Easy to make soft and buttery sugar cookies and no baking soda needed! This fast cookie recipe offers the perfect warm soft center and crispy buttery edges of a classic sugar cookie recipe.
When it’s holiday season I make more sugar cookies than I can count! And I have run out of baking soda a time or two. That led me to learning how to make these delicious cookies!
If you’re like me, you don’t always have time to make an extra run to the grocery store when you run out of an ingredient for a recipe. And that’s why learning how to alter your recipe to fit the ingredients on hand is such a valuable skill.
And in the case of making sugar cookies when you don’t have any baking soda, you have to up your sugar and your baking temp.
No baking soda? No problem
This recipe is ideal for cutting out shapes. It makes a thinner sugar cookie that is great for holiday decorating.
It offers a buttery crisp edge and a soft and chewy center that is a real crowd pleaser wherever I bring them.
By getting your butter and sugar content just right, you can also create this delicious cookie.
And we will use an egg as our leavening agent.
This recipe takes under a half an hour to make and it yields a dozen cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Egg
- 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Butter
- 1/3 tsp. Salt
Add your pure vanilla extract and egg to a mixing bowl and mix until combined. Gradually add you salt and all-purpose flour and mix until your dough is well combined.
Use plastic wrap to cover your bowl and chill in your refrigerator for an hour.
Before your cookie dough is done chilling preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line you baking sheet with parchment paper.
When your dough is done chilling roll it out to desired thickness and cut out shapes.
Place your cookies on your parchment paper lined cookie sheet and pop in the oven for 9-12 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Decorate or serve and enjoy!
Traditional Sugar Cookies Without Baking Soda
Equipment
- Mixer
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Egg
- 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ Cup Butter Room Temperature
- ⅓ tsp. Salt
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add pure vanilla extract and egg and mix until combined.
- Gradually add flour and salt and mix until well combined.
- Cover bowl in plastic wrap and chill in your refrigerator for one hour.
- While dough is chilling preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove dough and roll out to desired thickness.
- Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake 9-12 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
- Decorate or serve and enjoy!
Notes
- These cookies are perfect for decorating with icing, frosting or your favorite sugar cookie topping.
- They also taste great without any toppings.
- Store in an airtight container for up to five days.
Nutrition
Sugar Cookie FAQ
How do I prevent my cookies from spreading into each other while baking?
If you are having too much spread while baking and your cookies are stuck together there are a couple ways to prevent this from happening.
The most common reason for this is not chilling your dough before baking. Make sure to chill your dough for one hour.
Then after cutting out your shapes, chill your dough for another fifteen minutes before baking.
The other solution to this issue is to leave out your leavening agent. The leavening agent is what allows your dough to rise and spread while baking.
Before doing this make sure you’ve chilled your dough long enough.
Can sugar cookies be made without baking soda or baking powder?
Of course! That’s exactly what this recipe does. This recipe substitutes an egg for your baking soda.
Can I substitute baking powder for baking soda?
Yes. Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar. To substitute, use 3 tsp. of baking powder for each tsp of soda.
Do the cookies come out flat in this recipe?
The height of your sugar cookies depends on how thin you roll out your dough. I usually roll this sugar cookie dough out to 1/3″ to 1/4″ thick. It produces a great texture.
Sugar Cookie Ingredient Notes
We are using eggs to help our cookies rise. While not as effective as baking soda, it will provide enough lift for our cookies. You can add a second egg for a little more height if you wish. I would not recommend any more than two eggs for this recipe.
It is important to use room temperature butter while mixing but a cooled butter will prevent over spreading during baking. That is why it is so important to chill your dough before baking.
This recipe just calls for granulated sugar but you can use brown sugar instead, or a combination of the two. Adding brown sugar to your recipe will increase your cookie softness while white sugar creates a firmer cookie.
Neither is strictly correct, at the end of the day it depends on what texture you prefer.
I recommend using all purpose flour when baking cookies. Your cookies will hold up and be less crumbly. But you can use cake flour if that is all your have on hand. Keep in mind though that your cookies will not hold their shape as well. This can lead to breakage, especially during decorating.
When measuring all of your ingredients be precise. Ratio of ingredients is very important in your cookies taste and texture. Be sure to double check your measurements while following this recipe.
When baking, watch your cookies closely to ensure they don’t burn. The baking time offered is a range because exact oven temperature vary and the thickness of your cookies alters baking time.
Remove your cookies when edges show light brown. And always cool your cookies on a cooling rack before serving or decorating.
Consider cooling a part of the baking process. This is when your cookies set, so do not skip the cooling step.