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As a child, Christmas sugar cookies were a staple. After rolling out the door, kids are able to take their cookie cutters and cut out the dough into any shape that they want. As soon as they turned golden brown in the oven, they were left to cool and then it was decorating with homemade frosting, sprinkles, and peppermints. Nothing tastes quite as good as taking a big bite out of a candy cane shaped sugar cookie or breaking a heart-shaped cookie in half.

How to Make The Perfect Fluffy Sugar Cookie

While there may be many different recipes for sugar cookies, the traditional recipe calls for the following ingredients:

• Sugar. Would a cookie named after cookie not have this as a key ingredient? We don’t think so!

• Butter. Creaming the butter and sugar together is a crucial step in getting light, fluffy cookies. This process helps add air into the batter and provides the soft cookie texture.

• Flour. Of course we can’t exclude flour, which gives the dough its consistency and a place for the ingredients to combine and rise. We recommend using all-purpose flour for this recipe.

• Eggs. Adding eggs to your dough acts as a binding agent to keep everything together.

• Vanilla Extract. Use vanilla extract to add richness and depth to the cookies and bring out that added flavor!

• Cream of Tartar. Perhaps not as common an ingredient as the ones above, cream of tartar is a leavening agent, meaning that is responsible for helping the cookies rise and stay fluffy. Not only that, but when combined with baking soda, cream of tartar produces small carbon dioxide bubbles, which give the cookies that lighter and fluffier texture. Cream of tartar is also frequently used in icings, meringues, and cookies to prevent sugar crystal from forming. In sugar cookie recipes, this step is crucial to prevent cookies from turning brown or burning in the oven.

What is the Secret to Chewy Sugar Cookies?

The secret ingredient in our sugar cookie recipe is adding cream cheese! While some recipes call for added shortening, we love adding cream cheese to our sugar cookie dough because it helps to make this easy cookie recipe richer, chewier, and softer than any other sugar cookie we’ve tried. Plus, this old-fashioned cream cheese sugar cookie recipe is slightly less sweet and more fatty than the store-bought version. The result? The perfect fluffy sugar cookie base for sticky sweet icings or glazes.

What You Need For Soft and Chewy Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

For Sugar Cookies:

• Butter

• Cream Cheese

• Sugar

• Eggs

• Vanilla Extract

• All Purpose Flour

• Baking Powder

• Baking Soda

• Cream of Tartar

• Salt

For Raspberry Sauce:

• Milk

• Fresh or Frozen Raspberries

• Powdered Sugar

How To Make Soft and Chewy Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

For Cookies:

1. Create the cream. In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.

2. Combine the eggs. Add in eggs and vanilla and combine until mixed.

3. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, add sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar. Stir until combined.

4. Add dry ingredients into wet. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet until fully combined.

5. Cover and chill. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour.

6. Turn the oven on. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Roll the dough into balls. Roll into 1.5 inch balls, gently pressing down on ball to compress slightly. Do not fully flatten.

8. Add a bit of sugar. Sprinkle sugar on top of dough before placing into the oven.

9. Bake the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookie edges begin to lightly brown.

10. Let them cool. Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on wire cooling rack.

For Raspberry Sauce:

1. Blend up the berries. Blend milk and raspberries together until fully mixed.

2. Add the powdered sugar. Slowly add powdered sugar mixture until desired consistency is reached.

3. For a thicker glaze. For a thicker glaze, press the top of the cookie into the sauce mixture and set aside to rest.

4. For a thinner sauce. For a more liquid sauce, drizzle over cookies or dip when ready to eat.

Cookie Variations

Create cut out cookies.

1. Divide the dough. Divide dough into 2 or 4 separate parts, depending on how many cookies you want to make.

2. Roll the dough. Between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. Place in the fridge to chill overnight.

3. Preheat the oven. When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. Cut out the cookies. Remove the top layer of parchment paper or wrap from dough and cut out as desired. Save dough scraps to roll back out for more cookies after chilling.

5. Place cut out cookies on baking sheet. Transfer cookies onto lined baking sheet.

6. Bake. Depending on size, bake for approximately 5-8 minutes, or until lightly brown.

7. Let them cool. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating 

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