Name: Basic Sugar Cookie Dough
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, unsalted ((room temperature)); 3/4 cup sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1½ cup flour, unbleached; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp sea salt

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There are a few recipes in my collection that are, what I call, my go-to’s because they’re simple, quality, no-fail recipes that you can do a lot with. This basic sugar cookie recipe is one of those very recipes.

A bowl of sugar cookie dough with a spoon in it.

About this cookie dough

This is just a really great basic dough. It’s simple, stable, and made with ingredients most bakers have on-hand at all times. It’s a pale colored sugar cookie dough that’s just sweet enough.

When baked, the cookies come out perfectly plain, making this a great dough for sprinkling with extra sugar, adding a few sprinkles, for frosting with buttercream, or for making ice-cream sandwiches.

A bowl of cookie dough with a scoop sitting on top.

The best way to make this basic sugar cookie recipe

You’ll want to start with room temperature butter. Let it sit out on the counter for an hour or two before making the dough.
In a large glass bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until it becomes smooth, light, and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and continue mixing for another minute, until blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt.
Add the flour to the wet ingredients and mix for a minute with the electric mixer. Then, using a rubber spatula continue folding in the flour until it’s evenly mixed, but don’t over-mix the dough.
Once the dough is made, you can make the cookies or freeze it for baking at a later time.

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A bowl of cookie dough with sprinkles and a spoon.

A note about freezing cookie dough

If you freeze the dough, it’s important to let it thaw in the fridge the night before, and then let it come up to room temperature before scooping and baking the cookies.

Ideas for using this basic sugar cookie recipe

The obvious choice here is making traditional drop sugar cookies. You can make these cookies any size from tiny 1 tablespoon size, all the way to up to large 3 tablespoon size.

Just scoop, drop, and bake. You can also generously sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar when you use the drop method.

After scooping the cookies, roll them into a ball and roll them in sugar before baking. This gives them a little extra sweetness and crunch.

Add 1/4 cup (or more, if you prefer) of sprinkles to the dough before baking the cookies to make funfetti cookies.

After baking and cooling the cookies, frost the tops of them with a homemade buttercream frosting and decorate them with a few sprinkles.

Bake and cool the cookies. Then, take a good size scoop of slightly warmed ice-cream and carefully sandwich it between two cookies. Sandwiches should be eaten immediately or stored in an airtight container in the freezer.

You can also roll the filled cookie sandwiches in sprinkles or chocolate chips to make them really fancy.

If frozen, allow the cookie sandwiches to thaw for a few minutes before serving.