Chewy vanilla sugar cookies

Bursting with vanilla flavor, this classic and simple yet delicious sugar cookie is the perfect addition to your cookie rotation for any occasion.

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A few years ago, I took a month long virtual baking and recipe development class led by Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar! The first section of class was focused on cookies and when developing our own cookie recipe with mix-ins, I tried the vanilla cookie base and it was so delicious that I knew I had to publish a recipe featuring just that dough.

I've learned so much about cookies and baking over the past few years since completing that course, so I've made a few updates to the recipe and it's even better than it was when I initially developed this recipe.

I am not typically a fan of sugar cookies, because I feel it's hard to find a recipe that is perfectly sweet and buttery while still being chewy and crisp on the edges. This recipe gets at all of that in the best way. It has a warm and buttery flavor, and it is sweet without being overly so. It also has a strong vanilla flavor from both vanilla extract and the optional (but highly recommended) addition of vanilla bean paste.

One thing that Christina Tosi swears by is a long creaming process for combining your butter and sugar. While I don't use this process for every recipe, it really does make a big difference with a recipe like this which is all dough and results in the perfect end structure and texture. While you can use a hand mixer, I highly recommend using a stand mixer for this reason as you'll be mixing for a little bit.

I know this is a great recipe to bake and share with loved ones, so if you're interested in doubling the recipe I've shared the ingredient quantities for this all the way at the end of this post!

For the best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements provided

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup (96g) granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup (60g) powdered sugar

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional

• 1 1/2 cups (180g) all purpose flour  

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 9-12 minutes

Chill time: 2 hours (up to 12)

Servings: 9 cookies

Equipment

• Stand mixer 

• Spatula or large spoon

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons)

Cooking instructions:

Place your butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Note: if your butter is not at room temperature already, you can either place it first into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, or mix your stand mixer at a low speed for 30-60 seconds until your butter is softened.

Bring your stand mixer slowly from a low to high speed and allow it to combine the butter and sugar for 2 minutes.

Pause your stand mixer, and scrape down the sides of your butter and sugar mixture as well as your paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed. Then, add in your egg, vanilla extract (and vanilla bean paste if using). Slowly bring your stand mixer back to a high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for another 2 minutes.

Slowly reduce the speed again, scrape down the sides of your mixture and paddle attachment. Bring your mixer back up to a high speed once again for another minute or two until your mixture is light and fluffy.

Scrape down your bowl and paddle attachment again. Add in your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Bring your mixer to a low speed, mixing until your dough has just formed. Once done, be sure to use your spatula to scrape down to the bottom of your bowl and ensure you haven't missed any dry ingredients.

Onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, use a 3 tablespoon scooper or large spoon to portion out your dough - it should make about 9 cookies, 3 tablespoons (about 52g) per scoop.

Place the cookie sheet into the fridge for up to 30 minutes or until your cookie scoops feel firm. At this point, roll each cookie scoop in your palms to smooth the exterior of the dough scoops. Place back into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 1-2 hours. If you'd like to chill for longer (up to 12 hours) cover your dough balls with plastic wrap.

When you're ready, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Space out your dough balls onto larger parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes (the longer your dough has chilled the longer your cookies may need to bake). Allow to cool and enjoy!

If you want to save some of your dough, you can place your scooped cookie dough onto a baking sheet and place into the freezer for 12-24 hours. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. To bake from frozen, set your oven to 325 and bake for 13-16 minutes.

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 9 cookies

Carbs per serving: 34

Carbs for full recipe: 304

Ingredients for a double batch:

• 16 tablespoons (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup (192g) granulated sugar

• 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste optional

• 3 cups (360g) all purpose flour  

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.