Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

How do sour cream cookies taste?

I’ve made and tweaked these for several years, so you can bake with confidence. I would describe them as:

• Pillowy soft and cakey – They are much lighter (less dense), with a nice lifted texture. They rise and dome, resulting in a soft and puffy cookie.
• Tender crumb: The mild acidity of sour cream weakens gluten formation just enough so you get a softer, more cake-like bite rather than a dense cookie.
• Super simple, no fail recipe – Sweet but not too sweet. It’s very consistent from the short list of ingredients as long as you use fresh ingredients.
• Fresh taste – A touch of lemon zest is optional and they won’t taste like lemon cookies, but it gives them a bit more flavor. At first, I thought to take this out, but it made them such a hit that my office taste testers said to keep it in.
• Easy to Decorate – I top mine with a sweet icing and sprinkles, but you can decorate them similar to any ideas from an old-fashioned sugar cookie. These cookies will go out for Christmas time (hence the sprinkles).

Ingredients and Notes

The quantities are in the bottom of this post in the recipe card. Even though it’s a super simple recipe, and you will need:

• All purpose flour
• White Sugar
• Large Egg
• Sour Cream (light or regular is fine)
• Unsalted Butter
• Confectioner’s Sugar (aka powdered sugar)
• Vanilla Extract
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Table Salt
• Lemon Zest (optional)

Visual Recipe Guide

The full instructions are in the recipe card, but this visual guide helps any troubleshooting and shows the flow of the recipe.

The batter is very light and fluffy, just like the cookies. You might be a bit concerned that it isn’t as thick as a chocolate chip cookie batter, but it’s perfect.

It took me a long time to develop my cookie technique. My cookie scoop is 1 tablespoon, and I like 1-½ tablespoons for my cookies, so I use a slightly rounded scoop to get the perfect size.

Decorating

The cookies will dome quite a bit. If you want a flatter top, press them down right after they come out of the oven. Use a flat-bottomed glass, measuring cup, or clear bowl.

I make a simple white icing and dip the cookies face down in it, then add sprinkles in any color. The sprinkles should be added before the glaze dries.

More Cookie Decorating Ideas:

• Press small candies like tiny M&Ms or edible glitter into each fresh cookie for a fun holiday look.
• Add some food coloring to the icing. Then top with turbinado sugar to look like snow.
• For gifting: pack baked cookies in airtight tins with a tissue layer between layers and tie with a festive ribbon. They hold up well and travel nicely.

Tips for Perfect Cookies

• Room Temperature Unsalted Butter. Like most cookies, the texture of these is very dependent on having just the right amount of softened butter. To ensure success, I recommend making sure the butter comes to temp on the counter rather than microwaving or heating. I pull it the day to soften and it’s fine.
• Use a cookie scoop. I use a slightly rounded scoop (2 cm or 1 tablespoon size) or a flat 4 cm, 2 tablespoon size with a spring-loaded wire scrapers. The dough comes out of the scoop easily, and results in round, perfectly sized cookies. Game Changer!
• Frosting vs Icing. The cookies are perfectly flavorful and delicate so I didn’t want to overpower them with an overly sweet frosting. A super simple sour cream icing is lovely and super cute to decorate with, but you can use a buttercream or cream cheese frosting if you like.
• Flatten the tops. These dome quite a bit, but you can press them down right after they come out of the oven. Use a flat-bottomed glass, measuring cup, or clear bowl. The cookies in these photos have been flattened a little.
• Adjust the lemon zest to your preference. If you like a bit of lemon flavor, add up to a tablespoon of lemon zest. If you want more of a creamy sugar cookie, skip the lemon or add just a teaspoon.