Sour Cream Cookies

These sour cream cookies are an old fashioned sweet treat that is simple to make. These are really fun to make with kids who want to learn to bake. 

One of the best things about making cookies is that you can turn it into a team effort with your kids, the neighbors, the neighborhood kids – anybody – and I maintain that doing things together is what builds community. 

People crave doing meaningful things together, and making cookies together is an easy point of entry. We can graduate to painting the walls later. 😉 

Sour cream cookies are, in a lot of ways, similar to sugar cookies. You’ll find comparable ingredients, with the exception of sour cream. 

The other way these differ is that they’re drop cookies. A drop cookie is going to have left flour, and more butter by volume, so these will be softer, a smidge gooier, and require no rolling. 

Ingredients for sour cream cookies

• Butter – the foundation of any good cookie recipe
• Granulated sugar – sugar acts as a liquid in baking, so it not only gives us the sweetness, but it’s essential for making a moist, chewy cookie. This is why baking with sugar alternatives is so difficult. 
• Sour cream. You would expect nothing less in a cookie with sour cream in the name. This also provides some fat, as well as a nice tanginess to the cookies. 
• Egg. These give your cookie structure through proteins that firm up during baking, while also aiding in leavening and lift. 
• Flour. All purpose flour, or a gluten-free baking blend is the core structure, flavor, and texture of the cookie. 
• Vanilla extract. A key flavor. 
• Baking powder, baking soda, and salt. These are leavening agents that work together to help your cookie lift and spread as it bakes. 

For the icing, we also have more butter and sour cream, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. This is a nice, soft, almost fluffy icing that is spooned onto the cookies when they’re mostly cool. It can take a while to crust, so you’ll want to let them sit in a single layer after icing for quite a while before packaging them for storage. 

Ingredient substitutions

Because I know somebody is going to ask, I don’t really recommend using greek yogurt in place of the sour cream here. The sour cream acts as part of your fats, and helps create a softness in the cookies. Greek yogurt is much more protein-rich. If you do use it, you can expect somewhat different results from the original. 

Sugar substitutes. While the recipe calls for granulated sugar, you can use brown sugar in a pinch. This will change your flavor somewhat, as well as darken the cookie dough. 

Almond extract can replace some or all of the vanilla if you wish. 

How to make sour cream cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter and sugar together until light – about three minutes. 
3. Beat in sour cream, egg, and vanilla. 
4. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, and mix into butter mixture until just combined. 
5. Drop by the tablespoonful onto ungreased, or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
6. Bake in center of oven for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

1. While cookies cool, beat icing ingredients together until smooth. 
2. Drop a spoonful of icing onto each cookies, and sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. 
3. Enjoy!

How to Store Cookies

Cool cookies completely and allow icing to crust well. Package leftover cookies in an airtight container. These can be stored overnight at room temperature, or for about a week in the refrigerator.

If you’re making cookies ahead of time, I recommend waiting to ice them until just before serving. These cookies freeze really well.

You may bake cookies, and transfer to a freezer-safe container when cool, and store in the freezer until ready to ice and serve.

To thaw frozen cookies, place container, unopened, in the refrigerator overnight. Or if you need them to thaw more quickly, on the counter top. The key is that they remain sealed up to avoid condensation making your cookies soggy as they thaw. Once thawed, top with a spoonful of icing, and serve.

More cookie recipes for you

• Earl Grey Cookies
• Gluten-Free Hot Chocolate Cookies
• Espresso Toffee Cookies
• Gluten-free Butter Cookies
• Coconut flour chocolate chip cookies

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