Fancy some wonderfully soft cookies that melt in your mouth? Today we have traditional American cookies, which are pretty different from our German classics. The American sugar cookies recipe is a bit "different" in both preparation and result. And sooooo good!
Taste and Occasion
If I understand it correctly, the term Sugar Cookie is more or less a collective term for cookies that are all made of buttery dough. And are pretty sweet. For my alternative of the Christmas cookie, I have significantly reduced the sugar content. And added yogurt to the dough. This creates wonderfully soft cookies whose consistency is similar to my lemon cookies. These are not crispy shortbread cookies but rather a sort of mixture of shortbread and sponge. For full enjoyment, you decorate the easy sugar cookies still lush with frosting. So the yogurt cookies also become a real eye-catcher - whether during the Christmas season or the whole year.
Ingredients
Instead of making yogurt cookies, you can use cream cheese instead. Both options result in sugar cookies that are delightfully soft and fluffy. When it comes to decorating, you have plenty of choices: a classic powdered sugar glaze, a coating of melted (white) chocolate, or, as in my case, a more indulgent alternative.
For my yogurt sugar cookies, I chose a buttercream topping (with a touch of gel food coloring) and the quintessential sprinkles. This means the cookies don't keep as long, but they’re still fine for a few days when stored properly. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze them for several months. At our house, though, they never last that long 🙂 . The sponge-like texture of these yogurt cookies makes them less shelf-stable than traditional cut-out cookies, even with icing.
How to Make the Soft Sugar Cookies with Yogurt
First, mix the flour with baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes until very fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
Next, incorporate the flour mixture and yogurt alternately into the butter mixture, stirring just until a smooth (though sticky) dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least two hours. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Roll out half of the dough on a floured surface to a medium thickness. Use a large round cookie cutter to cut out cookies, and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. My tip: Aim for a soft texture. Repeat with the remaining dough. Once the cookies are cool, decorate them (see notes). For buttercream frosting, beat softened butter for a few minutes until fluffy. Gradually add sifted confectioners’ sugar and mix. Add milk for a smoother consistency and gel colors as desired. Spread the buttercream over the cookies and enjoy!
Top Tip
Here's a great trick: You can either cut out the round cookies before baking or bake the dough as a sheet and cut out circles afterward. (The scraps are perfect for cake pops or dessert chips 😉). If buttercream isn't your thing, feel free to use any other frosting you love for sugar cookies.
Recipe Card
Soft Sugar Cookies with Yogurt
Ingredients
For the dough
- 75 grams (⅓ cup) butter, soft
- 110 grams (⅔ cup) sugar
- 1 egg, medium
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (⅓ teaspoon) baking soda
- 160 grams (¾ cup) Greek yogurt, or whole milk yogurt
For the frosting
- 90 grams (6 ½ tablespoons) butter, soft
- 150 grams (1 ⅓ cups) powdered sugar, coarse
- food coloring, to taste
Instructions
- Mix flour with baking powder and baking soda. Beat butter and sugar for a few minutes until very fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt and mix everything briefly to a smooth (quite sticky) dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a floured work surface until not too thin. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place them spaced apart on a baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. They should be somewhat soft. Do the same with the remaining dough.
- Let cookies cool and decorate (see notes). For buttercream frosting, beat softened butter for a few minutes until fluffy. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. Add milk if desired and color. Spread over cookies with a spoon.
Notes
- Instead of buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting is also suitable. With frosting, the cookies will keep for just under a week (after 2 days in a container in the refrigerator).
- Alternatively, you can frost the cookies with classic frosting or melted white chocolate coating.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Explore more of my classic Christmas cookie recipes on the blog. Try these cut-out cookies or a low-carb option. Don’t miss Laura’s recipe for White Chocolate No-Bake Cookies.
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