Chewy Sugar Cookies Recipe
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These are truly the world’s best chewy sugar cookies as far as my family and friends are concerned. They are soft, chewy, keep well, pretty as can be, and have a simple and pure flavor that keeps hands reaching for just one more.
Simply the Best Sugar Cookie
These are the cookies you want to make for parties, surprise gifts, and more. These chewy sugar cookies are the ones you want to fill your cookie jar with when the grandkids come over or the kids come home from school. These are the cookies you want to send back to college for your student to share with their dorm mates. These cookies are simply the best and as such they are worthy of the best people in your life. I strongly encourage you to print this recipe out (now), pin it, share it on Facebook, tuck it in your cookbook, and use it often!
To make these Chewy Sugar Cookies with sprinkles you’ll need:
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- Clear corn syrup*
- Vanilla
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- All purpose flour
- Colored sugars for putting the sprinkles on
- Lemon Extract*
Take These Cookies to the Next Level
You’ll also need lemon extract if you really want to take these over the top! I add just a smidge but sometimes I forget it and they are still good so go with your preference.
Can I Substitute the Corn Syrup?
*I make this with corn syrup. If you’d like to substitute something for it, a lighter honey may be a good alternative. Try it and see what you think.
How To Make The Best Chew Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles Step by Step Pictorial
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. I just spray them with cooking spray.
Place butter, brown and white sugar, butter, corn syrup or light honey, vanilla, lemon extract (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Add in flour and beat until well incorporated.
This is your dough, all ready to scoop out!
Mix different colors of sugar sprinkles together in a bowl. I like to mix blue, red, and yellow but you can use whatever you have. Use a cookie dough scoop to scoop out balls of dough and roll them in your sprinkles.
Place them about two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake these for about ten minutes or until the edges just barely start to brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet and then remove and allow to cool completely. I usually just lay out some towels on my countertop and remove them to these to cool. Once cooled, store in an airtight container at room temp. But trust me, that container will be empty very soon!
Reach through your screen and grab one of these! If you can’t figure out how to do that, the next best thing is making a batch as soon as you can.
Get ready to experience your new favorite chewy sugar cookie!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter at room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light (clear) corn syrup or light colored honey
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or flavoring optional
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3-4 colors decorating sugar for rolling dough in
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. I just spray them with cooking spray.Place butter, brown and white sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla, lemon extract (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Add in flour and beat until well incorporated.
- Pour a few tablespoons of each color of decorating sugar into shallow dish. Stir to combine colors. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into sugar, rolling the balls to coat them. Place on prepared baking sheets, about two inches apart.
- Bake cookies for ten minutes until the edges are just barely beginning to brown, they'll look soft. If you bake these cookies too long, they'll be crunchy rather than chewy.
- Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
We will pretty much always fulfill our own expectations of ourself. 
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These look so yummy!! I can’t wait to fix them for my grandchildren!!
thank you so much! I know they’ll love them. What a wonderful grandmother – you are a blessing!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Oh! These look so good! Maybe I’ll have to make them tonight, since I’m fixin’ an easy & quick supper! Thank you, Christy!
I hope you enjoy them Jane!!!
About how many cookies does the recipe make? I was just looking for a good sugar cookie recipe to make for church on Easter. These look so good–they just might be the ones!
Thank you for asking! I went back and put it in the recipe card. 2-3 dozen, depending on how big you make them and how many get accidentally eaten as they are taken off of the pan. 😉
Will definitely be making these!
Thank you, Stacey! I hope you have a great evening!
Do you think these cookies would ship well? My brother is deployed and these could make a great addition to a care package.
I do think they would ship very well. They stay fresh far longer than most cookies do.
Yummy! Have to try these! Thanks, Christy.
Thank YOU Diane!! I appreciate you being here!
Chewy Sugar Cookies have always been one of my favorites. Thanks for the recipe.
mine, too! you are so welcome!
Any high Altitude adjustments?
Hey Kat!
I’m afraid I’ve never baked at high altitude. Just about all of my baking has been done in North Alabama. Maybe someone else can chime in!
Can you cut them out and roll them like other sugar cookies? Thanks
hey Jeff! These cookies spread a good bit so I’m afraid they don’t make great cut out cookies.
Yum! Those look really good!
Thank you so much, Deborah! Have a great evening!
I just made them today. Delicious! Mine spread a lot more than yours did. I refrigerated the dough for a couple hours after making the first panful hoping to stop the spreading. It didn’t. But still they were still great tasting!
I had the same issue. They are very thin. Did anyone get the larger cookie?
I do like the flavor.
Thin & crispy. Great taste, but how do I get them thicker?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but is it possible they are affected by high altitude? I find I cannot use butter because of the altitude here. I also will change the flour and sugar amounts slightly. Could that be the issue??
Made them and all I can say is DELICIOUSNESS and very easy to make. Thank you for the recipe!
I have everything in my pantry to make them tonight. I know my husband and son will love them.
Oh I’m so excited, Sherrie! I hope you love them as much as we do!
I made these cookies and they were gone in 2 days! Delicious! I used the lemon extract and it added another layer to the taste, a perfect addition. The only thing I found is that the cookies were not as thick as the photos. Don’t know why unless the butter was too soft? I plan to make these again this week. Yummy
TRY DOUBLING THE AMOUNT OF DOUGH PER COOKIE MAY TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO LONGER TO BAKE
I agree with other reviewers- the flavor is wonderful, however the cookies do not look like the ones in the picture. I’m not sure what is the issue. I experimented with different amounts of dough, and then even added more flour to the mix. They still spread! Regardless, they are yummy, so they will DEFINITELY be eaten. 🙂
I’m so glad you loved them like we do, Liz! Mine spread some, of course, because I put them on the sheets in balls and they end up a flat (but still thick) cookie. I’m not sure what would cause them to spread more than pictured but each time I make them they look exactly like this and I make them pretty often. Either way, there is likely a slight difference in how we are making them but the end result is a delicious cookie!
These were spot on like the cookies from GACC. My kid and I are in heaven. Thank you so much! This is my go to sugar cookie recipe forever more.
I have been baking for years(~50). When a recipe has called for all butter(or even margarine) as the fat, the cookie tends to spread more. Try substituting part shortening for some of the butter. This has just been my trial and error experience over the years.
Hi, I think maybe if you refrigerat the dough for 30 minutes to an hour they don’t spread out so much