Golden edges, soft buttery centre, what’s not to love? I’ve tried a few different recipes, and Betty Crocker’s Classic Sugar Cookies are by far the best. 

The cookie. The icing. The straightforward ingredients and directions. The only thing I change when baking these are a couple of ingredient swaps to make things even simpler.

If you need a large batch of cookies for a potluck or back sale—this recipe makes about four dozen. If that’s too much, they freeze well and thaw quickly, so you have an almost instant treat on hand.

What makes these sugar cookies simple:

  • Common ingredients—see my modifications.
  • Though the recipe appears time-consuming, most of that is waiting for the dough to chill, the cookies to cool, and the icing to set.
  • Plus, you don’t need to commit all that time at once. You can make them in 3 steps, continuing when you’re ready for the next.

Total Time: 8 hours

Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 7-8 minutes

Servings: 55 (I usually get about 48)

classic sugar cookies on a plate

All you’ll need to make this recipe

Ingredients for cookies (with modifications)

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (same directions)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 teaspoons lemon juice (same directions)

Ingredients for icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3-5 tablespoons milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

My notes and where to find it

The author at Betty Crocker Kitchens gives a straightforward explanation of how to bake these classic sugar cookies, complete with photos and tips. You can even break these directions into three steps if you get a late start or don’t feel up to timing things exactly.

  • Step one—make the dough, and chill it for two hours (or up to 24)
  • Step two—bake the cookies and let them cool
  • Step three—mix and spread the icing, let it set

If you don’t have time to move on to the next step exactly when the timer beeps, all good. Leave the dough in your fridge a little longer if you need to—even overnight if you need to. Same with the icing—just make sure you have enough time for it to dry if you need to take them somewhere.

Keep in mind, you can also get as creative, or not, with these as you want. For my sugar cookies, I just use a round container lid as a cutter.

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Here’s the recipe and directions from Betty Crocker’s website.