- Make the dough. Preparing the cookie dough is easy. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and beat wet ingredients in another (or in the bowl of your stand mixer). Combine the dry with the wet until they form a smooth dough.
- The dough will be much easier to mix if the ingredients are room temperature, so make sure to set the butter and egg out at least an hour in advance.
- Sugar cookies get all of their flavor from butter and vanilla extract, so don’t skimp on those ingredients.
(Image credit: Lena Bullock | Mobile Soul)
- Chilling the cookie dough is another non-negotiable. These drop sugar cookies have a good amount of butter in them and the colder the cookie dough, the less excessive spread you have to worry about. The cookie dough can get a little hard after an hour in the refrigerator, so I recommend rolling the dough into balls before chilling.
- I bake mine straight out of the fridge and the cookies back into soft, thick, buttery pillows. If you like your cookies a bit thinner (than pictured), press the dough balls down a bit before baking.
Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles (Drop Style)
Thick soft pillows of buttery sugar cookie with crispy edges and bold pops of sprinkle flavor.
Servings 20 cookies
Cost $15
Equipment
- Cookie or baking sheet
- Ice cream scoop
- Stand or hand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons/cups
- Parchment paper
- Wire racks for cooling
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour spoon & leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1 stick
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sprinkles plus more for topping
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined, 1 minute or so. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Beat in 1/2 cup of sprinkles. Dough will be thick and slightly sticky. Scoop large sections of dough (a little more than 2 tablespoons of dough each) and roll into balls. For extra pops of sprinkle flavor, lightly dip the tops of the cookie dough balls in the remaining sprinkles. Place dough balls onto a large plate or lined baking sheet.
- Cover and chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (and up to 5 days).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Arrange chilled cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Any sprinkles are great, but I recommend avoiding nonpareils (the little balls) as they tend to bleed their color in cookie dough and cake batter. If desired, you can leave out the sprinkles for plain drop sugar cookies.
- This dough can be made, rolled into balls, placed into a freezer-safe bag, and frozen flat for up to 3 months. Cookies can be baked as needed. No need to thaw first.
