Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies
Thick, buttery sugar cookies with perfectly soft centers and lightly crisp edges
By RecipesQueen Kitchen • June 10, 2026
These soft and chewy sugar cookies are thick, pillowy, and absolutely loaded with butter and vanilla flavor. They're the kind of sugar cookie where you take one bite, close your eyes, and immediately reach for another.
Unlike cut-out sugar cookies that require rolling and chilling, these are drop cookies — scoop, bake, done. The dough comes together in 15 minutes, and there's no chilling step required. Cream cheese in the dough is the secret ingredient that makes them impossibly soft and keeps them fresh for days.
Coat them in sparkling sugar before baking for a gorgeous crackly top. They're perfect plain, incredible with a swirl of frosting, and absolutely essential on any holiday cookie platter.
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sparkling/coarse sugar for rolling
Instructions
- 1
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 2
Cream butter, sugar, and cream cheese together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
- 3
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- 4
Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Roll each ball in sparkling sugar to coat.
- 5
Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes — the cookies should look slightly underdone and puffy.
- 6
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes (they'll deflate slightly into thick, soft cookies), then transfer to a wire rack.
