An easy, high altitude recipe for soft and fluffy sugar cookies, spiced with vanilla bean and cardamom, and topped with a swirl of buttercream and colorful sprinkles. If you love soft sugar cookies with frosting, or those grocery store lofthouse cookies, then today’s recipe is for you! Also, be sure to see the recipe variations section in today’s post for turning these into sprinkle sugar cookies for Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or any other holiday.
You might also love these pumpkin spice sugar cookies with maple icing, perfect no spread vanilla sugar cookies, and perfect no spread chocolate sugar cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. These soft frosted sugar cookies start with a simple cookie dough that’s easy to mix up. And you don’t need to roll out and cut cookies, either. Just shape the dough into balls with your hands and coat in sugar before baking.
Basic Pantry Ingredients. There’s nothing fancy or hard to find in today’s recipe, just basic staples that you likely have in your pantry already.
Stays Soft for Days. The fluffy, melt in your mouth texture of these soft sugar cookies is irresistible, and they stay so soft for days on end.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture and fat to the cookies for a flavorful, tender texture.
- Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture. You’ll also be rolling the dough balls in sugar before baking.
- Egg + Egg Yolk. Eggs give cookies structure and strength, and the extra egg yolk makes these sugar cookies softer and chewier.
- Vanilla. I used vanilla bean paste for a very distinct vanilla flavor, but you can also use vanilla extract.
- All-Purpose Flour. Gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Corn Starch. Tenderizes the cookie dough for a softer sugar cookie.
- Baking powder. This is the leavening agent that makes the sugar cookies fluffy.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Cardamom. This is a wonderful spice that adds a nice depth of flavor to complement the vanilla.
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with 3/4 cup sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix on low for 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and cardamom. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients by spoonfuls, mixing just until combined.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 18 equal portions. TIP: This is easiest to do if you weigh all the dough, divide that number by 18, then weigh out each portion. So if you have 26 ounces of dough, you would weigh out around 1.4 ounces of dough per cookie.
- Roll each portion of dough into a ball, then coat the dough balls in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Chill the dough balls for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with a piece of nonstick baking paper or parchment paper.
- Place the dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 11 1/2 – 12 minutes, until the edges are set, and the centers look slightly underdone. These cookies don’t spread very big, and you should bang the pan 3-4 times on the counter to help the centers of the cookies settle down and flatten a little. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting or Buttercream
- If desired, frost the cookies with buttercream and decorate with sprinkles. See my post on Perfect American Buttercream for flavor ideas. I always have leftover buttercream in my freezer, so I frosted mine with pink cherry buttercream and orange buttercream. Since the cookies taste like vanilla, you can pair them with any flavor of frosting that you like!
- Once the cookies are frosted, store them in a single layer in an airtight container so the frosting doesn’t get smushed.
Recipe Variations
Soft Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
This is a perfect recipe to use when you want to make sprinkle covered sugar cookies for the holidays. I used a pretty pastel sprinkle mix (Sweets Indeed Sprinklefetti Spring Nonpareil Mix) to turn these into the cutest Easter sprinkle cookies. My kids absolutely loved these sprinkly cookies, and they’d be beautiful with any color assortment of nonpareils. Pink, white and red for Valentine’s Day. Green, red and white for Christmas. Red, white and blue for the 4th of July. Orange, brown and yellow for Halloween or Thanksgiving. You get the picture! You could also use colored sugar, if you prefer that over the nonpareils.
To cover your soft sugar cookies with sprinkles, scoop the dough into balls. But instead of rolling the dough balls in granulated sugar, roll them in nonpareils (you’ll need to press the dough balls firmly against the nonpareils to get them to stick). Chill and bake as instructed.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of frosting did you use?
I always have leftover buttercream in my freezer, so I frosted mine with pink cherry buttercream and orange buttercream. Since the cookies taste like vanilla, you can pair them with any flavor of frosting that you like!
Should I flatten the dough balls before baking?
For today’s recipe, I don’t recommend flattening the sugar cookie dough balls before baking. While it does help them spread ever so slightly more, the finished cookie doesn’t look quite as pretty. See the next photo for an example. This is why I don’t flatten the balls, but after baking, I banged the pan on the counter a few times to help the puffy centers settle down and flatten a little.
What can I use instead of the cardamom?
If you don’t often cook or bake with cardamom, I’d encourage you to add it to your next grocery list. It’s a wonderful spice that I use often in baked goods, as well as in savory dishes like meatballs and chili. Still, you can leave it out if you don’t have it, and the cookies will still be great. Or you can add a small pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon instead.
Why is there corn starch in the cookie dough?
Corn starch lowers the protein content of the flour, for a softer, more tender cookie.
Can soft sugar cookies be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 3-6 months. I’d recommend freezing them without the frosting, which could get smashed, dry or crumbly in the freezer.
What piping tip did you use for the frosting?
I used tip 1M to pipe the buttercream onto the cookies.
Can I use this recipe for cutout cookies?
No, I don’t recommend today’s recipe for cutout cookies, since the cookies will be puffy and lose their shape. For clean edges and a cookie that perfectly maintains its cut shape, try my perfect no spread vanilla sugar cookies.
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High Altitude Soft and Fluffy Sugar Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk (save the white for another use)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 â…“ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling the dough balls
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with 3/4 cup sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix on low for 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and cardamom. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients by spoonfuls, mixing just until combined.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 18 equal portions. TIP: This is easiest to do if you weigh all the dough, divide that number by 18, then weigh out each portion. So if you have 26 ounces of dough, you would weigh out around 1.4 ounces of dough per cookie.
- Roll each portion of dough into a ball, then coat the dough balls in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Cover and chill the dough balls for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with a piece of nonstick baking paper or parchment paper.
- Place the dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 11 1/2 – 12 minutes, until the edges are set, and the centers look slightly underdone.Bang the pan 3-4 times on the counter to help the centers of the cookies settle down and flatten a little. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- If desired, frost the cookies with buttercream and decorate with sprinkles. See my post on Perfect American Buttercream for flavor ideas.Once the cookies are frosted, store them in a single layer in an airtight container so the frosting doesn't get smushed.
Hello.I was planning to make this for thanksgiving.My question is if I make the cookies and frost it the one day before Thanksgiving,will the frosting melts ?
No, my frosting recipe is a very stable buttercream and will not melt, unless kept in a hot environment. You can definitely make these in advance, and store them in a single layer in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve them.
Delicious recipe! I wasn’t sure about the cardamom so I put a little less but it really is a nice warmth of flavor! We’re in Northern Colorado and the recipe worked well. Thank you!
Hello! I wanted to say that I tried your recipe and that the cookies rose too much and ended up too puffy (did not spread out and flatten). However, this is because I altered the recipe (I live at about 8400-8500ft above sea lvl). I guess I should not alter the recipe? Thank you for your time. God bless. This is still a wonderful recipe.
Did you add more flour? That’s likely what kept them too puffy, and maybe this particular recipe doesn’t need to be adjusted for your altitude, or maybe just needed a little less adjusting. 🙂
Hello, I have come to comment again (a second time)!!! What would you say you could add to the recipe to make a chocolate version? How much cacao powder should one add? What about a fruit-flavored version, like banana or strawberry? I have a feeling that fruit versions would be far too difficult and would take lots of altering.
For a chocolate version, you could try replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder (replacing around 1/4 to 1/3). I really couldn’t say how they’ll turn out, since I haven’t tested it, and it might make them more dry and crumbly without other adjustments.
Thank you so much! Your recipes are a marvel to look at. All the science behind them is admirable. Thank you for your kind reply. I’ve actually already done one of your recipes before–if I remember correctly, it was a loaf cake! It turned out moist and decadent and stayed that way for days. 🙂 Many blessings!
Hi! I tried this recipe and thought the cookies were super tasty! They were a little on the dry side, however, so I was thinking about reducing the flour. Did you weigh the flour for this recipe or only use measuring cups? Thanks so much!
I always use measuring cups. Just be sure that when you measure your flour, first you fluff it up in the canister, spoon it into the measuring cup, then sweep it off the top to level it. This will ensure you don’t pack too much in.
Does the altitude matter for these cookies? I made them in a high altitude place and loved them but now have moved somewhere that the altitude is not as high. Should I make adjustments to the recipe?
Thank you so much!
Yes, you will likely need to make a few adjustments, or they might not spread enough at a lower altitude. Please see my FAQs: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
I haven’t made these cookies yet, but am giving you 5 stars for all your recipes I have made that have been fabulous at 8300 ft. I have Hersheys candy cane kisses that I need to use up in some “blossom” like cookies. Should I leave out the cardamom or would it work with the peppermint flavored kisses.
Thanks so much! I might leave out the cardamom with the peppermint.
They were excellent with the candy cane kisses 😘
I made these for my cookie boxes this year and added chopped Andes white chocolate peppermint in the dough and it was so good! Nice little Christmas swap!