Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Vanilla cookies are a simple, go-to recipe I’ve made repeatedly when I want a soft, flavorful cookie without extra ingredients. By focusing on the right balance of butter, sugar, and vanilla, this recipe creates a soft, chewy texture with a rich vanilla flavor. This is my reliable cookie recipe I adore and make often. Finding the perfect cookie can be tough. There are so many flavors and more importantly textures of a perfect cookie too. Vanilla drop cookies are cloud like. Soft and fluffy in every bite. Loaded with pure vanilla extract and topped with coarse sugar makes this a winning recipe. In fact, this recipe is so easy to make, I've adapted it in so many ways. Take a look at these Neapolitan Cookies which are a fan favorite here on Best Cookie Recipes. Not to mention my Strawberry Lemonade cookies , Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies , Tart Lemon Sugar cookies or try these out of this world Frosted Lemon Sugar cookies and Pineapple Upside Down cookies too! What are Vanilla Cookies Vanilla cookies are simple cookies made with basic ingredients like butter, sugar, flour and vanilla extract. They are typically soft, a little chewy and slightly crisp around the edges. They are known for being rich classic vanilla in flavor cookies. I've also used this recipe when making Almond Cookies or these fun Watermelon Cookies too. They always make people smile. The recipe is so good, you have to give it a try. When you do make sure to tag @bestcookierecipes so I can see those photos too! Shopping List for Basic Sugar Cookie Recipes Dry Ingredients . All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Cream of Tartar, Granulated Sugar, Powdered Sugar Wet Ingredients . Egg, Butter, Vegetable Oil, Vanilla Extract Other Ingredients . Coarse Sugar Favorite Kitchen Supplies Kitchen Scale . I use this for accuracy in measuring and it's a life saver when it comes to consistent baking Wire Rack for cooling cookies . I like to have at least 2 cooling racks Mixing Bowls . A Large Mixing Bowl for mixing ingredients and small and medium mixing bowls for other ingredients Cookie Sheet . Most recipes will take 2 batches to bake. It's great to have multiple baking sheets available Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mat. Line Cookie Sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up and to prevent sticking. Cookie Scoop . A small #60 Cookie Scoop or a Medium Cookie Scoop #50 are great choices for uniform drops of cookie dough. Storage Container . An Airtight Container to store cookies or ZipLoc Bags work great too. Additional supplies. Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons along with silicone spatula are all helpful Are These Vanilla Cookies Drop Cookies or Cut-Out Cookies? These Vanilla Cookies are a drop cookie recipe. Light and fluffy with a perfect balance of soft cookie with a tender crisp on the edges. Think of a sugar cookie that does not need to be rolled out. How to make Vanilla Sugar Cookies I often feel like a broken recipe when I explain the importance of using softened butter and room temperature eggs. But it's just so true. Baking is truly a science and the proper measurements are key to making the perfect and Best Cookie Recipes ever! Follow my tips and tricks to make these wonderful Vanilla Cookies. In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and granulated sugar. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Mixture will be light and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract before adding vegetable oil and powdered sugar. Then continue to cream together for an additional 2-3 minutes. This is the base for making these light and fluffy cookies. Gradually add the remaining dry ingredients until combined. I love that you do not need to chill this cookie dough. Just scoop and bake. I like to use a medium cookie scoop size #50 and press top into coarse sugar. Place vanilla cookie dough on lined baking sheets with parchment paper and set oven to 350 degrees. Cookies are done when edges are set. Do not over bake this recipe. Cookies will continue cooking on hot baking sheet for a minute more before moving cookies to a rack to cool. Tops of cookies sparkle with the coarse sugar and it's the best burst of flavor! Preheat Oven . A preheated oven is best when baking a chewy and soft cookie. Room Temperature Ingredients . Softened Butter and room temperature egg are a must when baking. Cookie Sheets . Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use baking spray Cookie Dough . Chilling the dough is not necessary with this recipe. Cookie Scoop. Using a cookie scoop keeps cookies a uniform size for baking perfect cookies. I've used a size #50 cookie scoop in these photos. Best Vanilla Cookies Here at Best Cookie Recipes we pride ourselves on sharing nothing but the best. Which isn't always easy. We know that everyone has their favorite type of cookie from Soft and Chewy to Crispy and delicious. This recipe is loaded with Vanilla flavor and they will bake up soft and chewy on the inside with the outside just a little crispy. The texture only enhances the overall appeal to these delicious cookies As far as undecorated sugar cookies go, this is a keeper recipe too. There is not need to add anything to this perfect recipe. How to Measure Flour I'm often asked how is the BEST way to measure ingredients. Hands down the best is to use a kitchen scale. But I recognize that not everyone has a scale. Follow these tips on how to fluff, scoop and level ingredients for the most accurate measurements without a kitchen scale. For flour, it's best to fluff it by by taking a large spoon to the flour and giving it a stir to add air into it. Flour easily settles which packs it down. By adding air it's fluffed up making for better measurements. Next carefully scoop the flour with a spoon and place it into a measuring cup. Fill the cup until it's overflowing then level off the top. Do not shake or tap measuring cup. It will compress the flour and ultimately you will end up with too much flour for the recipe needed. Of course not all dry ingredients are as easy to measure. Brown Sugar is typically packed down firm in a measuring cup which completely goes against how to measure flour. Learn how to measure ingredients is a must and to avoid dry hard and crumbly cookies. More Drop Cookies to Try Unicorn Poop Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar Cookies without Chocolate Chips Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Little Miss Favorite recipe) Soft Vanilla Cookies (easy Drop Cookie Recipe) ½ Cup Butter Softened ½ Cup Granulated Sugar 100g ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil ½ Cup Powdered Sugar 65g 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract ½ teaspoon Baking Soda ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar 2 cup All Purpose Flour 240g ⅓ cup Coarse Sugar Garnish Optional In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and granulated sugar. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Mixture will be light and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract before adding vegetable oil and powdered sugar. Then continue to cream together for an additional 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the remaining dry ingredients until combined. Scoop cookie dough and dip tops into coarse sugar before baking. Place vanilla cookie dough scoops on lined baking sheets with parchment paper and set oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes. Bake until edges are set. Do not over bake. Allow cookies to cool for a minute before moving to cooling rack Store in a sealed container for up to a week. Best if enjoyed within 2-3 days Nutrition Disclaimer All nutrition values are approximate and calculated by a plugin and are provided as a courtesy. Adding or subtracting ingredients will change the nutritional value. Reader Interactions These tired out EXACTLY like photo and are perfect!!! Very light, simple & yummy cookie! Mine only took 6-7 minutes to bake. Reply These tired out EXACTLY like photo and are perfect!!! Very light, simple & yummy cookie! Mine only took 6-7 minutes to bake. These turned out EXACTLY like photo and are perfect!!! Very light, simple & yummy cookie! Mine only took 6-7 minutes to bake. Reply Hi Cindy, I love hearing this wonderful review. And as I always say baking time is a suggestion as each oven bakes a little differently. So 6-7 minutes sounds perfect! Reply These turned out EXACTLY like photo and are perfect!!! Very light, simple & yummy cookie! Mine only took 6-7 minutes to bake. Hi Cindy, I love hearing this wonderful review. And as I always say baking time is a suggestion as each oven bakes a little differently. So 6-7 minutes sounds perfect! Reply Hi Cindy, I love hearing this wonderful review. And as I always say baking time is a suggestion as each oven bakes a little differently. So 6-7 minutes sounds perfect! Simple and so delicious. Loved these cookies. So soft and looks amazing like the photos. Yummy. Reply This recipe is a standard recipe through my website. It's delicious and spot on flavor, texture, and look. Great all around cookie recipe. Reply Simple and so delicious. Loved these cookies. So soft and looks amazing like the photos. Yummy. This recipe is a standard recipe through my website. It's delicious and spot on flavor, texture, and look. Great all around cookie recipe. Reply This recipe is a standard recipe through my website. It's delicious and spot on flavor, texture, and look. Great all around cookie recipe. I just baked these and they are very dry. Reply Hi Cathy, I'm sorry to hear your batch of cookies came out dry. Might I suggest that a little too much flour might have been added or the bake time might have been too much in your oven. Add more dry ingredients than listed in the recipe will produce dry cookies. This recipe has been a favorite for so many that I'm wondering if there might have been a measurement difference is all. Reply I just baked these and they are very dry. Hi Cathy, I'm sorry to hear your batch of cookies came out dry. Might I suggest that a little too much flour might have been added or the bake time might have been too much in your oven. Add more dry ingredients than listed in the recipe will produce dry cookies. This recipe has been a favorite for so many that I'm wondering if there might have been a measurement difference is all. Reply Hi Cathy, I'm sorry to hear your batch of cookies came out dry. Might I suggest that a little too much flour might have been added or the bake time might have been too much in your oven. Add more dry ingredients than listed in the recipe will produce dry cookies. This recipe has been a favorite for so many that I'm wondering if there might have been a measurement difference is all. Made them with a friend for a school project, she didn’t arrive, I had a mental breakdown because I was halfway done and there was only 20 minutes left but it worked out and I got an A+ because they were delicious. 10/10 were delicious and would recommend to friends. Reply Hi Violet! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. It’s a favorite of ours too. I’m so glad the recipe helped you with a school project. Keep up the great work! Reply Made them with a friend for a school project, she didn’t arrive, I had a mental breakdown because I was halfway done and there was only 20 minutes left but it worked out and I got an A+ because they were delicious. 10/10 were delicious and would recommend to friends. Hi Violet! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. It’s a favorite of ours too. I’m so glad the recipe helped you with a school project. Keep up the great work! Reply Hi Violet! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. It’s a favorite of ours too. I’m so glad the recipe helped you with a school project. Keep up the great work! I’ve made these and they are very good….however wondering if the vegetable oil could be replaced with melted butter? Reply Hi LeeAnn, you could certainly try using melted butter. I have not tested with that substitution. The oil really helps to give the recipe a wonderful texture. Give it a try! Reply I’ve made these and they are very good….however wondering if the vegetable oil could be replaced with melted butter? Hi LeeAnn, you could certainly try using melted butter. I have not tested with that substitution. The oil really helps to give the recipe a wonderful texture. Give it a try! Reply Hi LeeAnn, you could certainly try using melted butter. I have not tested with that substitution. The oil really helps to give the recipe a wonderful texture. Give it a try! These are perfect. Fantastic texture and just the right amount of sweetness. Reply Hi Suzanne! Love this review. Thank you for letting me know how much you love this Vanilla Cookie Recipe! Reply These are perfect. Fantastic texture and just the right amount of sweetness. Hi Suzanne! Love this review. Thank you for letting me know how much you love this Vanilla Cookie Recipe! Reply Hi Suzanne! Love this review. Thank you for letting me know how much you love this Vanilla Cookie Recipe! I loved these cookies. We just moved and so how my old cookie recipes were lost in the process. These came out a lot like mine. Thank you. Reply Hi Michelle! So glad you loved this recipe. It's a favorite in our home too Reply I loved these cookies. We just moved and so how my old cookie recipes were lost in the process. These came out a lot like mine. Thank you. Hi Michelle! So glad you loved this recipe. It's a favorite in our home too Reply Hi Michelle! So glad you loved this recipe. It's a favorite in our home too Submit a Comment Cancel reply