These Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies are one of the plainest cookies yet they have endured throughout time and are often counted among the favorites in many families. The cookies are aptly named given the amount of sugar in them in proportion to the amounts of other ingredients. Despite the amount of sugar in most sugar cookie recipes, they are not really an overly sweet or rich cookie.
Growing up in PEI, sugar and molasses cookies were standard staples in many Island homes. My grandmothers always had them on hand yet their cookies varied significantly because, of course, they used different recipes and probably some different ingredients or proportions. One grandmother always made round cookies while the other always cut her cookies into squares. One made soft cookies while the other made cookies that were quite hard.
I remember visiting one grandmother and, as soon as I’d get in the door, I’d always ask for cookies to which the response was ‘you don’t have to ask, just go and help yourself’. I’d trot into her pantry and there were always two large cookie tins on the counter – one for molasses cookies and the other for sugar cookies. I’d return to the kitchen to find Gramma, with a big, happy smile on her face, having taken up her position in her Boston rocker beside the stove, waiting for me to occupy the companion rocker and have a visit. I’d rock away munching on the cookies — a sugar in one hand and a molasses cookie in the other — and we’d chat about this and that and nothing in particular. I think it made her day to have me pop in for a visit and to see little fingers fishing cookies out of the tins! I never remember visiting that there weren’t cookies in those tins! Gramma really was a cookie-type grandmother! Great memories!
Both molasses and sugar cookies were considered wholesome and substantial cookies that didn’t take ingredients homemakers would not be likely to have in their pantries. So, they were quite an economical cookie to make. No matter the recipe, sugar cookies have common ingredients – some kind of fat (butter, shortening, or lard), sugar (white or brown or a combination), eggs, flour, leavening agent (baking soda, cream of tartar, and/or baking powder), vanilla, and often a small quantity of milk.
In this post, I am going to talk a little bit about the functions of sugar in Sugar Cookies because it is a main, key ingredient. I am sometimes asked if the amount of sugar in a recipe can be reduced. Before considering an answer on that, I think it is important to discuss the various functions of sugar in cookies; it’s not all about sweetness.
Sugar performs many more functions in cookies other than simply adding flavor and sweetness. For example, it controls (i.e., slows/reduces) gluten formation. This will help to develop tender, soft textured, versus tough, cookies. Sugar also helps to trap and lock in moisture that results in soft, moist cookies. The sweetening agent also acts as a preservative of sorts that helps the cookies to maintain freshness for a longer period; this is why many of us who grew up with homemade sugar cookies found them simply kept, still fresh for several days, in a cookie jar on mother’s or grandmother’s counter. Sugar also assists in the cookie leavening process, too. When the sugar is creamed with the fat, it aerates the dough and the resultant air bubbles then expand, lifting the dough, and giving better rise to the cookies. Finally, the sugar helps the cookies to develop desired color that results in cookies that have an appealing look.
So, if you look at a sugar cookie recipe and think you can simply decrease the amount of sugar in it with no impact on the final baked cookies, consider two factors before doing so. 1) What effect will the reduction of sugar have on the other ingredients in the cookie dough – will any of them have to have their amounts adjusted, ratio-wise, to accommodate the reduction in sugar? 2) What effect will the sugar reduction have on the final baked cookies? Consider the foregoing points on the function of sugar in cookies plus the likely change in texture to one of dry and crumbly cookies versus ones with a soft, moist, and tender crumb.
If the recipe developer has done a good job in creating and testing the recipe, the recipe should contain the correct and best amounts of ingredients for the ultimate tasting cookie. This is why, for best results, I recommend that home bakers follow a recipe and its method from a reputable source, as that source has published it.
Sugar cookies can be rolled and cut into desired shapes or they can be drop cookies, depending on the recipe used. The recipe I use is for rolled sugar cookies. They are neither soft nor hard. These cookies hold their shape well. I chill the dough for a couple of hours before rolling it out and then chill the cut cookies on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before baking them. This helps to contain their shape and keep them from spreading. I add just small amounts of two spices – cardamom and nutmeg — not enough to change them from sugar to spice cookies but sufficient to give the flavour a bit of complexity for the taste buds. I also add the seeds from one-half of a vanilla bean as well as 1 tsp pure vanilla extract. I like the flavour from the vanilla bean seeds and I especially like the little black specks in the appearance of the cookie. My recipe calls for butter but some will use half shortening and half butter. Butter, of course, will make a richer cookie.
The key to baking cookies that will determine if they are soft or hard is the baking time. For softer, more chewy cookies, remove them from the oven when they are ever-so-slightly undercooked.
So, I introduce you to my old-fashioned sugar cookies.
Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup milk, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Method:
Using the tip of a sharp knife, split open the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the edge of the knife blade , scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add milk, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds. Beat just until combined.
In separate bowl, sift or sieve flour, cream of tartar, soda, salt, cardamon, and nutmeg. Add to liquid ingredients and stir just until flour mixture is combined with liquid ingredients.
Chill dough for 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
On floured surface, gather dough together and roll out dough to a scant 1/4″ thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
Decorate with raisins and/or sprinkle of sugar, if desired.
Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1½” apart. Chill cookies in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Remove and bake for 8-10 minutes. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
Makes about 3 dozen – 2 5/8″ cookies. Yield will vary depending on size of cookie cutters used.
Store cookies in an airtight container and keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or store in freezer for longer storage.
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Printable Recipe:
Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
- 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
-
Using the tip of a sharp knife, split open the vanilla bean lengthwise. Using the edge of the knife blade, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Set aside.
-
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add milk, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds. Beat just until combined.
-
In separate bowl, sift or sieve flour, cream of tartar, soda, salt, cardamon, and nutmeg. Add to liquid ingredients and stir just until flour mixture is combined with liquid ingredients.
-
Chill dough for 1-2 hours.
-
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
On floured surface, gather dough together and roll out dough to a scant ¼" thickness. Cut into desired shapes.
-
Decorate with raisins and/or sprinkle of sugar, if desired.
-
Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1½" apart. Chill cookies in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Remove and bake for 8-10 minutes. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
Recipe Notes
Makes about 3 dozen - 2 5/8" cookies. Yield will vary depending on size of cookie cutters used.
Store cookies in an airtight container and keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or store in freezer for longer storage.
[Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]
This post and recipe were last updated December 3, 2025.
Just like my grandmother made when I was small, raisins and all. Memories of years past – thanks Barbara!
I’m glad you like them, Simonne!