Simple, drop cracked sugar cookies that take minutes to prepare and are guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth. Each one is unique, but all taste delicious.

Cracked sugar cookies on a cooling rack.

If you’re looking for a simple cookie recipe to satisfy your sugar craving here’s one you’ll love. These drop cracked sugar cookies are delicious. There’s no need to chill the dough before baking. Just mix the dough, scoop the cookies, roll them in sugar, and bake.

I like to use liquor when baking rather than plain vanilla for two reasons:

For different flavors
Vanilla is still very expensive

I can buy a handle of booze, such as rum or bourbon, for the price of a bottle of vanilla! I find amaretto to give these cracked sugar cookies a nice flavor. No one complains about it - they devour these cookies.

I use a #30 scoop which holds two tablespoons of dough. I don’t bother rolling them with my hands before tossing them in sugar. I believe their imperfections make them perfect. Check out the pictures. Would you know I didn’t roll them with my hands before coating them?

I arrange eight balls per parchment lined baking sheet. You want them to have a little space to spread a bit. This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

When these first come out of the oven, they will be slightly puffed. As they cool, they will sink a bit, the cracks on top will become more pronounced, and the edges will be crispy while the centers remain chewy. The trick is to bake them just until the edges become slightly golden. That is your cue to take them out. If you overcook them, they will be crispy and not chewy.

To keep it real and transparent, these are best the day they are baked. They will lose their crispy edges the following day, but still be just as delicious. So maybe I should have called these “High Maintenance Diva Cookies” or “Goldilocks Cookies.” Why? Because if you cook them too long, they’ll be crispy, if you cook them too little, they’ll be chewy and not crispy, but if you cook them just right, they’ll be chewy and crispy. Just be sure to check in on them at the 10 minute mark because appliances are also divas and not one is the same as the other. Because of that, we have to give a range of times. Wouldn’t it be great if appliances were consistent in temperature? But noooooo, that wouldn’t make sense.

I have under-baked these drop cracked sugar cookies and over-baked some. It’s all good.

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Drop Cracked Sugar Cookies

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Simple, drop cracked sugar cookies that take minutes to prepare and are guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth. Each one is unique, but all taste delicious.

Recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Author: Natalie Gregory

Ingredients

2 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon fine salt
1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar plus ¼ cup for rolling
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 tablespoon amaretto*

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk or cream, and amaretto, and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix just until fully combined.
Place the remaining ¼ cup sugar in a shallow dish. Using a large (3-tablespoon) scoop, scoop out dough, then roll them in sugar to coat evenly. I don’t bother rolling them. Transfer them on the baking sheet, fitting 8 balls per sheet. They will spread a bit..
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes until the cookies are slightly golden around the edges. It better to start checking at 11 minutes. We want crispy edges and chewy centers which means slightly underbaked. They will continue to cook as they cool. Cool on a rack and repeat with remaining dough.