Sour Cream Cookies

These old-fashioned sour cream cookies are soft, pillowy, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. The sour cream keeps them incredibly moist while the cake flour gives them a tender, almost cake-like crumb that stays soft for days.

Brown sugar does all the sweetening here, which adds a caramel depth you don’t get from white sugar. Chopped raisins and nuts are folded in at the end, giving each cookie pockets of chewiness and crunch.

These bake at a higher temperature than most drop cookies, which sets the outside quickly while the center stays soft. Pull them right at 10 minutes, even if they look slightly underdone. They firm up as they cool.

Pro Tips

• Beat the sour cream, eggs, and shortening thoroughly. Good aeration at this stage is what makes the cookies light instead of dense.
• Use cake flour, not all-purpose. The lower protein content is what gives these their tender texture.
• Chop the raisins so they distribute more evenly through the dough. Whole raisins tend to clump.
• Oil the baking sheet well. These cookies spread and stick without proper greasing.

Variations

• Swap raisins for dried cranberries and add a teaspoon of orange zest for a citrusy twist.
• Drop the spices and fold in chocolate chips for a sour cream chocolate chip cookie.
• Top each cookie with a simple powdered sugar glaze while still warm.