One Bowl Small-Batch Sugar Cookies
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This small-batch sugar cookie recipe gives you 6 perfectly soft & chewy cookies! They are so easy to make, come together in one bowl, and are perfect if you don’t want a ton of leftover cookies. They have over 25, 5-star reviews and are said to be some people’s favorite sugar cookie recipe!
These small-batch sugar cookies make it so I can still make my favorite cookies from scratch, but I don’t have the extra cookies that will sit in my freezer, tempting me every time I walk by! Since I’ve been baking for over 20 years, this is my biggest tip on how to not eat an entire batch of cookies at once! I loved the idea of small-batch so much that I also made a small batch peanut butter cookie recipe!
These small-batch sugar cookies are so soft and chewy, easy to make, and they give you 6 perfect cookies to share with a loved one, or eat by yourself (exactly what I would do). They do require some chilling time, but not much, and only require one bowl to make so you don’t have to do a lot of dishes!
Sugar cookies are great baked, but have you ever tried edible sugar cookie dough? It’s so delicious! If you love more of a shortbread cookie, these thumbprint cookies with icing are so fun to make.
Ingredients needed
- butter– I usually use unsalted butter but if you only have salted feel free to use that!
- egg yolk- this recipe uses 1 egg yolk. Feel free to save the egg white for breakfast the next morning (or a different recipe). If you are doubling the recipe use two egg yolks, not a whole egg.
- baking soda- this gives us that chewy texture, I tested with baking powder and didn’t love the texture, so I swapped for baking soda and it was much chewier!
- almond extract- This is my secret ingredient to making the most delicious sugar cookies! If you don’t have any, you can skip it but I highly recommend using it!
- sugar– granulated sugar gives us that classic sugar cookie flavor!
- flour– I haven’t tested this recipe with anything other than all-purpose flour
How to Make
Combine the butter and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extracts. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl and mix until everything is combined. It will seem crumbly at first but continue to mix until it comes together.
Scoop into 6 cookies & place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place this into the fridge for 45 minutes so the dough can chill.
After being chilled, bake the cookies into the oven for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.
Tips & Tricks:
- Make sure your butter is room temperature. If your butter is too cold, it’ll be hard to mix. If it’s too warm, it’ll be greasy and your cookies will overspread. So what does room temperature even mean? Room temperature cookies should be still slightly cool to the touch, and not greasy on the outside wrapper. When you press on it, your finger should leave an indent, but not sink into the butter. I like to take my butter out an hour before I bake. If you find your butter got too warm while sitting out, place it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
- Measure the flour correctly. Make sure to measure the flour correctly by using the scoop and level method. If you don’t know what that is, you want to scoop the flour into your measuring cup and use a sharp edge to level it off, instead of scooping the entire measuring cup into the flour. This packs the flour in and gives an inaccurate measurement.
- Chill the dough. Anytime a recipe tells you to chill the dough, it’s for a good reason. I tested this recipe without chilling the dough and the cookies were much too thin and lost their chewy texture. Chilling the dough gives the butter a chance to solidify, thus giving it more time to melt in the oven. If you put the cookies into the oven at room temperature, the butter will melt way too fast.
- Use parchment paper when baking. Parchment paper sheets are my favorite thing to use for baking in general, but definitely when baking cookies. Spraying the cookie sheet with non-stick spray creates an overly greasy environment, which leads to super flat cookies. Plus parchment paper makes for the perfect clean up too!
Equipment
Get yourself a high-quality cookie sheet and you will see all the difference when baking cookies! I’ve been using this one for years and it is still my go-to.
Storing and Freezing
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months. To defrost, allow them to sit at room temperature.
Want to try more cookie recipes?
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One Bowl Small-Batch Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp almond extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2-4 tbsp sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until combined.
- Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl and mix until everything is combined. It will seem crumbly at first but continue to mix until it comes together.
- Scoop into 6 cookies, about 2 tbsp of dough per each. Roll between your hands to make them round and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place this into the fridge for 45 minutes so the dough can chill.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F. Once the dough is chilled, you can roll the tops in sprinkles (optional) and place them into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- Make sure your butter is room temperature. If your butter is too cold, it’ll be hard to mix. If it’s too warm, it’ll be greasy and your cookies will overspread. So what does room temperature even mean? Room temperature butter should be still slightly cool to the touch, and not greasy on the outside wrapper. When you press on it, your finger should leave an indent, but not sink into the butter. I like to take my butter out an hour before I bake. If you find your butter got too warm while sitting out, place it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
- Measure the flour correctly. Make sure to measure the flour correctly by using the scoop and level method. If you don’t know what that is, you want to scoop the flour into your measuring cup and use a sharp edge to level it off, instead of scooping the entire measuring cup into the flour. This packs the flour in and gives an inaccurate measurement.
- Chill the dough. This dough needs time to chill so the butter doesn’t melt as fast in the oven!
- Use parchment paper when baking. Parchment paper is my favorite thing to use for baking in general, but definitely when baking cookies. Spraying the cookie sheet with non-stick spray creates an overly greasy environment, which leads to super flat cookies. Plus parchment paper makes for the perfect clean up too!
This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something off of one of those links I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog!
This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something off of one of those links I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog!
I made these on a whim because I didn’t feel like going to the store for the premade dough and omg I’ll never go back! I found this recipe for the small batch but I’ve ended up making them three nights in a row 🤣
I’m glad you stumbled upon this recipe! So happy to hear you liked them!
My granddaughter wants to use her cookie cutters, can we roll these out and cut out some shapes?
Hi Julie, these aren’t the type of sugar cookie that will hold their shape after being baked, they will spread as they get hot in the oven! I would search for a recipe that says “sugar cookie cut out” or something similar!
This was my first time making cookies and the recipe was so easy to follow. I made the dough and put it in the fridge overnight as I was too tired to wait 45mins to bake them 😄 i was a bit scared to leave the balls as is so I flattened them with my hand for the first batch and they came out good. For the second batch I thought let me see if the balls will flatten by themselves and they did! they also made the perfect round cookies. I will definitely be making these again Thank you.
These were so yummy! My new favorite sugar cookie. That little bit ofL Almond extract makes them 😋 The perfect amount of cookies for my “One Person Home”. Thank You!
So happy to hear you enjoyed these! Thanks for trying them, LL!
my favorite cookie recipe by far! makes 6 medium sized cookies & they’re perfectly crispy, soft and fluffy!! also doesn’t use up lots of ingredients:))
So happy to hear you enjoy these, Kayla!
the recipe actually made 7 cookies after I rolled it with à rolling pin! I was surprised that they came out perfect and they were so tasty!
Glad to hear you liked these! Thanks for trying!
I made these last week. They taste great and come together easily. I did have to press them flat about two thirds of the way into the bake. This may be because I was using a countertop oven. They tasted great and it was the perfect sized batch. I also liked the way the almond extract was used. They did not taste like almond but had a more complex flavor than if just using vanilla.
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, Ella! So happy to hear you liked them!
Tried the small batch…. It was so good and very simple to make !
Thanks for trying this recipe, Stephanie! So happy to hear you you enjoyed it 😊
Just a suggestion for those with nut allergies, another great holiday taste is to use maple extract. I think this recipe is too small for peppermint extract since that one is very strong with even the tiniest bit, but maple is yummy in sugar cookies.
Great idea, Sheri! You can also leave out the almond extract completely if wanted as well!
Hi, I haven’t made your sugar & orange Creamsicle cookies yet but I have a question. Can I put the dough in the freezer overnight or should I put in my fridge instead?
Thanks
Hi Bobbi! You can definitely keep the cookie dough in the fridge if it’s just overnight. If you’d like to keep it for longer, I’d suggest the freezer.
There is a typo under notes regarding room temperature butter. You wrote’ room temperature cookies’ when I think you meant room temperature butter. 🤗
OMG thank you so much for pointing this out 😂 I guess I had cookies on my mind!
Would this recipe be fine without the almond extract? Asking because of a nut allergy
Absolutely! You can leave it out and add a little bit more vanilla extract instead!
We made these and they turned out great. Cheery and full of flavor (love that you put almond extract in them). Also making a small batch is a great idea.
So glad they turned out great 🙂 The almond extract is the key ingredient for delicious sugar cookies!
They were delicious but they didn’t flatten out like yours, even though I followed the directions to the T. I even broke my rule of no extra egg parts in my fridge. They’re delicious but what did I do wrong? I even banged the pan after 5 minutes.
Hi Michèle, thank you so much for trying the recipe! I’m happy to hear they were delicious but very sorry to hear they didn’t flatten out. A few things that come to mind that could have possibly happened:
1. Adding too much flour can cause your cookies to not flatten out. If you spoon and level your flour in a measuring cup, it should give you a more accurate amount than if you scooped the flour directly into your measuring cup. Scooping the flour directly with your measuring cup can actually over-measure the flour and give you a bit too much. I plan on adding gram measurements to my recipes soon so that if you use a kitchen scale to bake, you can make sure the measurements are exact!
2. Your oven might be too cold- The temperature of your oven is important when baking cookies since they are only in there for 10-12 minutes. Many times our ovens say they are preheated to 350 degrees when in fact they aren’t! I recommend using an oven thermometer, but if you don’t have one I always let my oven preheat, and once it beeps and tells me it’s “ready” I wait another 15 minutes to let it really heat up. Surprisingly, sometimes oven temperatures can be off by a lot!
3. Did you use a dark non-stick baking pan by chance? This can sometimes prevent the cookies from spreading. I like to use lighter-colored pans for baking.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts and if you feel like none of these could have been the culprit, I can try and troubleshoot some more!