No-roll, no-cut, and no-chill Amish sugar cookies will become your go-to recipe for your next potluck or bake sale. This modern adaptation of Amish sugar cookies produces the softest, no-fuss sugar cookies that will ever come out of your oven, just like grandma used to make! Are you looking for a cutout sugar cookie recipe? Or a Snickerdoodle? These recipes are highly rated!

Amish Sugar Cookies Recipe
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Amish Sugar Cookies

I have gotten so many questions about this recipe I thought I would answer then straight-away!

The Amish don’t use electricity, why does this recipe have a stand mixer? Simply put, I love the consistency and ease of utilizing my stand mixer. You can absolutely make these sugar cookies by hand, it will just require a bit of elbow grease.

Why do you call these “Amish”? My family has been making them for years. This specific Amish sugar cookie recipe originally came from an Amish cookbook, so that is where it gets its name. Versions of the sugar cookie have been around since the 1700’s and are said to have originated in Pennsylvania.

Easy Amish Sugar Cookies

Tips, Tricks, and Variations:

Can I freeze sugar cookies before baking? Yes! This recipe works beautifully from frozen. Simply prepare the recipe as directed, scoop out the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, (they can be placed close together) then freeze for about an hour. After an hour, remove from the freezer and place all of the solid sugar cookie dough balls into an airtight container or sealable plastic bag. (remove as much air as possible) Label the bag with the date and pop it into the freezer. (If you freeze cookies often you may also want to label the bag with the name of the recipe and cooking instructions.) You can bake these cookies directly from the freezer, just be sure to add 1-3 minutes to the baking time.

Can I freeze the cookies after baking? Sure thing. Just make sure the cookies are cooled, then place them in an airtight container in single layers. (I like to use wax paper between each layer) I have stored them for a few months in the freezer and while they are still good, I prefer this cookie fresh or freezing before baking.

Can you frost Amish Sugar Cookies? Oh, my word YES. I absolutely adore them with Cherry Buttercream. It reminds me of a Swig Cookie! You can also use vanilla, buttermilk frosting, chocolate, or any frosting that you prefer. My hubby likes them with strawberry preserves on top!

Do these cookies work for holiday decorating? I love these Amish sugar cookies rolled in red or green sprinkles for the holiday! Simply roll the dough into a ball, roll the ball around in the colored sugar (or sprinkles) of your choice, then bake as directed.

Amish Sugar Cookie
Easiest Ever Sugar Cookies
4.87 from 15 votes

Amish Sugar Cookies

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
No-roll, no-cut, and no-chill Amish sugar cookies will become your go-to recipe for your next potluck or bake sale. This modern adaptation of Amish sugar cookies produces the softest, no-fuss sugar cookies that will ever come out of your oven, just like grandma used to make!
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Ingredients

  • 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, oil, and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, scraping the sides as necessary.
  • Reduce speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until combined. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
  • Reduce speed to low and add the flour in three additions, scraping down the sides as necessary.
  • Drop dough balls of two tablespoons each onto the baking sheet, spacing two inches apart.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the edges begin to darken. Let cool on baking sheet.

Video

Course: Dessert
Keyword: Amish Sugar Cookies
Servings: 48
Author: Amanda Rettke-iamhomesteader.com

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Photography by The PKP Way.

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Reader Comments

  1. Instead of oil, could sugar free applesauce be used. Recipe sounds awesome and could same amount of Splenda be used instead of the sugar.

      1. If you can’t have sugar, use Stevia in the Raw instead… it’s natural. Splenda & any aspartame is dangerous.

      2. I make a similar cookie every Christmas but instead of veg oil I use buttermilk and almond flavoring…. i roll and cut….the flour amt varies but you add it according to feel and ability to roll but dont over add flour or they will be too stiff… out of the oven and cooled I ice them with royal icing… when dry they will stack. The older they are the better!!! I NEVER can freeze because they go to my daughters and sons house too… my recipe is from Ohio and over a hundred years old!!! A family favorite!!!!!

      3. Also you color your different little bowls of icing and decorate your Christmas cookie shapes according to what it is… Santa is white/ red, angel is blue/ white etc….Royal icing is powdered sugar butter or margarin, milk or water and a little vanilla with color…

  7. A favorite in our family…….I’ve made these cookies since the 1970’s ………called Mom’s favorite drop sugar cookies. Sprinkle with colored sugar before baking for the holidays. Great cookies.

    1. It means make a ball of dough approx the size of what would fit into 2 tablespoons. About the size of an Eos egg

  10. Converting to gluten free as I have celiac disease. They sure sound easy and yummy ????

      1. Commercial powdered sugar is processed with a small amount of corn-starch (or other anti-clumping agents) to allow the sugar to flow. I suggest picking up some P-Sugar if you are going to the time, money, and trouble of making cookies that you want to turn out successful.

      1. BUTTER CREAM ICING

        2 POUNDS CONFECTIONERS SUGAR
        1 CRISCO
        1/4 CUP WATER

        CREAM INGREDIENTS TOGETHER IN A MIXER UNTIL SMOOTH ON LOW SPEED

      6. That’s not a true Butter Cream frosting. Using Crisco or Shortening is a Whipped Frosting.

        Butter Cream is; Softened Butter, Vanilla, Sifted Confectioners Sugar and Room temperature Milk.

      7. Add 1/2 tsp salt so the frosting isn’t sickeningly sweet. I’m a home baker. A little salt goes a long way!

  14. My daughter in law made these for me and they were the best cookies ever . She made 5 dozen cookies from 1 batch . Thank you for the recipe.

      1. Yes, they freeze very well. I let them cool, then I stack them in Rubbermaid containers. I put them in the freezer and take them out as I need them. I have had them in the freezer for 2 months and they were still great. I let them thaw at room temp.

      3. You can freeze on cookie sheets then put in a freezer bag this will keep them from freezing together in one big lump.

    1. No worries~! The Amish do them by hand, I just updated the recipe to include that modern convenience of a stand mixer. 🙂

      1. These are pretty close to the swig sugar cookies I make only they have frosting!! Delicious, my favorite!! Thank you

      3. Cream of tartar, more technically known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, is a fine white powder with many culinary applications. It is a byproduct of the winemaking process as the powder forms inside wine barrels during fermentation.

      4. It’s an acidic powder found with baking powder and baking soda (usually) in the grocery store. It is a leavener. I’ve heard a little lemon juice can be used in its place. I never use it, but was curious about it so I looked it up on Google. You might want to do that, too.

      5. You’ll find this on the spice shelf at your grocery store. It’s a white powder. Cream OF tartar, though.

  20. What if you don’t have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, is a regular hand mixer ok to use?

      4. I used an ice-cream scoop and got two dozen big fluffy cookies, plus three. Baker’s tax. ;D
        (Took an extra minute it two in the oven, though.)

      5. I used a large scoop and I got about 4 1/2 dozen cookies. I filled some od the coolies with a rolo inside. Those cookies got flatter. Excellent cookies just plain or with the rolo. Made these several times. One of our favorite cookies.

      9. looks like about 3 dozen going by the amount of flour and the size they say to make them.

      16. I have had this recipe for years. If you use a cookie scoop it can make up to 8 dozen cookies!

      18. They made 48 cookies. They are delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is going in my keeper book!

      20. I cut the recipe in half and got 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Good thing I didn’t make a full recipe…they are irrestible!

      23. The above recipe says 48. So that would be 4 doz. Would depend on the size scoop you might use.

      25. What is all purpose flour as I am in Australia and we have Self raising flour or Plain flour

      30. Why so many answers on Plain flour. Are the answers not visable to read before replying so many times????

      42. For every 1 cup flour add a teaspoon of baking powder for 1 cup of self rising flour. That is the difference in the 2 flours I have l earned.

      46. All purpose means you need to add Baking Soda or baking powder…. Self rising flour means it’s already in there.

      47. I use self-risen flour. Just leave out the baking powder and soda as it is already in the flour. Why use the plain flour?

      60. I was thinking of putting a few drops of lemon essential oil in the batter. I LOVE lemon!

      61. how do you think they would come out if you use Anise flavoring?

      62. I love almond! I find it to be stronger than vanilla so what amount of almond do you use?
        I’m thinking almond cookie with a cherry glaze.

      63. I makefluffy iicing and use almond extract and different food colors!! I will try these but I make sugar cookies that I can roll out and cut different shapes- easter xmas spring hallowe’en every holiday you can think of!! I must have at least 100 cookie cutter shapes.I ran a private dayhome for 25 or so years and also had 4 children of my own and now have 7 grandkids! I used to make 5-6 differnt color of icing and had piping bags and tipes andthey would decorate cookies to take home to their families! Oh so much fun also colored sprinkles. Now those are sugar cookies—like Martha Stewart. LOL

      64. I did that with my kids too! I was a stay at home mom, plys did daycare. When the neighr kids had staff in service days during the school year, the parents would tell their kids if they needed anything to come to our house. I would make a huge batch of sugar cookies, icings, etc and there were times when I had 15 kids at my house from 15 year old to 1 year old. My kids loved it cause our house was the one everyone wanted to hang out at, even though we were the only ones without video games. I would also make huge batches of playdough for them to ay with! I miss those days, but now have 1 grandson to continue these traditions with.

      66. Hello Amanda this might be a dumb question but can u substitute crisco shortening for the vegetable oil ?

      70. People dont relise there is a hand mixer youu can yise not eletice but a hand one i ise one wheni was youinger makeing cookiesan the$e cookies are great

      72. I think it makes a difference in taste. I never use any oil but Wesson or Crisco vegetable oil NOT canola. Apparently I’m very sensitive to the taste of some oils so that these are the only ones I trust.

      1. They don’t use mixers! But I do and I like to incorporate modern convenience into recipes. 🙂

      8. Actually, I have seen hand crank stand mixers. Maybe in Lehman’s catalog?

      10. They do not use electric mixers. However the Amish women who bake to sell their goods have propane powered appliances to cook and bake in large amounts

    4. I just made these cookies using a hand mixer and am amazed! The dough is fluffier and yet formed great cookies. I only pressed the centers once I saw that the first batch was pretty high in the center (I also had kind of expected them to melt into each other…they didnt)…I didn’t have parchment paper either so my advice is a non stick cookie sheet and to just keep a close eye on them. So far, so good. Deliciousness for sure!

      1. Thank You Lisa. I think after the second reply to plain being same as all purpose was plenty. smh. Reviews are primarily for someone who has tried a recipe and telling us what they think of it and why.

      3. As a child we used a wood burning stove oven. My Father started a fire when he got up each morning and in the afternoon at 4:30 PM when he got home on the bus. Mom came home from teaching school and her dinner preparing started. Wonderful food came from, was cooked on this gleaming clean wood burning green enamel cook-stove!

      7. Kay ——- complete my comment above —— many of us who cook/bake have gas stoves so we put everything that needs baking in our ovens as I assume the Amish do.

      8. By hand. Amish are very strict to doing everything by land and hand. Mennonites and Quaker’s are less strict.

        Between the Amish and the Mennonites more of a matter of degree. Both are of the anabaptist tradition that differed itself from the other Protestant groups like the Lutherans and Calvinists. Anabaptist means “against baptism”, specifically infant baptism practiced by the other two groups. They also took most of the followers from the peasants and laborers of Reformation Europe particularly after Luther turned against them in the “Peasants Revolt.” Amish followed Jacob Amman and follow a more restrictive lifestyle. Mennonites follow the teachings of Menno Simons and have a conservative lifestyle but not as restrictive (i.e they drive cars).

        Quakers are a different group. Their formal name is “The Society of Friends.” They do not have formal doctrines believing that everyone can experience God within themselves. Their practices vary widely, but they have no ordained clergy and meet together seeking inner light.

        One thing all three groups have in common is a history of refusal to fight in wars and an adoption of a simple way of life, though the Amish carry this to extremes the other two don’t.

      9. Thank you for that very insightful, educational history. Having grown up in Eastern Ohio I was aware of the Amish, Mennonites and Quakers but had forgotten their respective histories.

        Happy baking!

      10. Thank you so much for explaining the differences. I’m in Canada and we have Hutterites here in Alberta. When I was in Ontario we had Mennonites. Very interesting about how they live.

        About this awesome sugar cookie recipe ? My question is for the amt. Of sugar .. Being newly diabetic 2.. Anyone tried less sugars and how much less still makes a good cookie,?? Thx so much for your help!!! 🙂

      12. Thank you very much. The 3 were described very well and easy ot understand. And now that I recall scene in an old Gary Cooper movies about Quakers, I understand the scene in their meeting house where they all mostly just sat with each in their own thoughts and even have Grace before meals in a silent fashion. so this explains what I saw!!! I know this is probably not the place for this discussion, but it has been very enlightening!!! And i am assuming they all in their own fashion believe in and pray to God as other Christian religions do .

    7. why is it that the amish uses standing mixer, if they don’t have electricity used in their homes?

    9. this is such an easy recipe you can dump all the stuff into a Ziploc bag and start squeezing everything together until completely mixed then measure it to the cookie sheet with a scoop or spoon. great for kids or seniors

    11. The Amish I have always known would not even own a stand mixer. ???? Maybe a hand mixer? Then again maybe not. Depends on the order and where they are. Some are very traditional and others more progressive.

    12. I just made them, wow for all that flour this cookies is very light. I did use a hand mixer.

    14. I use a standard mixer. It makes 5 dozen cookies. I use a cookie scoop. After I have them on the cookie sheet, my recipe says get a glass dip bottom in sugar and press cookies. It does say refrigerate at least two hours. I have been baking this recipe over two years . I found it on the internet. Looking for the best sugar cookie recipe ever

      1. Add about 1 1/2 tsp. of mace or 1 tsp. of nutmeg and it perks up the flavor. It is terrific frosted with butter cream frosting made with maraschino cherry liquid and a bit of half and half for the liquid. Amazing flavor when perked up a bit!

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4.87 from 15 votes (3 ratings without comment)