These sugar cookies without baking powder are soft and melt-in-your-mouth. These delicate cookies are made with sugar, butter, flour and no eggs and don't need to be chilled before baking.
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📌 Want a sturdier sugar cookie? Try my no-fail sugar cookies or no-spread cut-outs.
Before You Start
- Butter should be on the cool side, room temperature butter.
- No need to chill this dough, it can go right into the oven.
- These are good cookies but they are plain. Roll the cookie dough balls in sanding sugar or granulated sugar before baking for an extra bit of sparkle. Top with sprinkles if you like.
- Leave on the baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before moving to a cooling rack because they are delicate when first out of the oven.
- Flavor this dough with the flavor extract you like best. If using vanilla, add a full teaspoon. If using a stronger extract like almond or peppermint, use ½ teaspoon.
- There are no leaveners, such as baking soda or baking powder in this recipe, which is also egg-free.
Ingredients
- Butter, unsalted preferably
- Granulate sugar
- Extract such as vanilla (can swap another flavor like Fiori di Sicilia or almond or peppermint)
- Sea salt or kosher salt, like Diamond
- All-purpose flour
- Sanding sugar or additional granulated sugar for rolling
- Non-pareils or sprinkles (optional)
How to Make Sugar Cookies
Make these cookies with a sturdy spatula or with an electric mixer.
I used my favorite hand mixer for new bakers.
- Beat room temperature butter until fluffy, about two to three minutes with a hand mixer.
- Add sugar and flavoring extract and beat another two minutes.
- It's okay if the dough is still a bit grainy from the sugar.
- Stir in the flour until no white streaks remain. Be sure to scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl.
- Portion into balls of dough using a #40 cookie scoop.
- Roll the balls in granulated sugar or sanding sugar.
- Flatten the balls using your palms.
- Optional: sprinkle non-pareils or sprinkles over the tops of the cookies. Press the non-pareils into the cookie with your finger pads.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Remove and let cool on your baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before moving to a wire cookie rack to finish cooling.
Because these cookies don't contain a binder, like egg, they will be fragile until they've cooled completely.
This cookie recipe is part of my Desserts to Make When the Cupboard is Bare feature
More sugar cookie recipes for you include Easy Drop Sugar Cookie, Grapefruit Sugar Cookies, Confetti Cookies, Roll-Out Sugar Cookies, and St. Patrick's Day Cookies.
: Sugar Cookies Without Baking Powder: A Quick Recipe
Before baking, you can sprinkle with nonpareils or sprinkles and pat them in a bit with your fingertips.
Curious about how baking powder works or want to make your own? Here’s a simple homemade baking powder recipe to keep in your pantry.
Wondering why there’s no baking powder in these sugar cookies? This deep dive into chemical leaveners explains how baking soda and baking powder function differently in baked goods.
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Tips for Success:
- Don’t overmix once the flour is in—this helps keep the cookies tender.
- Let cookies cool completely on the tray before moving. They're delicate while warm.
- Use a light hand when flattening to avoid overly crispy edges.
Cookie Baking Advice
You may find these baking posts helpful: from How to Avoid Flat Cookies, How to Freeze Cookie Dough, Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays. What is Sanding Sugar and Do I need Parchment Paper? might also be helpful. This Cuisinart 5-speed is my favorite hand mixer. Why do my hand mixer beaters fall out? Cookie dough freezes great as do already baked cookies but find out what other desserts you can freeze.
These sugar cookies without baking powder—and without eggs—are similar to shortbread in texture. If you're looking for more egg-free cookies, try my lemon shortbread hearts or chocolate chip cookies without eggs, too.
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Recipe
Sugar Cookies Without Baking Powder
Sugar cookies without baking powder or baking soda or eggs are going to be your new favorite. These tasty cookies are made with minimal ingredients so you should be able to make them any time without a trip to the store.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 & ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- ¼ cup granulated or sanding sugar for rolling
- Sprinkles or nonpareils (optional)
Instructions
- Beat cool butter in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer until butter is fluffier, about two minutes. You're beating air into the butter.
- Add sugar and extract. Beat for two more minutes on medium speed.
- Add flour and salt. Beat until the cookie dough forms into balls of dough.
- Form the balls of dough into one large ball.
- Portion the dough into balls. I used a #40 scoop (1.6 tablespoons)
- Roll balls into the sanding sugar.
- Flatten each ball of dough with your hand.
- Top with sprinkles or non-pareils, if desired. You’ll have to lightly press the sprinkles into the top of the cookies with your fingertips.
- Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes
These cookies are fragile while warm because they don't contain any eggs, which is a binder.
This cookie recipe doesn't have any baking powder or baking soda.
This sugar cookie recipe is meant to be as simple as possible so that you can make a batch when the mood strikes you without running to the store.
You might also like roll-out sugar cookie and an easy sugar cookie glaze that hardens.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 24 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 5gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 22mgSodium 25mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 0gSugar 10gProtein 1g
Nutrition information is approximate because I am not a registered dietician.
Mack says
This doesn’t work
Nat says
What are the measurements for the flour, sugar, vanilla extract?
Nat says
NVM found them