Bake
by: WinnieAb
April1,2010
3
4 Ratings
- Prep time 20 minutes
- Cook time 15 minutes
- Serves 20 to 30 cookies
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Author Notes
My 8-year-old daughter Maddie and I love to make cookies together. We always sample the dough as we go, adding a little more sugar or vanilla (or something else), if needed. Because if the dough doesn't taste good, the cookies certainly won't. If you use very fresh free-range eggs (ours are from a farm down the road), then you don't have to worry about salmonella. If you'd rather not eat raw dough, though, trust that Maddie and I have tasted this one, and we think it's great. We love the chewy sugar cookies made from this dough, too, of course—they remind us of those packaged slice and bake ones, but they're better. And thanks to Merrill's mom for the tip about using the patterned bottom of a glass to create a pattern in the cookies :) —WinnieAb
Test Kitchen Notes
These super-chewy cookies have deep dark sugar flavor and rich vanilla notes. The recipe calls for one cup of brown sugar, which we thought imparted a distinct brown butter taste. Not your traditional sugar cookie, but a great play on a classic. - Emily —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Chewiest SugarCookies
Ingredients
- 1 cupunsalted butter, softened
- 1 cuppacked light brown sugar
- 1/2 cupwhite sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoonsvanilla extract
- 3 cupsunbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoonbaking powder
- 1/4 teaspoonfine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or by hand), cream the butter and the sugars. Add the egg yolks and the vanilla and mix well.
- Combine the flour with the baking powder and the salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well blended. [Editor's note: We added an additional egg yolk when we noticed the dough was crumbly.]
- If you want to make rolled/cut-out cookies, you should wrap the dough in parchment or plastic and refrigerate until it is thoroughly chilled. You could also make a "log" out of the dough, freeze it, and then make "slice and bake" cookies. The third option (and what I usually do) is to shape the dough into balls, which you can flatten a bit with a metal spatula or the bottom of a glass (use a glass with a pattern and you'll end up with patterned cookies). Don't flatten them too much, because a bit of thickness helps them keep their shape/ensures they stay chewy, and place on parchment or silpat lined cookie sheets.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until slightly brown on the bottoms and around the edges. In my oven, this takes 14 minutes.
Tags:
- Cookie
- American
- Bake
- Serves a Crowd
- Holiday
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- Winter
- Kid-Friendly
- Vegetarian
- Dessert
Contest Entries
- Your Best Chewy Sugar Cookie
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Yvette
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TheWimpyVegetarian
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dailykale
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WinnieAb
I grew up in a restaurant family (my parents owned the now closed Quilted Giraffe in NYC) and I've always loved to cook.My interest in the connection between food and health led me to pursue a graduate degree in naturopathic medicine. I don't practice medicine anymore; I have a blog called Healthy Green Kitchen that I started in May of 2009 and I wrote a book called One Simple Change that will be published in January, 2014.I live in upstate New York with my family and many pets.
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20 Reviews
G.L. J. February 2, 2019
They are hard and good for dunking in coffee. I used three yolk and kept mixing until the dough stuck together. I cooked them for 13 min or less. At first, while taking them off the cookie tray, they were chewy. One day later, the cookies are hard like concrete. ??? I have no idea what happened. I rolled them in a log, froze the log, and sliced them thick. NOT pleased.
Theresa C. December 31, 2018
This recipe was a total miss for me. Extremely crumbly following directions as written, and sifting flour as I measured. Even added two egg yolks, and still the dough isn't coming together. The recipes on this site are very hit or miss, and don't seem to be well-tested.
Yvette July 24, 2018
This recipe did not work out for me either. The dough was dry and crumbly and hard to work with and when I baked the cookies they just turned into flat blobs of butter. I chilled the dough for a couple of hours but it made no difference.
Cathyrae July 19, 2018
Has anyone tried using gluten free flour?
John. November 12, 2017
I haven't tried these yet but will for sure !! One bit of medical advice would be to NEVER eat raw cookie dough due to the risk of E. coli in the flour. This can be especially dangerous to children. NEVER a good idea !!!
N January 10, 2015
I'm not sure what everyone is talking about because these are probably some of the worst sugar cookies I've ever made. They were bland and crumbly I followed the recipe exactly so I don't know what the issue was but I had to add my own ingredients just to make them even roll into balls.
drbabs January 11, 2015
Hi, N. That must have been really frustrating. My guess is that your flour was too packed in the cup and as a result there was too much. This is one of those recipes where you really have to fluff up the flour before you measure it. With 3 cups of flour, the difference could be 1/2 cup or more. This has happened to me with other recipes, and I know how frustrating it can be.
Guy C. July 19, 2018
I wish these recipes would be updated giving the weight of the ingredients in grams. People really into baking now, weigh the ingredients, and scales are very inexpensive. If the weigh were given an error such as you suggest could not be made.
SmallServings December 22, 2012
I just made these and boy are they easy and delicious! Next time I'll get my little ones involved. The brown sugar adds more depth. Thanks for sharing such a delightful recipe!
TheWimpyVegetarian August 14, 2011
These look so good - I'm making these the next time the grandkids come to visit. My friend Rodger H. speaks so highly of you and your blog!
TheWimpyVegetarian August 14, 2011
I meant to add: it always amazes me how small the world really is and all the connections we all have whether we know it or not.
WinnieAb August 15, 2011
Very cool- please say hello to him for me!
Hummusit August 2, 2011
Deadly...
dailykale May 22, 2011
These are outstanding! Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Winnie--it is a *keeper*. I made a batch for an 8th grade graduation party. I added an additional 1/2 tsp salt and refrigerated the dough over night. Formed balls and rolled in pink sanding sugar, slightly pressing down each. Baked for 14 min - no browning on the bottom (which I love) -- just perfect chewy deliciousness. Fantastic sugar cookie dough. As mentioned above, the brown sugar really gives a lovely, distinct flavor. Thanks again!
Heena June 19, 2010
That's a lovely tip!
WinnieAb April 2, 2010
Thanks food52 friends!
drbabs April 2, 2010
and nice plate!
Lizthechef April 2, 2010
Pretty - thought you had used a cookie press until I read through your nice blurb. These look so good!
EmilyNunn April 2, 2010
Really beautiful! Adding this one to my file. Also--nice photo!
monkeymom April 2, 2010
Beautiful!
