3-Ingredient Easy Sugar Cookies (Vintage Recipe)
This super simple recipe for melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies came to me from my Grandma’s cookbook. These cookies feature a unique butterscotch flavor, a soft crumb, and only 3 ingredients.
If you’re looking for a slam-dunk recipe for pillowy soft sugar cookies, this is the one for you. This family recipe comes from the 1930s, and uses just a few ingredients and simple steps to make delicious 3-ingredient brown sugar cookies.
To be clear, these cookies are not cut-outs. They will not work with cookie cutters. Instead, they have a soft texture, with a delicious brown sugar flavor that pairs really well with milk or hot chocolate. They’re the perfect after school snack! And while the original recipe makes about 18 small cookies, you can double or even triple this recipe if you just can’t get enough of the chewy texture of these delicious cookies!
Another thing I love about these cookies is that you can make them for any of the special occasions. Just change the sprinkle color, and you have Halloween, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day cookies, all from the same recipe!
What’s in 3-ingredient sugar cookies?
People who lived through the Great Depression knew how to feed their family delicious food on minimal ingredients. This recipe features 3 simple pantry/fridge staples. No special ingredients here!
- Margarine: Yes, you read that right. This recipe calls for margarine rather than butter. I have tested it with unsalted butter, and the cookies stay really thick, like a sugar cookie puff. They taste great, though.
- Brown Sugar: This is the secret to that butterscotch flavor. Both light and dark brown sugar work in this recipe. You can sub white sugar in a 1:1 ratio, but it will change the texture as brown sugar lends itself to a tender, chewy cookie.
- Self-Rising Flour: Self-rising flour is made from all purpose flour with baking powder and salt pre-mixed in, so that you can simply measure once and get both flour and leavening agent. If you want to make your own, King Arthur Baking has a great recipe.
Making easy sugar cookies
Step 1 | Cream Sugar and Margarine
If you’re doing this completely by hand, or à la grande-mère, as we might call it, you’ll definitely want to soften your margarine. If you’re going to use an electric mixer — either a hand mixer or a stand mixer — then you can pull it right out of the fridge and go!
You’re going to cream the margarine and brown sugar in a medium bowl. This means that you beat it until the butter and sugar have become one. I love Handle the Heat’s explanation of how to cream butter and sugar properly.
Step 2 | Add Flour
Once your butter and sugar are good to go, you’re going to add your flour and mix it in. This is going to look scary at first. It will appear dry and crumbly. The secret is to let the mixer do the work. Walk away and come back in 5 minutes, and your cookie dough will look like this:
If you’re working by hand, you may find it easier to put the spoon away and knead the flour into the wet ingredients.
Step 3 | Form and Bake
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Next, roll your dough into eighteen small balls. Press each ball of dough down with your fingers or the bottom of a cup until they are of about 1/2 inch thickness.
Bake them for 6-8 minutes at 350°. The cookies should spring back when you press on their tops. When they’re done, remove them from the oven and let them stay on the cookie sheet for a few more minutes. This allows them to continue developing into golden brown cookies without creating a crispy texture. After about 5 minutes. move them to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Step 4 | Enjoy!
If you’re decorating with sprinkles, you can put them on slightly cooled cookies. If you plan to frost or dip the cookies in chocolate or white chocolate (so good!), you’ll need to wait until they are completely cooled to room temperature. These are delicious on their own, with your favorite hot chocolate, with milk, or even as dippers for a chocolate fountain!
Sugar vs Shortbread
What’s the difference between these two classic cookies? There’s two major ones:
- Texture:Shortbread cookies tend to be crisper and crumblier. Sugar cookies are softer and more pillowy.
- Flavor: Shortbread has a higher butter to flour ratio, which makes them extremely rich. A classic sugar cookie is usually lighter.
If you’d like to try an absolutely delicious and easy shortbread cookie recipe, this 3-Ingredient Buttery Shortbread Cookie recipe is fantastic!
FAQs
You can use either light or dark brown sugar. Light brown sugar will give a milder molasses flavor, while dark brown sugar will provide a richer, more robust flavor.
I never have. If you live in an area that is more humid, you might want to pop your dough into the fridge for 30 minutes before baking to avoid spreading.
If the dough is too sticky, you can add a little more self-rising flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches a manageable consistency. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to firm it up.
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They should stay fresh for about a week. You can also freeze the cookies for longer storage.
Absolutely! You can add ingredients like chocolate chips, nuts, or sprinkles to the dough. Mix them in after combining the wet and dry ingredients.
3-Ingredient Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup self-rising flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
- Add flour and mix until dough comes together.
- Roll dough into 18 balls. Press each ball down until it's about 1/2" thick.
- Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling rack.
Made these one night when I wanted something sweet and had nothing I wanted. They turned out amazing! The top was almost crumbly and the inside was so moist and chewy. I sprinkled the top (after completely cool) with a cinnamon-sugar mixture. So very good. Will definitely make these again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Cinnamon sugar would be perfect — kind of like a snickerdoodle 🙂
Can you use lard instead of margarine?
I’ve never tried it! The internet seems to think that it should work. Let me know how it goes — I’m curious!