These Sour Cream Cookies are the perfect light and fluffy cookies. They’re topped with a rich and sweet classic buttercream frosting. Make these soft sour cream sugar cookies for your christmas cookie swap, cookie box or next family gathering.
Jump to:
Why Should You Make This Recipe
I am so excited to share this sour cream cookie recipe as the first recipe from my book Sugar + Spice Cookies. My cookie cookbook has 60 fun, flavorful and spice filled cookies just like these old fashioned sour cream cookies with maple buttercream frosting. I know you’ll love these sour cream crop cookies as much as I do because:
- They are quick and no chill. All you need to do is bring the butter, egg and sour cream to room temperature. Then simply mix everything up in one bowl, scoop and bake!
- You love cozy and easy drop cookies. These soft sour cream sugar cookies are easy to mix and bake up beautifully. There’s no need for any fancy ingredients or equipment. This recipe for sour cream drop sugar cookies is easy to follow and will give you delicious cookies every time.
- Layers of flavor and texture. From the soft and fluffy spiced sugar cookie, to the rich, sweet and nutty maple buttercream frosting, these sour cream cookies are full of cozy flavors and textures I know you’ll love.
Ingredients
This sour cream cookies recipe requires only a handful of pantry basics to make. Make sure you have these ingredients ready to go!
For the Sour Cream Cookies
Dry ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice and salt
Wet Ingredients: Gather unsalted butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, vanilla extract and sour cream.
For the Maple Buttercream Frosting
Gather browned butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and milk.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make these wonderfully soft and fluffy drop cookies:
- All purpose flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with an alternative flour. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten free, use a good 1-1 flour and measure by weight rather than cups.
- Apple Pie Spice: I love the cozy flavors of apple pie spice. Feel free to use pumpkin spice or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg. If using cinnamon and nutmeg, use 3/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.
- Unsalted Butter: You can use the same amount of salted butter as written in the recipe, but omit the added salt.
- Light Brown and Granulated Sugars: A blend of both sugars is what creates that old fashioned sour cream sugar cookie taste. This recipe hasn’t been tested using alternative sugars. However, I love using maple sugar as a refined sugar free option in my other cookie recipes. Maple sugar bakes very similarly to light brown sugar.
- Eggs: This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs. If you make these sour cream drop cookies without eggs or using an egg substitute, let me know!
- Sour Cream: Use a full fat sour cream. If you absolutely have to use something else, use a full fat greek yogurt.
- Brown Butter: The buttercream frosting uses browned butter for an extra flavor boost. If you would like to skip the browning step, use ½ cup (113 g) room temperature butter.
- Maple Syrup: This is another ingredient that’s used for flavor. If you would like to omit, add more milk to the buttercream until it reaches your desired consistency.
How To Make
Let me show you how to make these quick, easy and wonderfully delicious sour cream cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice and salt together until well combined.
- In another large bowl, beat the room temperature butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined.
- On low, beat in the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream until smooth and well combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sour cream sugar drop cookie dough onto a small lined baking sheet or large plate. I like to use a small cookie scoop to get perfectly portioned cookies. Bake the sour cream cookies for 10-12 minutes. The edges will be set. The center will bounce back when gently pressed. Remove the cookies from the oven onto a cooling rack or stove top. After 3 minutes, transfer the cookies off the hot baking sheet and onto the cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Make the maple buttercream frosting by beating the cooled and softened brown butter with 1 cup (120 g) of powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of milk until well combined. Beat in the remaining ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar until well combined. If needed, beat in up to 2 tablespoons (30 ml) more milk.
- Top each sour cream cookie with the buttercream frosting and enjoy!
How To Make Ahead, Freeze, Thaw and Store
- Make these sour cream cookies ahead of time: Simply prepare the cookies according to the recipe directions through step 4 and store covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for a day or two.
- Freeze the cookies: Once the cookies are baked and have full cooled to room temperature, place the baked cookies into an airtight, freezer safe container.
- Thaw the cookies: Transfer your desired amount of frozen cookies onto a plate to thaw at room temperature for a few hours.
- Store baked cookies: These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
M's Expert Tips
- Fully preheat the oven. Use an oven thermometer to double check the temperature.
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature: This allows the cookies to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in a soft, fluffy and delicious cookie.
- Use a cookie scoop to get perfectly round cookies.
- Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before frosting them.
- Brown the butter for the buttercream: This is such a simple step that really elevates the flavors in this recipe. I highly recommend taking the time to brown the butter. However, if you want to simply make the buttercream using regular butter, bring ½ cup (113 g) butter to room temperature.
FAQ's
How do you make cookies stay soft and chewy?
Using sour cream will help keep these sour cream cookies moist for days. Storing them in an airtight container also helps them to stay soft and chewy for longer.
What does sour cream do to baking?
Sour cream provides a lot of moisture to baked goods. The final result is a soft, fluffy and moist texture.
Can I chill the cookies overnight?
Absolutely! The sour cream drop cookie dough can stay covered and chilled in the fridge for 2 days before baking. Make sure to pull the dough out about 30 minutes before baking.
Cookie Cookbook
Grab more delicious cookie recipes like this in my cookie cookbook!
If you try this Sour Cream Cookies Recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Sour Cream Cookies Recipe
These Sour Cream Cookies are the perfect light and fluffy cookies. They’re topped with a rich and sweet classic buttercream frosting. Make these soft sour cream sugar cookies for your christmas cookie swap, cookie box or next family gathering.
Equipment
- 1 medium sauce pan
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters
- 1 small cookie scoop or tablespoon
- 2 large baking sheets
- 1 parchment paper
Ingredients
Sour Cream Cookies
- 1¼ cups (150 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp (3 g) apple pie spice
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg (US), room temperature
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, room temperature
Brown Butter Maple Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup (113 g) softened browned butter
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) maple syrup
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) milk, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Prepare the brown butter for the buttercream: In a small sauce pan or pot, melt the butter on low heat. To turn this into brown butter, allow the melted butter to begin to foam. Once it starts to foam, whisk or stir the liquid butter frequently. The butter will begin to smell nutty and very fragrant. Once the foam has subsided, the butter should have some brown, lightly toasted bits floating at the bottom. Pour the brown butter in a heat safe bowl to cool for about 10 minutes. Transfer the butter to the fridge to resolidify to a softened butter consistency. This takes about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice and salt together until well combined.
- In another large bowl, beat the room temperature butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined. On low, beat in the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sour cream sugar drop cookie dough onto a small lined baking sheet or large plate. I like to use a small cookie scoop to get perfectly portioned cookies.
- Bake the sour cream cookies for 10-12 minutes. The edges will be set. The center will bounce back when gently pressed. Remove the cookies from the oven onto a cooling rack or stove top. After 3 minutes, transfer the cookies off the hot baking sheet and onto the cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Make the maple buttercream frosting by beating the cooled and softened brown butter with 1 cup (120 g) of powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of milk until well combined. Beat in the remaining ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar until well combined. If needed, beat in up to 1 tablespoons (15 ml) more milk.
- Top each sour cream cookie with the buttercream frosting and enjoy!
Notes
Grab more delicious cookie recipes like this in my cookie cookbook! Sugar + Spice Cookies features 60 fun, flavorful and spice filled cookies just like these Sour Cream Cookies with Maple Buttercream.
Pull out the eggs and butter about an hour before making these cookies.
These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
did you make this recipe?tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram
Leave a Reply