Sour Cream Cookies are an old-fashioned soft cookie recipe that I found in one of my Mom's tattered cookbooks. These easy to make soft sugar cookies are not too sweet, tender, with a cake-like texture.
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Why You'll Love Sour Cream Cookies
- These are effortless drop cookies, meaning you can skip the rolling pin and cookie cutters entirely.
- Every bite is soft and puffy with perfectly golden brown edges and a tender, cake-like center.
- They are the ultimate canvas for your creativity. Frost and decorate them to make a stunning addition to any festive cookie tray.
Key Ingredients for Soft Sour Cream Cookies
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and instructions.
- Butter and Brown Sugar: creaming together creates a rich, flavorful base for the cookie dough.
- Large eggs: these act as a binder to hold the dough and provide necessary moisture.
- All-purpose flour: this provides the essential structure that allows the cookies to hold their shape while baking.
- Baking powder and baking soda: these are the leavening agents responsible for giving the cookies their signature puffy rise.
- Sour cream: this is the star ingredient that tenderizes the gluten in the flour.
- Vanilla extract and salt: these are added to specifically enhance and balance all the other flavors in the batter.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Greek yogurt for sour cream: use plain, full fat greek yogurt, or try using my homemade sour cream.
- Shortening for butter: you can swap the butter for an equal amount of vegetable shortening to achieve an even fluffier, more old-fashioned texture.
- White sugar and molasses: if you are out of brown sugar, you can use 1-½ cups of granulated white sugar mixed with 1-½ tablespoons of molasses to replicate the moisture and deep caramel flavor required for this recipe.
Variations
- Warm spice: add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to the flour mixture to give the cookies a cozy, snickerdoodle-like warmth.
- Citrus Zest: Stir 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon or orange zest into the sugar and butter while creaming to add a bright, refreshing aromatic layer.
- Almond twist: replace the vanilla extract with ½ teaspoon of almond extract for a marzipan-style flavor that pairs perfectly with the tangy sour cream.
Tips
- Don't Overmix: mix only until the flour disappears to keep the texture soft and cake-like.
- Room Temp Ingredients: ensure your butter, eggs, and sour cream are at room temperature for a smooth, emulsified batter.
- Watch the bake: remove from the oven
How to Store Soft Sour Cream Cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 3 months. If cookies are frosted, lay in a single layer with a piece of parchment paper between the layers to prevent cookies from sticking together.
Serve with...
These soft sour cream cookies delicious served with a mug of hot coffee, tea or cup of hot cocoa. For an even more special treat serve with a salted caramel mocha latte.
More Recipes You'll Love
If you're a fan of these soft, old-fashioned treats, you'll definitely want to try my classic Cut Out Sugar Cookies. Fore more tender, cake-like favorites, my Nanny's Ginger Molasses Cookies and Pumpkin-Spice Latte Cookies are always a hit on any festive tray.
I can't wait to hear how these nostalgic cookies turn out for you! If you whip up a batch, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and comment below. It truly makes my day!
And, don't forget to tag me @grumpyshoneybunch on Instagram so I can celebrate your beautiful bakes!
📖 Recipe
Sour Cream Cookies
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Ingredients
For the cookies
- ½ cup butter
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the icing (optional)
Instructions
- Mix together butter and brown sugar until creamy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Mix together sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Add flour and sour cream to butter/egg mixture. Do this by adding ½ cup flour at a time and alternating with a little bit of sour cream until all ingredients are added and batter is blended.
- Drop by tablespoons onto cookie tray lined with silpat.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are just browned around the edges and no longer wet on the top.
- Cool completely and frost and decorate if desired.
Wendy Klik says
These little drop cookies are wonderful. I love the addition of sour cream to cookie batter.
Cindy says
I'll bet sour cream makes these so moist!