Soft Chewy Vanilla Cookies

These easy, delicious, soft, chewy vanilla cookies are super simple to make from everyday pantry ingredients.

These vanilla sugar cookies have a little bit of crispiness on the outside and are delightfully chewy in the middle. Honestly, the best vanilla cookie to dunk either in a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of tea, coffee, or even hot chocolate.

Sprinkle the vanilla cookie dough in some sugar before baking for really cute sparkly Christmas cookies!

Recipe Testing/Development Notes

When I set out to develop a vanilla cookie recipe, I wanted a really easy recipe. I wanted the recipe to result in a soft vanilla cookie that had a crisp edge and a chewy center.

As always, the simplest of recipes are really difficult to perfect. This particular recipe has probably undergone about 5 or 6 iterations (I lost count) before I came up with something that I was happy with.

In all honesty, I almost lost my will to continue until I thought I should try to adapt my ginger biscuit recipe for a final test. Which is what this recipe is ultimately based on. In comparison to my other tests, this resulted in an increase in sugar, and a decrease in flour to get the desired texture and flavor.

The texture and flavor of these chewy vanilla cookies rely heavily on the ratio of butter to sugar to flour. So before I get asked - no, you cannot reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe. It will change the outcome of the final cookie. However, you can skip rolling the cookies in the sugar before baking.

The Secret is Great Vanilla!

Besides having to play around with the ratios of butter, sugar, and flour, I was having trouble with the overall flavor of the cookie. Every test kept resulting in a slightly eggy flavor of which I was not keen. And then it struck me - it must be the vanilla I was using. So on my final test, I tried Queen Natural Vanilla Paste and the flavor was obviously different. For me at least.

So I recommend using a really great vanilla extract (paste or liquid), especially for super simple recipes that have so few ingredients.

Ingredients

Here are notes on the ingredients used, please refer to the recipe card for full quantities.

Plain flour (all-purpose flour/standard grade flour) refers to flour that has a protein content of approximately 9.5-12%. For cakes, this can be replaced with cake flour. If measuring ingredients by cups, make sure to aerate the flour and then scoop it into the measuring cup using a spoon before leveling it off.

White sugar (granulated or caster sugar) adds sweetness without really impacting additional flavors in baked goods. In this particular recipe, the sugar doesn't only add sweetness but plays an important role in the texture of the cookie, and the chewiness.

Vanilla extract enhances the flavors of the other ingredients in the recipe and is a cornerstone ingredient in baked goods and desserts containing eggs. Use the best vanilla you can afford, this can either be a paste or a liquid.

Eggs just help bind this cookie together. I use a size 6 (New Zealand size) which is the same size as an Australian and South African Large but is a US/European medium.

Baking soda encourages the cookie to spread out on the baking sheet. And helps set up the biscuit/cookie dough before the eggs set. And helps with the browning of the cookie.

Butter adds flavor, softness, and moisture and sometimes aids in the leavening of baked goods. I use New Zealand butter in my recipes, which has approximately 82% butterfat and can be very yellow (similar to European or Irish butter). Butter cannot be substituted with butter or margarine spreads, but it can be substituted with baking margarine.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Use room-temperature ingredients! Using room temperature ingredients ensures that ingredients in the batter or dough will be incorporated more easily. Take note that room temperature refers to around 20°C/68F.

Eggs can be brought to room temperature quickly by placing them into warm water for about 15 minutes.

For butter, I like to cut my butter into small cubes and let them sit at room temperature for an hour. But sometimes I zap the butter in the microwave at low power in 10-second intervals. If you overshoot this, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes.

During the colder months, I also like to warm up my bowls if they are super cold.

Weighing and Measuring Ingredients

Weighing ingredients with a digital kitchen scale is more accurate than using measuring cups. All my recipes are developed and tested using grams only.

However, I have activated the metric-to-cup conversions. Simply click on "USA/Cups" or "metric" for your preferred measurements. For these conversions, cups are equal to 240mL/8 fl oz, tablespoons are 15mL and teaspoons are 5mL.

Small-Batch

If you want to make a small batch of vanilla cookies, I can say that by dividing the recipe in half by clicking on the "½" button next to the ingredients. When dividing an egg in half, I like to weigh the egg contents, then beat it together and weigh-off half the egg into the sugar mixture.

Step-By-Step Vanilla Cookies Instructions

Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Line two large baking sheets/baking trays with parchment paper/baking paper or reusable silicon mats.

Step 2 - In a large mixing bowl, cream the room-temperature butter and white sugar. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. If using a stand mixer, cream together using a paddle attachment. Regularly scrape down the sides of the bowl.

*Note - room temperature butter should have some give when poked or squeezed.

Step 3 - Add in the room temperature egg and vanilla extract. Beat together until fully combined, light and fluffy. This will take about 2-3 minutes.

Step 4 - In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix in until combined. Then add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms. If using a hand mixer or stand mixer, this will most likely need to be finished by hand. Give the dough a few kneads in the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are fully combined.

Step 5 - Portion out the cookie dough using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring spoon. Roll the dough into balls.

Step 6 - Roll the dough balls in granulated sugar (optional extra and can be skipped) and place them on a large baking sheet approximately 2.5 inches or 7cm apart. Bake in a preheated oven for 9-11 minutes, or until the cookies are a light golden brown. Mine were done at 10 minutes.

*Note - for larger cookies, use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop or 2 tablespoons of dough. These cookies will need to be baked for 15 minutes.

*Note - the 1 tablespoon sized cookie dough will result in cookies about 7cm (2.5 inches) across, and 2 tablespoon sized cookie will result in cookies about 9cm (3.5cm)

Step 7 - Allow the baked biscuits or cookies to cool on the baking tray for at least 5 minutes before gently lifting them onto a wired rack with a spatula. Allow them to cool completely.

*Note - for a perfect biscuit, scoot around the edges of the hot cookies with a large cookie cutter. Then allow to cool completely.

Step 8 - Continue with steps 5 through 7 until all the dough has been portioned and baked.

Step 9 - Enjoy these soft vanilla cookies with a glass of milk, or a cup of tea.

Expert Tips for This Recipe

Ovens and Air-Fryers

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F.

For baking, make sure the oven is fully preheated, and that the rack is in the middle of the oven. Open the oven as little as possible. For best baking results use an oven thermometer.

Remember that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted for your specific oven.

Storage and Freezing

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

Vanilla Cookies FAQ

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