Sour Cream Sugar Cookies: an easy recipe for delicious holiday cookies

Sour cream sugar cookies are some of the most incredibly tender, fluffy cookies you'll ever bake. They're similar to regular sugar cookies but had sour cream added to them which makes them super soft and moist.

These wonderful cookies are lightly sweet, and a popular cookie to bake around the holidays. Because they're so easy to make and decorate, many people make them for all sorts of occasions: Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays.

You can add frosting or enjoy them on their own. These easy sugar cookies are also great if you have little helpers who want to lend a hand in the kitchen. Once you try sour cream sugar cookies, you'll make them over and over again!

Sour Cream Sugar Cookie Ingredients

These perfect sugar cookies are made with common pantry items like butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. Sour cream helps to make them ultra-tender and moist, while a combination of baking soda and baking powder helps them to puff up and become nice and fluffy. The frosting is a simple mixture of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a splash of milk, always an irresistible combination.

How to Make Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Ready to start baking? Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until it's light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Grab a second bowl and combine the dry ingredients, then slowly beat them into the butter mixture. The dough should be fairly loose, almost like batter – this is a good thing. It'll keep your cookies wonderfully tender and moist.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and drop generous tablespoons of the dough onto the baking trays. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes at 350F. Leave them on a wire rack to cool. While the cookies are cooling, beat the butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Once the cookies are room temperature, spread the frosting over them and enjoy!

Tips for the Perfect Sugar Cookies 

You can add food coloring to your frosting. It's a perfect way to customize your sour cream sugar cookies for the holidays or other special events!

Use room temperature ingredients to make your cookies and frosting.

If your frosting is too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add a tiny bit more milk until it reaches your desired consistency.

Want to jazz up your sour cream sugar cookies? Add extras like ground nutmeg or cinnamon, a flavored extract like almond, orange, or lemon, or even some freshly grated citrus zest.

If you want your cookies to be even more moist and tender, use brown sugar. It'll also give them a more complex flavor.

To make gluten-free sour cream sugar cookies, use the gluten-free flour of your choice. For a keto-friendly version, swap out the sugar for your preferred sweetener and use a low-carb flour like almond flour.

Any type of frosting would be amazing on these easy sugar cookies. Buttercream, royal icing, or no frosting at all! It's up to you.

How to Store Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Keep your perfect sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or up to 1 week in the fridge – if they last that long!

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer until it's light and creamy.

Beat in eggs, vanilla, and sour cream.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder to combine. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Whisk.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets.

Make sure to spread them 2 to 3 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool.

For the frosting, beat the butter with an electric mixer. Beat in sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over the cookies.

Decorate sour cream cookies with sprinkles.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes

If you prefer to use unsalted butter, be sure to add a pinch of salt to both the cookie dough and the frosting.