These dreamy Sour Cream Sugar Cookies feature a delightful sour cream infused dough that gives them a sweet and tangy flavor. The creamy texture given to the dough by the sour cream is pure magic. Bake a batch for the special people in your life, and you're guaranteed to fill your cookie jar with love.

Easy Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Recipe
Kids of all ages love sugar cookies, so these sour cream sugar cookies are suitable for any occasion. Of course, this creamy dough can be cut into any shape you like and decorated with colored sugar or tube icing to match the occasion. They are perfectly delicious cookies all on their own, but it's also fun to decorate them especially when baking a batch to commemorate a special holiday.
How to Make the Best Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Ingredients you'll need to make homemade Sour Cream Sugar Cookies: All purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, sour cream, butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and large eggs.
- To make the Royal Icing you'll need: Powdered sugar, vanilla extract, lemon or almond extract and light corn syrup. Clear vanilla isn't imperative but it won't tint the frosting like a classic vanilla extract would. If you're coloring the frosting it may not be a factor for you.
- Kitchen tools you'll need: A stand mixer or a hand mixer, measuring cups and spoons, large bowl, medium bowl, rolling pin, cookie cutters in various shapes, either heart shaped or any shape. For round cookies, use a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop. You'll also need sheet pans for baking and a cooling rack.
- For your convenience I'm including my favorite royal icing recipe. To frost the cookies, it's helpful to pipe the outline onto the cookie, then fill with frosting. You can also use an offset spatula to frost the cookies much like you would a cake.
- One easy design is to frost a cookie with one solid color, then pipe lines through the icing in another color. Use the tip of a knife or toothpick to drag the second color through to create a pretty design or swirl it.
- You can also simply sprinkle the cookies on the pan prior to baking with colored sprinkles or festive colored sugar crystals, too.
- These cookies could also be frosted with a classic vanilla buttercream or similar. It's a fun project to get the kids involved in the process.
- Store Sour Cream Sugar Cookies chilled in the refrigerator or at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. When doing so, you can freeze it in discs and remove just enough to make a fresh batch.
More Cookie Recipes to Make
It doesn't have to be a special occasion to bake fresh cookies. Whether it's the holidays, a potluck party or summer picnic with friends, cookies are always in order. More cookie recipes to make:
- Mexican Wedding Cookies are fun to make year-round. My recipe features a citrus twist.
- Classic chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies.
- Rocky Road Brownie Cookies are filled with toasted almonds and mini marshmallows.
- White Chocolate Chip Valentine's Day Cookies are filled with seasonal M & M's, too.
- Glazed Lemon Cookies melt in your mouth.
- Buttery Pecan Cookies are impossible to resist.
- Loaded Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookies with toasted pecans.
- Strawberry Cool Whip Cookies from My Incredible Recipes.
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Helpful Kitchen Items:
Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
Servings: 30 two inch or 24 three inch cookies
Calories: 209kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 8 oz container sour cream Not lowfat
- 3 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour plus additional for work surface
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond or lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- ⅛-1/4 cup light corn syrup plus additional as needed
Instructions
- To make the dough: Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar over medium-high speed until fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl periodically. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
- Lower the speed of the mixer and gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl, as needed. Mix just until the dough has come together.
- Form the dough into one large or two medium discs and wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
- To bake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Flour a non-stick surface and also a rolling pin. Unwrap dough and roll to about ⅓-1/2 inch thickness. Use a flour dipped 2 or 3 inch cookie cutter to cut into your favorite shapes. Place onto a baking sheet at least 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges become lightly golden. Cool completely on a wire racks before decorating as desired.
- To make optional icing: In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and ⅛ cup corn syrup. Stir until sugar has dissolved and icing is completely smooth.
- Add extra corn syrup up to ¼ cup total, in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency.
- Decorate cookies as desired, allowing to dry completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature in a single layer.
Notes
- This icing will dry shiny but, it doesn't get crunchy like a traditional royal icing.
- When mixing your icing, be patient. If you feel the need to add more corn syrup do it slowly in small amounts and stir like crazy!! If you get the icing too thin, your cookies won't store well and they'll become soggy.
- If you choose to color this icing, I suggest using gel color because it won't liquefy the mixture quite as much.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 289IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
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Connie Church
The cookies turned out fine. Then I made the icing.. It didn't turn out well at all. Is there an ingredient or a step of instructions that was left out. I stirred it fast as I added the corn syrup, but it is super hard, too hard to spread on a cookie. Can I fix it? I'm wondering if i should just throw out the icing... Kinda frustrated. Help!
Melissa
Add more corn syrup until your desired consistency is reached.
Beverly
Thank you. I had a recipe for soft sour cream cookies with frosting on them. I have lost the recipe and have been trying to find one like it. I will try your recipe and add a small amount of cinnamon. They look like the recipe I lost.
I didn’t really want a snickerdoodle .
Beverly
I would like a hint of cinnamon. Would I leave something out?
Melissa
You wouldn't have to leave anything out.
Beverly
Perhaps 1 tsp?
Melissa
If you like cinnamon have you looked at my Snickerdoodle Cookie recipe? Otherwise, 1 tsp would be a mild cinnamon flavor. It's completely up to you, I haven't tested turning this recipe into cinnamon cookies.
ron chow
will the icing harden to stack cookies, or usemy regilar icing?
Melissa
The icing doesn't become rock hard. You shouldn't stack these cookies after icing.