52 soft sugar cookie recipes

Cinnamon sugar cookies with a tender shortening-based dough, brushed with egg white and topped with a cinnamon sugar sparkle. Crisp edges, soft centers.

Pecan butter cookies are soft brown sugar drop cookies packed with chopped pecans. Buttery, caramel-kissed, and baked in 10 minutes for 2 dozen classic Southern cookies.

Peanut butter blossom kisses with sugar-rolled cookies and a chocolate kiss pressed warm into each top. The classic holiday cookie tray standard, soft and chewy with a crackly sugar crust.

Lemon cream cookies with food-processor lemon-sugar, heavy cream, brown sugar, and toasted slivered almonds on top. Soft drop cookies bright with citrus and rich with dairy, makes 3 dozen.

Apple cookies with butterscotch chips, walnuts, and brown sugar topped with a cinnamon butter glaze and a walnut half. A soft, fruit-studded fall cookie.

Drop molasses cookies with buttermilk, brown sugar, ginger, and cinnamon rest overnight for deep flavor. Soft, cakey cookies with that old-fashioned dark molasses chew.

Old-fashioned cut-out sugar cookies brushed with egg-white glaze and sprinkled with nuts or sugar. A versatile rolled cookie that goes thin and crisp or thick and soft to suit any occasion.

Pineapple drop cookies with crushed pineapple, brown sugar, walnuts, and raisins. Soft, cake-like cookies with tropical fruit flavor and chewy pockets of nuts and raisins.

Bewitching cookies with orange zest, orange juice, buttermilk, and chocolate chips in a soft brown sugar drop cookie. A citrus-chocolate combination that's hard to resist.

Ginger Puffs are soft drop cookies made with cooked oatmeal, molasses, brown sugar, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon. One bowl, 30 minutes, yields 4 dozen warm-spiced cookies.

Tangy banana bars with apricot preserves, brown sugar, chopped nuts, and sliced bananas, dusted with powdered sugar. A soft, fruity bar cookie that makes 36 pieces.

Maple syrup oatmeal cookies use real maple syrup as the only sweetener (no white or brown sugar). Soft, chewy, and naturally sweetened with two dozen cookies in 35 minutes.

Mom's apple cookies are soft, cake-like drop cookies with grated fresh apple, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts. Old-fashioned spiced bakery flavor from a lunchbox-friendly batch of three dozen.

Soft cranberry apple cookies with brown sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest. Loaded with chopped fresh fruit for a chewy, tart-sweet drop cookie that's a fall baking favorite.

Soft chocolate drop sugar cookies made with cocoa powder and buttermilk, scooped large and dusted with sugar while warm. Cake-like, chocolatey, and ready in 30 minutes.

Drop sugar cookies with cardamom or nutmeg, soft and tender with lightly browned edges. No rolling or chilling needed. Makes six dozen and freezes beautifully.