3 Ingredient Sugar Cookies
3 Ingredient sugar cookies prove that simple is best! With just butter, sugar, and flour, these classic cookies come together in minutes with soft, buttery results. Perfect for adding your favorite extras like sprinkles or chocolate chips!
What makes this cookie recipe so great is easy it is. But don’t let the short ingredient list fool you. They are crazy delicious. Perfect for when you need cookies fast but don’t have a fully stocked pantry. Or a lot of time!
If you love sugar cookies, then these are for you. But if you feel like adding some extra goodies to them, they are the perfect base. Stir in some chocolate chips or sprinkles, or roll them in colored sanding sugar for a simple decoration.
These soft, buttery, melt in your mouth cookies are perfect for cookie exchanges, last-minute baking, or keeping ingredients on hand for whenever cookie cravings strike. Serve them next to these snowball cookies, butter pecan cookies, and Biscoff butter cookies for a fun cookie spread!
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See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and their quantities.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter – Use high quality, unsalted butter. This is where all the flavor is going to come from so get the best you can.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar. I haven’t tried this with brown sugar or sugar substitutes. You can also use sanding sugar or different colors to roll the cookies in before baking.
- Flour – I have only tested this with all-purpose flour. If you try it with alternative flours, let me know how thye turn out!
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How To Make 3 Ingredient Sugar Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Add the butter and ⅔ cup sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the flour to the bowl and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix once more to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Scoop out 1 tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll them into balls between your hands. Roll the dough balls in the extra ¼ cup of sugar.
- Place the dough balls, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Press each cookie down slightly with the bottom of a glass cup. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are a light golden-brown color.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the full recipe and detailed instructions, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They stay soft and buttery so you don’t need to refrigerate them.
How To Freeze
Roll dough into balls, freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time.
Sugar Cookie Additions
These are simple and delicious sugar cookies, but they are also a jumping off point to so many other cookies! They make a great base for so many flavors. Check out a few of my favorite things to mix into these to change them up.
- Chocolate chips
- Sprinkles
- Nuts: pecans, almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts
- Pretzels
- Potato chips
- Toffee bits
- Candies: M&Ms, RedHots, Jolly Ranchers, etc.
- Flavor: Add in a 1/4 teaspoon flavoring like peppermint, orange, or almond extract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but the cookies will be slightly saltier. Unsalted butter gives you more control over the flavor, but salted butter works in a pinch. Just know they’ll have a subtle salty edge.
The simplicity is the point! The butter provides enough richness and moisture, while the sugar adds sweetness. These ingredients create a classic sugar cookie texture without additional leavening or flavoring agents.
These cookies don’t spread much during baking, so pressing them down creates a flatter, more traditional sugar cookie shape. Without pressing, they’ll stay quite thick and round.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Better butter – Bring to room temperature. It makes mixing much easier and creates smoother dough. Beat butter and sugar until fully combined and smooth.
- Don’t skip the sugar coating – Rolling dough balls in extra sugar adds sparkle and slight crunch to the outside of the cookies. Line baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Flatten before baking – Press cookies down with glass bottom as they don’t spread much on their own. Be sure to grease the glass so they don’t stick.
- Rest after baking – Let cookies sit on baking sheet 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack. This prevents breaking and helps them set up properly.
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This 3 ingredient sugar cookie recipe is easy to make with pantry staples and a great cookie base for adding all different flavors and textures.
3 Ingredient Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar plus ¼ cup extra for coating the cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Add the butter and ⅔ cup sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fully combined and smooth.
- Add the flour to the bowl and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix once more to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Scoop out 1 tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll them into balls between your hands.
- Roll the dough balls in the extra ¼ cup of sugar.
- Place the dough balls, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Press each cookie down slightly with the bottom of a glass cup.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are a light golden-brown color.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Better butter – Bring to room temperature. It makes mixing much easier and creates smoother dough. Beat butter and sugar until fully combined and smooth.
- Don’t skip the sugar coating – Rolling dough balls in extra sugar adds sparkle and slight crunch to the outside of the cookies. Line baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Flatten before baking – Press cookies down with glass bottom as they don’t spread much on their own. Be sure to grease the glass so they don’t stick.
- Rest after baking – Let cookies sit on baking sheet 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack. This prevents breaking and helps them set up properly.
Nutrition
This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes to make and give.
This year we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids’ Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers across the country. From these grants have stemmed 35+ treatments available to kids battling cancer today.
Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.
Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
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