Around the time ghosts and pumpkin carvings appear, so do sugar cookies. They may go into hiding while collard greens, yams and turkeys are put onto Thanksgiving tables. But after Halloween, they reappear again with Christmas tree lining, snowflake designs and reindeer outlines. However, three-ingredient sugar cookies are good all year-round, not just during the holidays. Best of all, this three-ingredient sugar cookie recipe is fairly easy to bake and match with a few healthy beverages to balance out all the sugar.

If you’re making them with family, children will enjoy shopping for shapes to use for each cookie. And for tempted houseguests who worry about sugar intake but want to participate in National Sugar Cookie Day, there’s a recipe for them too.

How To Make 3 Ingredient Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of softened granulated sugar
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
4. Gradually add flour, mixing until cookie dough forms.
5. Scoop and roll the dough into small balls.
6. Slightly flatten each ball with your hand.
7. Bake for 12–15 minutes until edges are lightly golden.

Quick Tweaks for Plant-Friendly Sugar Cookies

If these cookies will be served at a housewarming, work party or other get-together where there are likely to be lactose-intolerant guests, vegan sugar cookies are easy to make as a second option. Switch out unsalted butter for vegan butter. And while diabetic guests may be tempted to try a few sugar cookies with the suggested cup of sugar, if you want to help keep their sugar levels down, vegan sugar cookies come in handy for them too. Swap the fatty butter for 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, the all-purpose flour with 1-1/2 cups of almond flour (or whole wheat flour for firmer cookies) and use 1/2 cup of a sugar substitute instead of granulated sugar.

National Sugar Cookie Day

While there have been many variations of sugar cookies, including brown sugar cookies, brown sugar oatmeal cookies, brown sugar snickerdoodles, brown sugar pecan shortbread and brown sugar chocolate chip cookies, the original sugar cookie is said to be created by German Protestant settlers in Nazareth, Pennsylvania and were first known as “Nazareth cookies.” In fact, restaurants in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and New Hampshire have all had signature sugar cookies. But the cookie is celebrated countrywide during National Sugar Cookie Day on July 9. On July 9, families can keep the cookie celebrations private, share them with colleagues and other family members, or bake a batch to sell and donate the earnings to a charitable organization.

Baking Hacks To Avoid Burning Sugar Cookies

Baking, especially for first-timers, may take some extra practice. Just like some people have a natural green thumb, other plant lovers may find air plants are the way to go. If you’re a little nervous about baking sugar cookies that taste just as good as ones found in department stores, here are a few baking hacks to avoid burning them.

First, always use parchment paper. While baking sheets may be advertised as no-stick, using parchment is extra assurance that the cookie dough does not make direct contact with the baking sheet.

Second, every oven is not the same. While baking directions have a suggested Fahrenheit, don’t feel obligated to follow it if you know your stove runs a little hotter. Electric surges, low-quality elements and not cleaning the oven (or cleaning the oven racks) enough can all contribute to food not turning out as intended. If you’ve found that you followed all of the instructions and the cookies are still burned, try investigating the oven itself.

Third, turn the temperature down about 10 to 15 degrees to see if that makes a difference in how baked recipes turn out. If you have an oven light, spy on the cookies every few minutes to see if they’re baking better at a lower temperature. (If you’re still not totally sure, use an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature you entered is actually the temperature that you’re baking the sugar cookies on.)

Fourth, while it may seem like it makes no difference, lighter-colored baking sheets (i.e., stainless steel or aluminum) absorb heat less than darker-colored baking sheets, which may be made of the same material but with a darker non-stick coating. Sometimes absorbing more heat is absolutely a good thing when making foods such as pizza crust or potato wedges. For cookies, this isn’t as necessary.

Fifth, halfway through baking, turn the baking tray around 180 degrees to make sure the sugar cookies bake evenly.

Sixth, stay away from the bottom rack. Heat rises, meaning the closer the cookie dough is to the bottom, the more likely you risk burning them.

Seventh, the goal of greasing a baking sheet is to make sure the ingredients don’t stick to the surface. But too much butter or oil can almost “fry” the cookies.

Eighth, make sure cookies are the same size. If you have some sugar cookies that are jumbo-sized while others are small, there will be more dough to cook. By making sure they’re all cut about the same size with cookie cutters, or rolling them up by hand, you’ll have a better chance of them cooking evenly.

Ninth, do not leave three-ingredient sugar cookies in the oven to cool. Just because you turned the oven off does not mean the cookies have stopped baking. It is imperative that you take them out of the oven and to a cooler place. Don’t sit them on top of the stove racks.

Storing Sugar Cookies After They’re Baked

If you have enough discipline to not devour the entire sheet of three-ingredient sugar cookies in one sitting, here are a few tips on how to store the cookies for up to three months. For up to 14 days of storage, use an airtight container and keep the cookies at room temperature. (Hint, hint. Put sugar cookies back into that tin you’re now using for your collection of colorful thread.) Use parchment or wax paper to prevent the cookies from sticking together once they’re in that tin. If you want the cookies to be crunchy, store them as is. To retain the just-out-of-the-oven moisture, add a slice of bread to the tin.

For up to 90 days, the three-ingredient sugar cookies should be frozen in freezer bags or a freezer-safe container. Wrap each cookie individually to avoid them sticking together once they’re frozen. This way, you can eat them individually and at your leisure. It may take up to 30 minutes for each cookie to thaw before munching on them again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best ingredients for sugar cookies? 

Although there are variations of sugar cookies, the classic version is always butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and salt.

How many calories are in a sugar cookie? 

If there are no variations in the classic sugar cookie recipe, a 3-inch cookie is approximately 147 calories. Making smaller cookies can help decrease or increase the calorie count: 1-inch dough balls make 20–24 cookies; 1.5-inch dough balls make 12–16 cookies; 2-inch dough balls make 8–12 cookies; and 2.5-inch to 3-inch dough balls make up to eight cookies on a baking sheet.

How much sugar is in a sugar cookie? 

You can tweak as needed, but one cup is usually used for a baking sheet full of classic cookies and 1/2 cup for three-ingredient sugar cookies.