No-Butter Soft Sugar Cookies
I can’t believe I’ve never posted a soft sugar cookie recipe on the blog before. I mean seriously. This is a dessert blog. And sugar cookies are one of the most classic and ubiquitous desserts ever. Am I okay?
Also. It’s been a while. Since my last no-butter cookie post. No-butter cookies have become somewhat of a series on this blog. I’ve shared many no-butter cookie recipes over the years (these no-butter chocolate chip cookies were the first I posted, I believe), but again, never a no-butter soft sugar cookie. Alright. I decided. I'm not okay.
But anyway. Here they are at last. No-butter soft sugar cookies. FINALLY!
Instead of butter, I used my favorite butter substitute — coconut oil. REFINED coconut oil. Because refined coconut oil has a completely neutral taste, which means no coconut flavor whatsoever in your cookies. Not that I’m necessarily opposed to tropical coconut flavor in my cookies, but sometimes it’s nice to stick to classic flavors, especially when it comes to something as classic as a sugar cookie, where you want that full-bodied vanilla flavor to shine.
So. Coconut oil. You melt it. And then stir it with the sugars, the egg and extracts, the dry ingredients, and you’re done. One bowl, super quick and easy and hassle-free, and no machines required.
These no-butter soft sugar cookies are, well, SOFT. So soft and tender. And so thick and dense. And so rich and gooey. And so chewy all around and crispy at the edges and pillowy in the center and crackly on the outside from the granulated sugar that the cookies get rolled in before baking.
For those classic sugar cookie vibes and that signature pale color, I used mostly white sugar in these soft sugar cookies. But. I did add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar into the mix, because I couldn’t help myself and because who can hate that extra chewy texture and rich flavor brown sugar provides.
I also opted to add a bit of almond extract to these sugar cookies (in addition to vanilla extract, obviously). Just a hint of almond extract brings out that nostalgic sugar cookie flavor that I can’t get enough of. If you can’t stand almond extract, totally skip it, but tbh, almond extract is one of my favorite flavors everrrrrr, so I’ll judge you a little bit.
A note: you’re gonna want to roll those cookie dough balls very generously in the sugar. Like, roll all the balls in sugar. And then roll them all in the sugar again. And then sprinkle any remaining sugar over the cookies. Because 1- these aren’t overly sweet sugar cookies, and you want that extra sweetness from the sugar rolling, and 2- if you want the sugar crystals to be visible, as well as provide that lovely extra crunch to the outside of the cookies, they’ll need that double rolling.
Soft and tender. Gooey and dense. Thick and chewy. Rich and flavorful. Dairy-free and hassle-free. Quick and easy. Classic and nostalgic.
No-butter soft sugar cookies — you pillowy goddesses.
No-Butter Soft Sugar Cookies
Yield: 16-18 medium/large cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil,* melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 1/4 cups packed flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
-3 tablespoons granulated sugar, for rolling
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil and sugars until combined. Add in the egg and extracts and whisk vigorously until mixture is smooth.
3. Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients and stir everything together until just combined.
4. Pour the sugar into a small bowl. Round medium-large pieces of dough between palms and roll generously in the sugar. Re-roll all the cookies in sugar again. Space balls out onto baking sheet. Sprinkle any remaining sugar over the cookies.
5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until tops just begin to crack and you can just lift the edge of a cookie off the sheet with your hand. Let cookies cool and firm up on sheet for 10 minutes before moving them.
*Note: use refined coconut oil if you don’t want any coconut flavor in your cookies.
