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Soft sour cream sugar cookies are a holiday must-have with our family! These cookies hold their shape for making cookie cutouts and remain very soft after baked. Like a Lofthouse Cookie but better!  

Soft sugar cookies frosted and lined up on a sheet pan with rainbow sprinkles. One has a bite taken out of it

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Overview

These soft sour cream sugar cookies are my all time favorite sugar cookies! The sour cream adds such a nice tangy flavor and keeps the cookies super moist and soft.

If you were to compare these to a store bought cookie, they are a like a Lofthouse cookie but so much better! In my opinion, real Lofthouse cookies are too overly sweet. These cookies have a nice balance and a more grown up taste.

How to Keep Sugar Cookies Soft

Frosted sour cream sugar cookies lined up on a sheet pan with rainbow sprinkles. One has a bite taken out of it.

These sugar cookies bake up very soft and tender but there are a few things that help keep them that way. Keeping the dough slightly thick when you roll it out helps them stay really soft in the center. I like to roll mine out just a little thicker than ¼ inch.

It is also important that you don’t over mix your dough. Once the flour is added into your mixing bowl, mix until it is just absorbed. This will keep your sugar cookies soft. 

I find that keeping the cookies in an airtight container is absolutely key to keeping them soft. Even if the edges do get a little crispy while baking, putting them in an airtight container will help soften them. 

How to Get Sugar Cookies to Hold Their Shape

Cooke dough rolled out and a being cut into circles with a round cookie cutter

The best ways to get sugar cookies to hold their shape is to make sure the dough is really cold when they go into the oven and to bake them at a high temperature. These two things will allow the outside of the cookie to set before the butter melts and spreads the cookie out. 

Many sugar cookie recipes (and other recipes like gingersnap cookies) call for a long chilling time. However, I have figured out how to chill dough very quickly. 

I like to press my cookie dough between two pieces of parchment paper and then transfer it into the refrigerator. Creating a thinner piece of dough allows it to chill much more quickly. 

For these sugar cookies we are actually going to put them in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes and then cut them out. This will help them hold their shape well and makes for a very quick sugar cookie recipe.

How to Make Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

These cookies use the classic creaming method for cookies. It is a very quick and easy process. You want to be careful not to over mix the dough or your cookies can become tough. 

This cookie dough has the standard lineup of ingredients for sugar cookies except it has the addition of sour cream. I also like to add in a bit of lemon zest however, it is optional. I think the tanginess of this cookie dough is what makes it so special! 

Sugar cookie dough being mixed together with a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl
Final sour cream sugar cookie dough after being mixed in a large mixing bowl

When creaming the butter and sugar together, stop as soon as it gets slightly light and fluffy. You don’t want to cream too much or this will make your cookies spread out and not hold their shape.

Step 2: Roll out the Dough and Chill

Transfer the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out to a little bit thicker than ¼ inch thick. Somewhere between ¼ and ½ inch thick is perfect.

Rolling out sugar cookie dough in between two pieces of parchment paper

After rolling out the dough, transfer to the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to firm up. This will allow you to cut out the cookies without needing too much extra flour. This also helps the cookies to hold their shape when baking if you want to make cut-out cookies. 

Step 3: Cut out the Cookies & Bake

Rolled out cookie dough being cut by a round cookie cutter
cookie dough that has been cut into rounds are being transferred onto a parchment lined baking sheet

Once the dough is firm, cut out the cookie shapes. I used round cutters to keep the look of these cookies neutral for any occasion. But use any shape you like! 

If the dough starts to become soft again, pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes.

Bake until the edges are firm and lightly browned. The tops of these cookies will stay pale. Let cool completely before frosting.

Step 4: Frost and decorate

Frosting a baked sugar cookie with simple buttercream frosting
Adding sprinkles on top of frosted sour cream sugar cookies

Once the cookies have cooled completely, frost them with your choice of topping. I like to use my easy buttercream frosting with a bit of lemon juice added to it. This helps balance the sweetness and make them extra delicious. 

If you want to do intricate designs or if you want the frosting to set hard, I recommend using a classic royal icing. 

Sour cream sugar cookies cut out in varying sizes of stars and stacked to form a christmas tree shape

When I first published this recipe back in 2012, I used it to make a sugar cookie Christmas tree! In order to make one you need a star tree cookie cutter set. 

Make the full recipe as written below and use the star cookie cutters to cut out the various sizes of stars. The packaging of the cookie cutters should specify how many of each size you need to make your tree. 

Instead of using the buttercream frosting in the recipe below, I recommend using a classic royal icing and color it green. Then after you stack the cookies into the tree shape, dust with a little powdered sugar to look like snow. Top with a cranberry! 

Prep & Storage

How to Store Raw Cookie Dough: If you’d like to store the raw dough in the freezer to bake off later, make the dough and cut out the shapes. Place the cookie dough shapes on a sheet pan and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer zipper bag for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake, bake straight from frozen but add about 2-3 minutes onto the baking time.

How to Store Frosting: The frosting can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also store it in a zipper bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bring the frosting to room temperature and re-whip it before frosting cookies.

MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!

If you loved this delicious recipe, you might like to try another cookie recipe!

Soft sugar cookies frosted and lined up on a sheet pan with rainbow sprinkles. One has a bite taken out of it
Yield: About 25 - 3 1/2 inch Cookies

Soft Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Chilling Time 15 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes

Soft sour cream sugar cookies are a holiday must-have with our family! These cookies hold their shape for making cookie cutouts and remain very soft after baked. Like a Lofthouse Cookie but better!  

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough

  • 113 grams (½ cup, 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest (*optional)
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 120 grams (½ cup) full fat sour cream
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 330 grams (2 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour

For the Frosting

  • 113 grams (½ cup, 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 240 grams (2 cups) powdered, icing, or confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (*optional)
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

For the Cookies:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the soft butter (113 grams/ ½ cup), granulated sugar (200 grams/ 1 cup), and lemon zest (1 teaspoon) if using. Cream together until lightly fluffy. Mix on medium/high speed for about 45 seconds-1 minute. You don't want to cream too much or the cookies won't hold their shape as well when baked.
  2. Add the egg (1 large) and sour cream (120 grams/ ½ cup) into the mixing bowl and mix until absorbed. Add the baking powder (1 ½ teaspoons) and salt (¼ teaspoon) mix until absorbed.
  3. Add the flour (330 grams/ 2 ¾ cups) to the mixing bowl and mix until it is just absorbed. You don't want to mix too much once the flour is added. The dough will be sticky.
  4. Divide the dough in half and transfer each half onto a piece of parchment paper. Top each half of dough with another piece of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out between the parchment to a little thicker an 1/4" thick. I like to go in between 1/4" and 1/2" thick to keep the cookies super soft.
  5. Transfer the rolled out dough into the freezer for 10-15 minutes until very firm. This will allow you to be able to cut the cookies out without needing to add a lot of extra flour.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
  7. Dip cookie cutters in flour, and stamp out cookies in your desired shape. This dough will hold its shape well if you want to make shapes. Transfer the cut out cookie onto the parchment lined baking sheets. You can press the scraps together and chill and cut out again. Only do this once, because working the dough too much will create tough cookies.
  8. Bake for 6-9 minutes, or until the edges are firm and very lightly browned. These cookies will not turn golden brown, they should still be white in the center. They will cook quickly and you don't want to over bake them.
  9. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the soft butter (113 grams/ ½ cup) on high speed until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the powdered sugar (240 grams/ 2 cups) into the mixing bowl. Start mixing on low and then gradually increase the speed to cream the sugar into the butter. Beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) and the lemon juice (1 tablespoon) if using. Add a bit of milk or heavy cream (2-3 tablespoons) to thin out the texture if needed.


To Assemble:

  1. Frost the cooled cookies as desired. The frosting does crust over slightly, so if you want to add sprinkles you do want to do it right when you frost.
  2. Store cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days. This will keep them very soft. You can store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I actually think they taste better cold!

Notes

*The lemon zest can be left out of the cookies and the lemon juice can be left out of the frosting if you prefer. I suggest including it because it adds a slight tangy flavor and helps balance the sweetness.

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© Bettie
Category: All Recipes