Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

This soft and chewy vanilla sugar recipe does not require chilling and will not spread!!!

Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (1)

Remember that one time I mentioned that I have updates to my "other" vanilla cookie recipe? And then I never posted them? And I am a bad friend? Yikes!

I am going to post the changes as a new recipe. You can see the original

HERE

... or just forget about it and use this one every day for the rest of your life. (What? You don't make cookies every day?)

Check out my favorite baking tool recommendations HERE.

Author: Georganne Bell

Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (2)

Vanilla 2.0

A soft and chewy no-chill and no-spread vanilla roll out sugar cookie recipe.

Prep time: 15 MCook time: 30 MTotal time: 45 M

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup slightly softened unsalted butter (227 grams)
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar (200 grams)
  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (100 grams)
  • 2 large eggs (100 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla (10 grams)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (4 grams)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (1 gram)
  • 3 1/2 cups (or 4 cups) all-purpose flour ( 490-560 grams)

Instructions:

How to cook Vanilla 2.0

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  2. Cream the butter and both sugars together. If you have any brown sugar lumps, you should crush them up or pull them out. They make weird dents in your baked cookies.
  3. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
  4. Add the salt and baking powder and again with the mixing of the dough.
  5. Before you add the flour, let's have a little chat. Different altitudes need different amounts of flour. Differences in humidity will the change the amount of flour you should add. Is there a storm coming? That changes things. Add only 3 1/2 cups to begin with. Then add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl. (This happens at about 3 1/2 cups of flour for me...except in the winter time when it happens at 4 cups flour.) That's when you should stop if you are going to chill the dough overnight, or just wait for another day to bake it. If you are going to roll it out right away, add another half of a cup of flour so it will be thick enough to move from the rolling out surface to your baking sheet.
  6. Bake at 350F. If you roll to 1/4" thick, bake for about 7 minutes. If you roll to 3/8" thick, bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Created using The Recipes Generator


FAQs


HOW IS THIS RECIPE DIFFERENT FROM THE VANILLA VARIATION?-- The Vanilla 2.0 is slightly more dense and a little more chewy. The brown sugar gives it a light caramel flavor...kind of like a chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips!

The Vanilla Variation is a lighter cookie - both in color and texture

MY DOUGH IS TOO SOFT! WHAT SHOULD I DO? -- If your dough is too soft, try adding a little more flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. ALSO... If it's very hot where you live and your butter was room temperature instead of just slightly softened - you might actually need to cool everything down in the fridge for 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.

MY DOUGH IS TOO DRY! WHAT SHOULD I DO? -- The two most common reasons for this dough turning out dry is:

1) Not using large eggs. It's SURPRISING what a difference that makes.

2) Using too much flour. I'm not saying you used more than the recipe calls for - but since this recipe is written by volume and not weight, you might be adding more flour depending on elevation and humidity. Next time you make this recipe, try starting with 1 cup less flour and adding flour until it's just right. But you can still save this batch too!

Luckily, the solution to both of them is the same -- Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk together. Mix a little at a time into the dry dough until the dough comes together again.

SHOULD I USE SALTED OR UNSALTED BUTTER? -- If we're talking purely about science - it doesn't matter in this recipe. It's purely a personal preference. Use the butter you normally reach for. If you know you love things with just a little more salt - use salted butter. If you are someone who generally reduces salt in recipes - use unsalted butter.

Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (3)


HOW MANY COOKIES WILL THIS RECIPE MAKE? -- The yield for this recipe varies. It depends on how thick you roll your cookies. I can get about 3 dozen cookies when I roll them at 1/4 inch thick and use a 3 inch wide cookie cutter.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE DONE? -- Watch the surface of the cookie. As the dough begins to bake, the butter starts melting - creating a shiny or "wet" look on the surface of the cookie. As it continues to bake, the outside edge of the cookie will look dry and the wet spot in the middle shrinks. When that shiny "wet" spot in the middle disappears and the entire surface of the cookie is dry -- your cookies are done!

MY COOKIES TASTE DRY AFTER THEY ARE BAKED - WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? -- It could be a couple of things.

1) You might be slightly over baking them. I watch the surface of the cookies and when the shiny spot in the center looks dry instead of shiny... I know they are done.

2) You might be using a little too much flour. If your butter was too warm to begin with, the dough will seem soft, and if you add more flour to make it not sticky...it will turn out dry. OR you might be adding too much flour for the amount of time that the dough sits. - This is why the recipe has two different amounts of flour. As the dough sits, the flour continues to absorb more moisture...making the dough more dry.

HOW LONG ARE THESE COOKIES GOOD FOR? -- It depends on how they are stored, but generally you can expect these cookies to taste fresh for about 7-10 days at room temperature.


WHY ARE SOME OF YOUR METRIC CONVERSIONS DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES I GOOGLED? -- Because I'm a weirdo. Apparently I don't measure "to standard". 🤣🤣 I figured it was more important that you have the best possible metric weights than that I match a standard. I hope you don't mind.

Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (4)

MY FAVORITE BAKING TOOLS:

After more than a decade of baking and decorating cookies, I definitely have some favorite tools. Here are links to what I use --

These are my absolute favoriteBAKING SHEETS(I have about 16 of them now!)

I use thisPARCHMENT PAPERor theseGRID SILICONE MATS(I love the way the silicone mats make the bottom of the cookies look...but I also REALLY love not washing the parchment paper!)

I use THIS ROLLING MAT AND GUIDE STICK SET with THIS ROLLING PINbecause it allows me to roll out half a batch of dough at once. (Another alternative is theJOSEPH JOSEPH ROLLING PIN, but you can't roll quite as much dough out at once.

I use this DIGITAL SCALE. (But to be completely transparent...I've never tried any others. This one was cheap and it's never stopped working.)

Use a

HIGH HEAT THERMOMETER

to make sure your oven is the right temperature.

NEED MORE??


Ready to start making and baking an army of decorated sugar cookies?! Check out my Beginner's Guide to Making and Baking Sugar Cookies for Decorating!!

And then learn all about royal icing in this post!

Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (5)


Vanilla 2.0 -- A Sugar Cookie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you add too much sugar to sugar cookies? ›

Sugar sweetens the cookies and makes them an enticing golden brown. Adding too little sugar can affect the taste and texture of cookies. Adding too much can cause them to be brittle. Take your time creaming the sugar and butter together at the beginning.

What does extra sugar do to cookies? ›

What happens if you increase the amount of sugar called for in cookies? Conversely, when you increase the sugar in cookies, you'll get cookies that spread more and have an ultra moist and chewy texture in addition to a sweeter flavor.

What is the best thickness for sugar cookies? ›

Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.

What can I add to sugar cookie mix to make it better? ›

Easy Add-In: After creating the dough according to the sugar cookie mix instructions, Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to create a tangier, cakier and all-around more flavorful cookie. Flavor Twist: For a punchier twist, swap the water in the sugar cookie mix instructions for rum, bourbon or coffee liqueur.

What happens if you put too much baking powder in sugar cookies? ›

Too much baking powder can cause the batter to be bitter tasting. It can also cause the batter to rise rapidly and then collapse. (i.e. The air bubbles in the batter grow too large and break causing the batter to fall.) Cakes will have a coarse, fragile crumb with a fallen center.

What happens if you use more brown sugar than white sugar in cookies? ›

But most importantly, let's talk about the end results. The cookie with all white sugar spread a lot more, and it was crispy around the edges, whereas the one with brown sugar didn't spread as much. and was a lot denser in the middle. And I feel like the biggest difference here, other than color, was in taste.

What happens if I use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar in cookies? ›

It is not recommended to substitute powdered sugar for granulated sugar. Since powdered sugar has a much finer texture, and it contains a small percentage of cornstarch to prevent caking, substituting can give you unexpected results.

What does vanilla extract do in cookies? ›

Vanilla extract and how important is it for the baking process. The primary purpose of vanilla extract is to add flavour to baked goods. Lacking it, baked goods tend to have a bland and boring taste. Vanilla extract can also contribute moisture to create a soft and fluffy texture.

Should I chill cookie dough before baking? ›

Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies. "The colder and more solid the fat is, the less the cookie will spread," says food stylist and recipe developer Caitlin Haught Brown.

How do you get the perfect lines on sugar cookies? ›

When you're piping, you'll want to add a bit more powdered sugar to thicken up the icing just a bit. Once hardened a a little, go back in with your glaze and fill in the space. That outline will work as a dam and give you nice clean lines.

Why are my sugar cookies hard as a rock? ›

Once the edges develop a golden hue, you've gone too far. While overcooked sugar cookies are certainly still palatable, they'll be hard and crunchy, instead of soft and chewy. → Follow this tip: Pull the cookie sheet from the oven as soon as they've set and gained some color, but not too much.

How to fancy up sugar cookies? ›

You can add citrus zest, cinnamon, or almond extract to the dough. You could also ice them with a tasty frosting and add some nuts or toasted coconut. There are a few things you can add to your ready - to - bake sugar cookies to give them more flavor .

How to make cookie mix taste like bakery? ›

No one will even suspect they're store-bought (and we won't tell anyone!).
  1. Add brown sugar. ...
  2. Experiment with extracts. ...
  3. Mix in different candies and snacks. ...
  4. Add espresso or coffee grounds. ...
  5. Deepen the flavors by refrigerating the dough. ...
  6. Salt before baking the cookies. ...
  7. Reduce baking time for extra soft cookies.

What to do if I added too much sugar? ›

If your dish is a little too sweet, try rounding out the sweetness by adding flavors or ingredients that are sour, bitter, or spicy. It may be obvious not to add more sweet ingredients, but you should also stay away from salty ones since they actually bring out the sweetness in food.

What happens if you use too much sugar in baking? ›

Sugar creates tenderness in baked goods by weakening the gluten structure (proteins in flour). Adding too much sugar can weaken the gluten structure in a cake to the point that it may collapse.

What will happen if too much sugar is added? ›

Over time, this can lead to a greater accumulation of fat, which may turn into fatty liver disease, a contributor to diabetes, which raises your risk for heart disease. Consuming too much added sugar can raise blood pressure and increase chronic inflammation, both of which are pathological pathways to heart disease.

Does too much sugar cause cookies to spread? ›

You might need to preheat for up to 20 minutes to ensure you hit 350 F by the time the cookies actually go in. By the way, butter isn't the only thing that melts when you bake it. Sugar does, too. So cookies with a lot of sugar in them will tend to spread more than ones with less sugar.

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