Looking for a no-chill, no-roll sugar cookie recipe? Look no further! These soft and buttery sugar cookies have a hint of almond flavor and are topped with a fluffy buttercream frosting.
If you’re like me, you don’t particularly enjoy making cut-out cookies because of all the extra work and mess that comes with them. While you might find me making shaped cookies once a year for Christmas, I try to avoid it for the rest of the year.
Why you’ll love these sugar cookies
- They’re soft and buttery with a hint of almond flavor.
- They’re quick and easy — mixing the dough takes less than 10 minutes.
- They’re topped with a smooth and creamy buttercream frosting .
- They’re kid-friendly — I mean, what kid doesn’t enjoy decorating cookies?
Ingredients you’ll need
For this recipe you’ll need simple ingredients that I bet most of you already have in your kitchen.
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- butter
- granulated sugar
- powdered sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- almond extract
- milk
Use room-temperature ingredients
When recipes call for room temperature ingredients, they don’t just do it for fun. Room-temperature ingredients bond better than cold ingredients. They result in a smooth dough and, ultimately, even-textured baked goods.
The temperature of your butter is especially important as it can make or break your cookies. If the butter is too warm, you won’t be able to incorporate enough air into it when you cream it with the sugar. This is one reason why your cookies overspread.
Here’s how you can know if your butter is correctly softened. Let your butter sit out at room temperature for about an hour. When you press your finger into the butter, it should make an indent, but it should not sink into the butter. The butter should not look greasy and it should be cool to the touch. I don’t ever use a food thermometer to check the temperature of butter, but it should be around 65° F.
How to make no-roll sugar cookies
Start by correctly measuring your flour. Fluff up the flour, then spoon it into a measuring cup. Fill it to overflowing, then level it off; this is one cup of flour. If you pack the flour into the measuring cup, you can end up with 50% more flour than the recipe actually calls for, resulting in dry cookies.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together. This ensures you won’t be left with pockets of baking soda or baking powder in the baked cookie.
In a separate bowl, add the room temperature butter, granulated and powdered sugar; cream this mixture for 2-3 minutes. Don’t skimp on the creaming time. Incorporating air is important so that your cookies will be soft and fluffy, not hard and dense; it also helps them to rise and keeps them from over spreading.
Next, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. “Why can’t I add both eggs at the same time?” you might ask. Here’s the reason: fat (butter) and water (in the egg whites) don’t mix well. So you need to mix the eggs in slowly, so as not to overwhelm the butter mixture and keep it from uniting with the eggs. Interesting way to put it, I know, but that’s literally how it works. If you’d like to read more about it, check out this article from Taste of Home.
After adding the eggs, mix in the extracts and flour mixtures until fully combined.
Use a 2-tablespoon sized cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie dough ball. Bake at 350° F for 8-10 minutes until the edges are just set. The key to avoiding hard, dry cookies is to remove them from the oven when the centers look underbaked. The cookies will puff while baking, then collapse as they cool. If your sugar cookies are cracked on top, this means they’re perfect.
Let the cookies cool completely before frosting.
How to make the buttercream frosting
Start by beating room temperature butter with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy. Then add powdered sugar, milk, a pinch of salt (helps cut down on the sweetness) and the extracts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: make sure your milk is at room temperature. If your milk is cold from the fridge it will cause the butter to separate and you’ll be left with a soupy, lumpy mess.
However, if your butter does separate, there is a relatively simple way to fix it. Fill your sink with warm water and place your bowl of frosting in it for a minute or two. Then whip the mixture with an electric mixer again and the butter should come together. If not, return the bowl of frosting back to the warm water for another few minutes.
Whip the buttercream for 1-2 minutes until it’s very fluffy, then add food coloring and mix well. Spread the frosting on the cookies and top with sprinkles. This buttercream dries pretty quickly so make sure to sprinkle the sprinkles as soon as possible.
Most sugar cookie recipes I’ve seen have a greater amount of buttercream frosting than my recipe does. I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand more buttercream than cookie. But I also don’t like a thin layer that barely covers the top of the cookie. This amount of buttercream is the happy medium for me!
Happy baking, friends!
More cookie recipes you’ll love
Ingredients
- For the cookies:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- For the frosting:
- ⅓ cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Then add the dry ingredients; mix until combined.
- Use a 2-tablespoon sized cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough on a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie dough ball. Bake for 8-10 minutes, just until the edges are set. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the frosting, cream the butter until fluffy. Then add the powdered sugar, milk, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Add more or less milk to reach your desired consistency. I like to keep it quite stiff. Mix until all ingredients are well combined, then continue mixing for 1-2 minutes until the frosting is fluffy; mix in the food coloring.
- Spread the cooled cookies with the frosting and top with sprinkles.
2 comments
Love these cookies a whole lot. My new favorite cookies.
I’m so happy to hear that, Lucinda!