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Amish drop sugar cookies are thick, puffy, soft, and coated in sparkling sugar! You can frost them, glaze them, or add sprinkles, too. Perfect for Christmas cookie trays and just about any other holiday celebration!
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Looking for even more Christmas cookies? Try these soft ginger molasses cookies, a batch of cranberry white chocolate chip cookies, and these 3-ingredient Scottish shortbread cookies, too!
Why You’ll Love this Drop Sugar Cookies Recipe
Amish and Mennonite bakers produce some of the best baked goods available. I’ve collected a number of their cookbooks over the years, and drop sugar cookies are a constant in these collections. I’ve tweaked a variety of different Amish recipes to come up with our own drop sugar cookie recipe, which we think is absolute perfection (while still staying true to the authentic version). Here’s why you’ll love them, too:
- Simple. No fancy or hard-to-find ingredients here! These old fashioned treats are made with common kitchen staples, which come together in a delicious way. They’re not too sweet, they’re buttery, and they’re totally nostalgic.
- Easy. Since you don’t have to roll-out the dough with a rolling pin or cut-out the dough with cookie cutters, this is a quick and easy recipe that yields a lot of treats with minimal effort.
- No Chill. Unlike many sugar cookie recipes, you do not need to chill this dough. You can bake the cookies right away, and they won’t spread too thin.
- Soft and Thick. If you love soft, thick sugar cookies that you can sink your teeth into, then this is the recipe for you! They almost have a cake-like texture.
- Versatile. I kept it simple with coarse sugar here, but you can get creative and festive with your cookie decorations. Frost them with cream cheese icing, use a rich buttercream frosting, drizzle with a simple powdered sugar glaze, or sprinkle with colored sugar or sprinkles for each holiday.
How Drop Cookies are Different from Regular Cookies
The term “drop cookies” refers to cookies that are made by dropping the dough onto baking sheets, as opposed to rolling it out or cutting it into shapes. Since drop cookies skip the time-consuming steps of rolling and cutting, they are typically much quicker and easier than regular “cut” cookies.
Ingredients for Old Fashioned Drop Sugar Cookies
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for the best drop sugar cookies recipe. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step baking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- All-purpose flour: the base of the dough.
- Baking powder and baking soda: leavening agents that help the cookies rise and give them their puffy texture.
- Granulated sugar: for just the right amount of sweetness.
- Salted butter: contributes rich flavor and moisture. If you prefer to start with unsalted butter, that’s fine — just add about ½ teaspoon of extra salt to the dough.
- Eggs: for structure.
- Sour cream: a key ingredient for soft, puffy cookies.
- Vanilla extract: for warm flavor.
- Almond extract: gives the sugar cookies their bakery-style taste. You can omit this ingredient if you don’t care for almond flavor, but we think it’s a must!
- Coarse sparkling sugar: creates a crisp, sweet exterior on the soft cookies. If you don’t have coarse sugar, you can use regular granulated sugar, or try colored decorating sugars for a festive touch. You can also frost the cookies instead.
Why We Make Drop Sugar Cookies with Sour Cream
Sour cream is made by adding lactic acid-producing bacteria to dairy cream, which results in a thick, tart substance. Here’s why it’s such an important addition to cookie dough:
- The sour cream helps tenderize the cookies by breaking down the gluten molecules into smaller pieces. The end result is softer, cake-like sugar cookies.
- The acid in the sour cream activates the baking soda (and to a lesser extent the baking powder), which gives the cookies a puffy, fluffy texture.
- Finally, the tang in the sour cream yields cookies that are not overly sweet — and therefore ideal for sprinkling with extra sugar or spreading with frosting!
How to Make these Easy Drop Sugar Cookies
These no chill drop sugar cookies are the perfect solution when you’re craving homemade cookies fast! You’ll find detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the short version.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cream together the wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with an electric hand mixer).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to form the dough.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and almond extract.
- Drop the sugar cookie dough onto lined baking sheets.
- Sprinkle the cookie dough balls with sugar.
- Bake for about 10 minutes.
- Cool on wire racks.
How to Decorate
We think these easy sugar cookies are perfect when sprinkled with sparkling sugar before baking — no fancy decorating skills necessary! That said, you can certainly dress them up with festive colored sprinkles or colored sugar before baking, spread with easy cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting once cool, or drizzle with various colors of powdered sugar icing.
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: To bake the cookies in advance, allow them to cool completely, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter at room temperature before serving.
- Storage: Store the sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- How to Freeze: Allow the cookies to cool, and then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Tips for the Best Drop Sugar Cookies
- Use full-fat sour cream (not low-fat or reduced-fat alternatives) for the best results.
- Don’t skip the almond extract. I have a friend who is a professional sugar cookie baker. She decorates the most intricate, beautiful, personalized cookies and sells them for weddings, holidays, birthday parties, and more. Kelly adds a good amount of almond extract to her cookie dough and it gives them such a delicious, unique flavor — so I borrowed that idea! I like ¾ teaspoon in this recipe, but you can cut it back to ½ teaspoon if you prefer a more subtle taste. You can also omit the almond extract altogether and substitute with additional vanilla extract.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop equal amounts of dough onto the baking sheets. These uniform dough balls will bake evenly.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Watch for the cookies’ edges to just start to turn a slightly darker color. They will continue to firm up as they cool, resulting in that great soft texture that we’re looking for. Overbaking the cookies will yield dry cookies.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
Soft Cut Out Sugar Cookies
1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
24 minutes mins
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Soft & Chewy!}
2 hours hrs 26 minutes mins
Amish Drop Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- Sparkling sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar and butter until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs; mix until completely combined. Add the sour cream; mix until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and almond extract; mix until combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or tablespoons, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or just until the cookies are starting to brown around the edges. Cool on wire racks.
Notes
- Use full-fat sour cream (not low-fat or reduced-fat alternatives) for the best results.
- Don’t skip the almond extract. I have a friend who is a professional sugar cookie baker. She decorates the most intricate, beautiful, personalized cookies and sells them for weddings, holidays, birthday parties, and more. Kelly adds a good amount of almond extract to her cookie dough and it gives them such a delicious, unique flavor — so I borrowed that idea! I like ¾ teaspoon in this recipe, but you can cut it back to ½ teaspoon if you prefer a more subtle taste. You can also omit the almond extract altogether and substitute with additional vanilla extract.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop equal amounts of dough onto the baking sheets. These uniform dough balls will bake evenly.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Watch for the cookies’ edges to just start to turn a slightly darker color. They will continue to firm up as they cool, resulting in that great soft texture that we’re looking for. Overbaking the cookies will yield dry cookies.
Those look so nice. It seems to make 48 cookies? But they look so large. What size scoop/ball do you make them into?
Hi, Teresa! I use a regular cookie scoop (not an extra large one) that measures about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The cookies are a standard size — not really large, but nice and puffy. Hope that helps!
Could you use self rising flour instead of mixing flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt? Just curious.
Hi Suzanne! We haven’t tested it and can’t guarantee the result, but it would probably work just fine!
Hi Blair,
I have not made these Amish sugar cookies yet, but I intend to make several batches as gifts. They look so pretty!! I would like to make them two weeks before Christmas and freeze them. My question is….. Will freezing alter their look and/or quality? If it will, I can wait until right before Christmas to make them. Would like your opinion. They look perfect in your photo, so I do not want to alter their perfection!! Peggy (a devoted seasoned mom fan!)
Hi Peggy! As long as you allow them to cool completely before freezing they should be just fine. We hope you enjoy them!