Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
This recipe for Sourdough Sugar Cookies has been a long time coming. Of all the cookies I make (and I make a lot, my kids run a home bakery cookie business), traditional sugar cookies are always a fan favorite. Creating a sourdough version that truly lives up to the classic felt like a must, and this one absolutely delivers. No chilling required, these rolled cut-out sourdough sugar cookies are soft, tender, melt in your mouth and perfect for using a cookie cutter.
With just a hint of that signature sourdough flavor (if you want it), these cookies are delicious eaten plain. But once you slather them with my almond vanilla buttercream frosting, they become something really special. Perfect for holidays, Valentine’s Day, cookie decorating days, or just because, these cut-out sourdough sugar cookies are the kind of recipe that turns into a family tradition.
Table of Contents
- Quick Look: Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Why You’ll Love Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Important Ingredients
- Substitutions
- How to Make Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- How to Store Leftover Cookies
- Amy’s Recipe Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Most Popular Sourdough Cookie recipes
- Sourdough Sugar Cookies (No-Chill, Perfect for Cut-Out Shapes) Recipe
Quick Look: Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cooling Time: 30 hours
- Bake Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Servings: 36 cookies
- Calories: ~220 kcal per frosted cookie (based on nutrition panel)
- Cook Method: Baked on a cookie sheet
- Flavor & Texture: Soft and chewy with a tender center and a hint of almond flavor (optional but delicious)
- Difficulty: Easy – no chilling or complex techniques required
SUMMARIZE AND SAVE THIS RECIPE CONTENT ON:
Save this for later!
We'll email this post to you so it doesn't get lost in your open tabs 😉
Why You’ll Love Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- No-Chill Recipe: Skip the fridge! Unlike most cut-out recipes that require hours of chilling, this dough is ready to roll and bake immediately. It’s perfect when you’re craving cookies – NOW!
- Classic Flavor with a Twist: Based on my best ever sugar cookie recipe, these have that nostalgic buttery taste, but the sourdough discard adds a depth of flavor and a soft, tender crumb that you just can’t get with a standard recipe. And if you’re more of a chocolate fan, you’ll also love the flavor in these Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies too.
- The Ultimate Family Activity: This dough is incredibly easy to work with. I usually portion off a section of dough for each child with their own piece of parchment paper and a rolling pin. They get full autonomy over their shapes and thickness, making it a fun memory for Valentine’s Day or any special holiday. If you’re looking for an even faster kid-friendly option, my Sourdough Sugar Cookie Bars are a great “press and bake” alternative.
- Soft-Baked Texture: While these hold their shape for your favorite cookie cutters, they spread just enough to stay soft and tender. The sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that perfectly balances the sweetness of the sugar. (P.S. If you prefer a thicker, puffier cookie without the rolling pin, check out my No-Roll Sourdough Sugar Cookies!)
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard – Use “fresh” discard (fed within 24 hours) for a neutral, buttery flavor. Older discard from the refrigerator will add more tangy flavor.
- Unsalted Butter – This allows you to control the salt content perfectly. If using salted butter, cut the added salt in the recipe by half.
- Granulated Sugar – Provides the classic sweetness and helps create those slightly crisp, golden edges.
- Egg: You only need one! The sourdough discard provides the moisture and structure usually found in a second egg, keeping these tender rather than puffy.
- Vanilla Extract and Almond Extract – This combo creates that “professional bakery” flavor. You can skip the almond if you prefer, but it’s the secret to that quintessential sugar cookie taste.
- All-Purpose Flour and Cornstarch – Cornstarch combined with all-purpose flour is the key to a melt-in-your-mouth crumb because it softens the flour proteins.
- Baking Powder – This provides the gentle rise in the oven, ensuring your cut-out shapes aren’t flat or hard.
- Cream of Tartar – A secret ingredient for a nostalgic flavor and soft texture. It’s optional, but highly recommended for the best results!
- Buttercream Frosting – I always top these with a classic American buttercream. My #1 tip for success? Keep whipping the butter and sugar longer than you think you need to, until it’s incredibly light, pale, and airy.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions
- Sourdough Discard: I use 100% hydration sourdough discard (unfed sourdough starter). You can substitute it for active and bubbly sourdough starter instead if you want for less sourdough tang.
- Cornstarch: If you don’t have cornstarch on hand, you can substitute it with more all-purpose flour. I recommend one with an 11.5% protein content (like King Arthur) for the best results.
- Frosting: While I love 100% real butter in my buttercream icing you can use any recipe you like. For a sturdier, “bakery-style” piping consistency that holds its shape well at room temperature, substitute half of the butter with Crisco (shortening). You could also use a royal icing in place of the buttercream frosting.
- Flavor Swaps: Not a fan of almond? Swap it for lemon zest or even maple extract for any flavor you like.
- Shapes & Shortcuts: This recipe is designed for cookie cutters. If you’re in a hurry and want to skip the rolling pin, use my No-Roll Sourdough Sugar Cookies recipe instead!
How to Make Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Mix the Dough
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat softened, unsalted butter until it’s smooth and creamy. Add the white sugar and cream together until combined. Then add the sourdough discard, egg and extracts. Continue mixing for a few minutes until the batter is pale, light, and airy.
Step 2: In a medium-sized bowl, fluff together the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar. Gradually add these to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix, as this can result in tough cookies!
Dough Tip: Because the consistency of sourdough discard can vary, pay close attention to the texture here. The dough should gather into a ball with barely any residue sticking to your fingers. If it feels overly tacky, add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it is soft and easy to handle.
Roll and Cut Out Dough
Step 3: Roll Out the Dough Lightly flour a pastry mat (or your countertop) and set the dough on top. If you are baking with kids, this is the perfect time to separate the dough into several chunks so each child has their own piece to work with. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough or on the rolling pin and gently roll it out until it reaches your desired thickness.
Step 4: Cut and Bake Use your favorite cookie cutters to stamp out your shapes. Carefully transfer the shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet using a metal spatula. Set your cut out cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process until you have used up the dough; you can re-roll the scraps a few times to get as many cookies as possible!
Skip the Wait! Most sugar cookie recipes require hours of chilling, but that is not the case here. This sourdough sugar cookie recipe is made for baking right away. While you can chill the dough for planning purposes or to long-ferment the flavors, you don’t have to. You can go from mixing bowl to cooling rack in less than half an hour. No chilling, no waiting—just super-easy, delicious sugar cookies.
Bake the Cookies
Step 5: Bake to Perfection Bake your cookies in a preheated oven. Depending on your oven type and your preferred cookie texture, use regular or convection bake.
The Doneness Test: Regardless of the method, you want the edges to be set and the bottoms to be a very light golden brown. The tops should still look soft and pale. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Amy’s Baking Tips: I am a big believer in using the convection setting for most of my cookies, but I’ve baked these for years using a regular bake with great results! Here is the breakdown so you can choose what works best for you:
- For a Thick & Soft Cookie (My Favorite): Use Regular Bake at 350°F for 10–11 minutes. This gives you a thicker, softer cookie that isn’t too crispy.
- For a Quick or Crispy Cookie: Use Convection at 325°F for 8–9 minutes. Convection saves a few minutes of bake time and is the best way to get those delicious crispy edges. If you want them extra crunchy, just add another minute or two!
Pro Tip: If you want to learn more about why I love convection baking, check out my sourdough chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Frost the Cookies
Step 6: The secret to a professional-tasting frosting is all in the technique. Start by whipping your softened butter on its own for a few minutes before adding any powdered sugar. This aerates the butter, lightening the color and creating a pale, cloud-like base.
Slowly add your powdered sugar, extracts, and a splash of heavy cream for an extra creamy, rich finish. (If you’re in a pinch, milk works too!) Just remember my golden rule for the best American buttercream: whip it, whip it, whip it! You want to keep going until it is incredibly light and fluffy. Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cookies.
Note on Coloring: If you are planning to color your buttercream, I highly recommend using gel food coloring. It gives you vibrant colors without changing the consistency of the frosting. Traditional liquid drops will work in a pinch, but they can make your buttercream a bit too soft.
How to Store Leftover Cookies
I am a big believer in freezing baked goods! These sugar cookies freeze beautifully, which means you can prep for a party weeks in advance or save extras for a rainy day.
Option 1: Freeze Before Decorating This is my favorite time-saver. Bake the cookies and let them cool completely. Then store them in an airtight container in the freezer. When you’re ready for a decorating party, pull them out and they’ll be ready to frost in less than an hour!
Option 2: Freezing Decorated Cookies If you have leftover frosted cookies (or want to finish the work early), you can freeze them without ruining your beautiful piping:
- Flash Freeze: Lay the frosted cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer until the buttercream is rock hard.
- Stack & Store: Once hardened, you can stack them with a piece of parchment paper between layers.
- Protect Them: Wrap the container or try in plastic wrap and then foil to prevent freezer burn. An air-tight container can also work well.
When you’re ready for a treat, just pull a cookie out an hour or two before eating. Let it defrost at room temperature and enjoy!
Amy’s Recipe Tip
One of my biggest tips for home bakers is to use your freezer! Sometimes I just don’t have time to make sugar cookies from start to finish in one day. Breaking the process down into a couple of days makes the “project” of frosted sugar cookies so much less overwhelming.
My Preferred Method: Freeze Now, Frost Later I often bake the cookie bases, freeze them, and then frost them later. Sugar cookies are actually easier to frost when they are frozen! They are sturdier to handle, and they come to room temperature so quickly that they’ll be perfectly soft in just a few minutes of sitting out.
If you want to get all the work done at once, you can freeze the cookies fully decorated. I can pull a tray of frosted cookies out the morning I want to gift them, let them come to room temperature on the counter, and they taste just as delicious as the day they were made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out my recipe for the Best Ever Sugar Cookies for a non-sourdough option.
Yes! These cookies are sturdy enough to hold up well with royal icing if you prefer a hard finish. I have made them that way a few times and they turned out beautifully. However, I am such a big buttercream fan that I almost always choose a fluffy frosting. The rich, creamy texture of the buttercream just pairs perfectly with the soft, fluffy, sourdough discard sugar cookie base.
As long as you’re careful with not adding too much extra flour to the cookie dough, the scraps re-roll nicely. Just bunch together the dough into a new ball and roll it out again. You shouldn’t need to add as much flour as the first time rolling. If you notice your dough sticking a lot, add a little bit more flour. The scraps of the dough can be re-rolled a few times to use up as much dough as possible.
As long as you use fresh discard—no! It just adds a subtle depth of flavor. However, if you actually want a little sour tang, use an older discard that has been sitting for a week or so and has a stronger aroma.
I like dunking frosted cookies in sanding sugar or sugar crystals for texture and using classic jimmies for a pop of color!
Most Popular Sourdough Cookie recipes
Whether you’re making stars, hearts, or holiday shapes, these sourdough cut-out sugar cookies are sure to be a new family favorite! If you’ve tried these Sourdough Sugar Cookies or any other recipe on my website leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Happy Baking!
Sourdough Sugar Cookies (No-Chill, Perfect for Cut-Out Shapes)
Save this for later!
We’ll email this post to you so it doesn’t get lost in your open tabs 😉
Equipment
- mixer or hand mixer
- 1 cookie cutter 3-4 inches
Ingredients
Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- 226 grams unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup butter
- 310 grams granulated sugar, about 1 1/2 cups
- 1 large egg, about 50 grams
- 100 grams sourdough discard, 100% hydration, see recipe notes, scant 1/2 cup
- 4 grams vanilla extract, about 1 teaspoon
- 4 grams almond extract, optional, but highly recommended, about 1 teaspoon
- 400 grams all-purpose flour, about 3 cups
- 50 grams cornstarch, about 6 Tablespoons
- 10 grams baking powder, about 2 teaspoons
- 5 grams cream of tartar, about 1 teaspoon
- 4 grams salt, about 3/4 teaspoon
Buttercream Frosting
- 226 grams unsalted butter, 1 cup butter
- 375 grams powdered sugar, about 3 cups
- 4 grams vanilla extract, about 1 teaspoon
- 4 grams almond extract, about 1 teaspoon
- 3 grams salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 50 grams heavy cream, about 3-4 Tablespoons, see recipe notes
Instructions
Sourdough Sugar Cookies
- To the bowl of a stand mixer mix the butter until light and fluffy. Add the granulated sugar and whip together. Add the sourdough discard, egg, vanilla extract and almond extract. Mix for a few minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until fluffy, light in color and smooth.
- To a medium-sized bowl, add the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar. Fluff together with a fork.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined and you have one cohesive chunk of dough that sticks together. If you pick up a piece of dough, it should roll into a ball in your fingers with little to no residue left behind. If it's too sticky, add a little more flour. At this point the dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stuck in the refrigerator to long-ferment if desired.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F regular bake or 325°F convection. Prepare one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour a countertop or pastry mat Add a little flour to the top of the dough or flour a rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto the counter and roll the dough to about 1/4 of an inch thick, flouring a little as needed, though be careful to not over-flour the dough. If you want a crispier cookie, roll the dough a little thinner to 1/8 of an inch.
- Using a cookie cutter (affiliate link), cut shapes out of the dough. Try to place your shapes as close together as possible to use up as much dough without needing to re-roll. Place cut cookie dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet with a little space in between each cookie.
- Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes (or 325°F convection for 8-9 minutes). For a crispier cookie, bake an extra minute or two. Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing from the pan to cool on a parchment covered countertop or baking rack. Continue this process, re-rolling scraps together once or twice until all your cookie dough is used up. Let cookies cool completely before frosting or freezing.
Buttercream Frosting
- Add the unsalted butter to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer and whip the butter until light in color. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt and most of the heavy cream.
- Whip together until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Add in the rest of the heavy cream as needed until you get the consistency you like. Continue whipping the buttercream together until it is light and fluffy. The key to a good buttercream is in the mixing. Mix for 5-7 minutes until silky smooth.
- Pipe buttercream on cooled cookies. This recipe yields enough to frost these cookies. If you like a lot of frosting, you may want to make 1.5 or two times the buttercream recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Honestly had very low expectations, when something says no kneed no chill or otherwise seems to good to be true – this recipe worked. The cookies held their shape, flavor was good, was easy to make, and wasn’t overly sticky. I hate to be this person, but I did deviate a small amount instead of using parchment paper. I just put butter down, which worked just fine. The cookies came off with no issues. Also, I did use whole wheat flour because that’s all I had but it still turned out really well.
I’m glad they turned out great! Thanks for the review.
Really great recipe I subbed out the cream of tartar for lemon juice and added lemon zest and use lemon extract instead of vanilla. Turned out absolutely amazing soft and delicious.!!!!
Yum! Thanks for the idea.
Can you make these as drop cookies?
These are meant to be cut out, I’d probably use this recipe for no-roll sourdough sugar cookies if I wanted to do drop cookies. Enjoy!
Hello
I want to ask can I replace the sugar with a more healthier option like allulose it’s a healthy sugar replacement ? I mean the sugar does it have effects on the dough other than sweetening ? Please if you can answer me thanks a lot.
I haven’t tried subbing out the sugar in these cookies before, but I think you can definitely experiment with it. Allulose can work, but it behaves differently. It doesn’t caramelize quite the same way and can cause cookies to brown faster and spread a bit more. The texture may be slightly softer and less crisp compared to using regular sugar. If you’d like to try it, I recommend starting by replacing only 50–75% of the sugar with allulose rather than doing a full swap. That usually gives better texture and structure while still reducing the overall sugar.
Great recipe! Cookies were easy to make and were delicious! I personally LOVE the addition of almond extract to the dough and frosting!!
Thanks for sharing another great recipe, Amy!
Thanks for the review – I’m a big fan of almond extract too!