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

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Do you love sugar cookies, but hate the work that goes into them? Well then, this is the recipe for you! These easy sugar cookies require no rolling, no chilling, no cookie cutters, and you can make them in under 30 minutes!

Cookies in a metal tin with a bowl of sugar sitting next to them.

Only 8 ingredients in these easy sugar cookies

Besides the fact that these cookies are quick to make, they also have a very condensed list of ingredients, which you’re sure to have on-hand 99% of the time, making this an ideal everyday recipe, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be whipping them up all the time!

The ingredients you’ll need

Butter, unsalted
Sugar
Baking soda
Salt
Egg
Milk
Vanilla extract
Flour, unbleached

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

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Step-by-step photos

How to make these sugar cookies

Unlike most sugar cookies, this easy sugar cookie recipe comes together fast and doesn’t require any prep work or chill time (other than letting the butter come up to room temperature).

Start by creaming the butter, sugar, baking soda and salt together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract and continue mixing for 1 minute.
Add the flour, half at a time, and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. The dough should appear even in color and texture with only a few streaks of flour.
Using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a lined baking sheet.
Generously sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes, cool, and enjoy!

Overhead process shots of stopping cookies with a scoop onto a baking sheet.

This will become your go-to easy sugar cookie recipe, and here’s why

One bowl. That’s all you need to make this recipe. One bowl and 30 minutes of your time.
It only makes about two dozen cookies, which is enough, but not overkill. You can also scale up the recipe if you need a few more (just hit the 2x or 3x button on the recipe card and I’ll do the math for you)!
The most obvious answer, there is no chilling or rolling required to make these cookies. You don’t even have to use a cookie scoop, but I would definitely recommend it, since inconsistency in the size of the cookies can alter the quantity of cookies and baking time necessary.
Cleanup is a breeze; with only one bowl and baking sheets lined with parchment paper, you’ll be washed up in mere minutes. You can literally make these easy sugar cookies everyday if you wanted to. *No judgment here.*

Cookies in a metal tin with one sitting on an antique spatula.

A few things to remember

Don’t try to shortcut by microwaving the butter; it’ll get too hot and melty (yes, melty 😁) and trust me, that’s not ideal for this recipe. Be patient, and let the butter sit out for an hour or so on the counter; it’ll be perfect.

While the order of ingredients doesn’t matter as much with this recipe, it’s important to do the creaming first and then add the wet ingredients.

I find that mixing the flour in half at a time helps with two main things; the mess of trying to stir all that flour at once, and it’s easier to keep an eye on the dough consistency to make sure it’s not too wet or too dry. As with any recipe you may need to make a small adjustment.

You don’t want to over-bake these cookies. They’ll be very light colored and slightly puffy when the 8 to 10 minute timer is up. That’s what we’re going for. They’ll settle down as they cool. I like to let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before I transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

I always recommend rotating the cookie sheet halfway through baking because most ovens (mine included) are very uneven in temperature. The rotation helps to ensure even baking/browning.

A stack of sugar cookies with a bowl of sugar sitting next to them.

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Now get to it and bake up some easy sugar cookies! Need frosting too? This is the best recipe!