No Frosting Required Sugar Cookies
So this recipe is my FAVORITE because
- I don’t have to chill the dough — no waiting!
- No rolling or cutting out shapes (though you can if you want to)
- Taste great even without frosting (but of course you can add it)
- Add the sprinkles right to the dough (optional) — less mess!
We almost always add regular multi-color sprinkles to make them “rainbow confetti cookies” — just because it’s more fun. Perfect for every day, or for an easy St. Patrick’s Day treat. We also love using the fun festive sprinkles that our local grocery bakery stocks, like these we made for Valentine’s Day.
The cookies bake up nice and soft, so even my very cookie-selective husband loves them. They kind of become like a certain potato chip — if you can eat just one, you have far more willpower than I! But they are perfectly sized so that you don’t feel too guilty eating more than one 😉
The Best and Softest No-Frosting-Required Sugar Cookies
yields appx 5 dozen 2-inch cookies
Cream
1 cup shortening (use this trick for no-mess cleanup!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Add 2 eggs and mix well
Then add
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour (or more, so the texture is not sticky but still soft)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
If you’re adding sprinkles, stir in 1/3 cup (or more!) sprinkles of your choice (about one bottle of sprinkles, give or take). We’ve used several types — the only kind I wasn’t thrilled with were the colored sugar crystal sprinkles since they mostly dissolved into the dough and gave them an odd color.
Scoop onto ungreased cookie sheet. I have a cookie scoop on my wishlist to make this part faster and the cookies more uniform in size, but for now, scooping with a spoon and rolling in my hands works. I like to flatten the top slightly with a cup dipped in sugar and pat a few more sprinkles into the top, or you could also roll the balls in sprinkles for an extra-colorful cookie.
Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes, then leave a few minutes extra on the cookie sheet to finish cooking. The time will depend on your oven — my oven bakes them perfectly in 10-11 minutes, so you’ll have to test that a little bit with the first batch. If they get brown around the edges, they are over-done and will lose the soft, chewy cookie texture.
Lu (or Lorene if you prefer) is the mom of 3 kids and wife of a singing and dancing elementary teacher. She happily shows up here at Housewife Eclectic a few times a month, when the creative bug strikes in between projects at her awesome job as a virtual assistant. You can check out her other projects here on Housewife Eclectic, or her former blogger life and projects over at just Lu.
The Best and Softest No-Frosting-Required Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- Cream
- 1 cup shortening use this trick for no-mess cleanup!
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups flour or more, so the texture is not sticky but still soft
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Cream together the shortening and sugar
- Add eggs and mix well
- Then add baking soda, salt, flour, milk and vanilla
- If you’re adding sprinkles, stir in 1/3 cup (or more!) sprinkles of your choice (about one bottle of sprinkles, give or take). We’ve used several types — the only kind I wasn’t thrilled with were the colored sugar crystal sprinkles since they mostly dissolved into the dough and gave them an odd color.
- Scoop onto ungreased cookie sheet.
- I like to flatten the top slightly with a cup dipped in sugar and pat a few more sprinkles into the top, or you could also roll the balls in sprinkles for an extra-colorful cookie.
- Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes, then leave a few minutes extra on the cookie sheet to finish cooking.
- Let cool on a cookie rack and store in a sealed container.
Those look so good! I love sprinkles so I have to make some for my daughter and I.
Michelle F.
I definitely have to be in the mood to make sugar cookies because of the time they take. Love the idea that I can get the great taste with less time! Pinning!
These look great! And, they would be perfect for a birthday party!
I prefer soft cookies to the crispy variety, so these are perfect for me. I can't wait to try these.
Those look and sound delicious to this Cookie Monster!! I love how easy it is to make them. I can almost guarantee they would disappear into MY mouth long before they went stale.
These look tasty! I love cookies when they are soft!
Thank you for this because soft sugar cookies are my absolute favorite!
I've not had soft sugar cookies – and I'm a bit like you in not liking regular sugar cookies, although my hubby loves them – and your sprinkles make them look a bit more yummy – so I am going to give your recipe a try! Thank you 😉
These look delicious. Kiddies would love them.
Yummy! I think we might have to celebrate St Patrick's day with treats this year…
my daughter would love to make these. i'll have to bookmark it for later.
Those look so good! I love a good sugar cookie.
I love that you added sprinkles to a chocolate chip cookie! This is awesome!!
Your cookies look so good. I co-host a blog party on Mondays called Cooking and Crafting with J & J Link Up. I would love to have you share this with us. Thanks.
Julie
I am always looking for a great soft sugar cookie and these look perfect! I love that the dough does not need to be chilled! Than you for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty Kim@baking for blessings
Could these be made into sugar cookie bars? And if so what changes would you suggest?
I don’t see why not. Since they use shortening, they don’t spread alot, so butter might work better.
I noticed there were no comments of those who made the cookies other than the person posting.
Here I go! I made these last night. My daughter who is in college getting her degree to become a Chef taught me to separate the wet from the dry after you cream the sugar and shortening. So, I used that method. After creaming the sugar and shortening, I did all the wet ingredients and then a bowl for dry. After, I separated them into 5 sections and added 4 different types of candied sprinkles. I only used maybe half more cup of flour and chilled for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
Then I used the Halloween cookie cutters. You have to press down and you will hear a crunch, but they came out very clean. Of course use a little flour so the cutting board and roller, so the dough doesn’t stick.
I cooked them for 10 minutes and they came out perfect.
Other than the little things I did, I used they same ingredients, followed the instructions and they came out perfect!
I have been looking for a sugar cookie recipe I can use with any holliday and I finally found it. Thank you so much for sharing. Oh I used shortening with butter flavor because that was all I owned. That was the only difference.
Again Thank you :0)