The Ultimate Chewy Sugar Cookies – good without frosting but I couldn’t help myself. This recipe is perfection! 

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

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CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES

I just had a flashback to my childhood where my older sister and I would watch cooking shows and frantically be writing down the recipe as they shouted it out on the television.

Half of the time we would get something wrong or write one of the measurements down wrong. This was before DVR and even before the Internet. How crazy is that?

How did we survive without the Internet? No, really? This recipe comes from a show on Food Network called Sweet Dreams. I remember watching it religiously before food shows were ever really a big hit.

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Now remember these are CHEWY sugar cookies. I also have on my blog soft sugar cookies – similar to Lofthouse cookies. They’re light and fluffy. These are the polar opposite. And if you want roll-out sugar cookies. These are not those either. Check out my Sugar Cookie Showdown to see what cookie is best for what circumstance.

I was reminded of this recipe by the girls over at Or So She Says and followed their advice about adding a drizzle of frosting. Not that they need it. These can stand all alone as a plain sugar cookie which is really unusual. You can roll them in sprinkles before baking them or raw sugar if you want.

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

They are buttery, chewy, and taste just like a bakery. Seriously, after I made them I wondered how my bakery managed to make the same recipe.
One thing about this recipe is that it calls for buttermilk which I don’t always have on hand. But don’t worry, I’ve included a substitute that I’ve used with these and it works beautifully.

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

You want to know something weird that food bloggers do? Sometimes we do insane things for pictures. The sprinkles in the top picture – yeah, they have a story.

You see when you’re 2-year-old has just used your last bottle of rainbow sprinkles to decorate the lawn and you know you plan on taking pictures of sugar cookies with rainbow sprinkles the next day (because they won’t last a day longer) and can’t bring yourself to go to the grocery store one more time this week, that’s when the craziness starts.

The night before I decorated these we were at football practice and we went to get frozen yogurt after.

As I added toppings to my yogurt I added tons of sprinkles, paid for my yogurt, then tried to shake off the top layer of sprinkles into a napkin, and then placed the rolled up napkin in my pocket hoping I remembered to take them out and save them for my pictures. Now share your story so I don’t feel all weird.

Too late.

OTHER COOKIE RECIPES:

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Chewy Sugar Cookies

5 from 6 votes
The Ultimate Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes
Servings: 4 dozen

Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Add just enough of the buttermilk to moisten the dough and make it soft, not wet. The dough will be soft. I only use about 2 tablespoons.
  • Roll small tablespoons of dough into balls and place on the cookie sheet. With a brush or fingers, moisten the top of each cookie with the remaining buttermilk and slightly flatten the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with raw sugar or colored sprinkles if desired.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until barely golden. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

For buttermilk substitute: Add 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1/4 cup milk. Let sit 5 minutes before using.
Source: original recipe from Food Network. Discovered at Or So She Says
Cuisine: American
Course: Dessert
Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Buttercream Frosting

5 from 4 votes
Prep Time: 22 hours 1 minute
Cook Time: 22 hours 1 minute
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup 1 stick softened butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • Milk to consistency
  • Food coloring

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredients together well adding milk to desired consistency.
  • Place in a ziploc bag and snip of the corner. Add a drizzle of frosting on top and sprinkles if desired.

Or use the cream cheese frosting recipe HERE.

Chewy Sugar Cookies - good without frosting but I couldn't help myself. This recipe is perfection! #chewy #sugar #cookies #recipe
author avatar
Christy Denney
Christy is the voice behind The Girl Who Who Ate Everything! She is no stranger to making meals that kids and adults will love. She grew up in Mesa, Arizona as the youngest of ten kids. She can always be found in her kitchen with music playing and cooking with her kids. She published her first cookbook in 2014. She loves party food that gets the conversations going!