The Perfect Crispy Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• Shortening (Crisco)
• Unsalted Butter
• Granulated Sugar (White Sugar)
• Egg
• Vanilla Extract
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Salt 

See recipe card for quantities.

What Makes Cookies Crispy? 

There are a few factors that help to make crunchy cookies instead of chewy cookies:

• Granulated Sugar over Brown Sugar: Granulated Sugar absorbs moisture better aiding in crispier cookies. On the other hand, brown sugar is a common ingredient to yield soft cookies. You'll want to limit or omit brown sugar if you're trying to make a crispy cookie.
• Lower Oven Temperature: With a lower temperature, the cookies have time to spread before rising. Also, due to a low temperature, you can bake the cookies longer to aid in a crispy cookie.

When testing this recipe, I tried all of these methods and more to get the texture I was looking for. I did opt for using only granulated sugar. Also, I ended up using a combination of butter and shortening. Butter is about 80% fat and 20% naturally occurring water, while shortening is 100% fat. While shortening tends to make softer cookies because of the higher melting point, the lower water content helped in making them crunchy.  

Instructions

1. Prep cookie sheet with either parchment paper or silicone mats. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside for now. 

3. Add the slightly softened butter, shortening, and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Use an electric mixer, either a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, to beat together. Beat (cream) on high speed for about 30-60 seconds. It will be fully combined when all of the ingredients have fully combined and the mixture will have a fluffy-looking texture. 

4. Add the egg and vanilla extract and cream them together with the butter mixture for approximately 30 seconds on medium speed. It will be combined when the mixture has a smooth texture and will be yellow in color. 

5. Now it's time to add the dry ingredients! You'll do this in two parts, adding approximately half of the flour mixture to the large bowl. Beat on low speed until just combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low again until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure all of the flour has been incorporated. 

6. Grab your prepared baking sheets and time to scoop some cookie dough balls. I used this cookie scoop, which scoops 1 tablespoon when the dough is leveled to the rim of the scoop. If you have a scale, you can also weigh 15g dough balls. 

8. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to completely cool. If you opt to try the cookies warm (which I always of course do) keep in mind they will still be soft. The cookies will need to cool completely before they will get that crispy texture. I recommend letting them sit at room temperature for a few hours before transferring to a storage container to allow them to completely cool, set, and get their ultimate crispiness. 

Substitutions

• Shortening for Butter OR Butter for Shortening: If you choose to make the recipe with all shortening or all butter, it will still work. I did recipe tests with both of these combinations. If you use all shortening you'll lose some of the richness of the butter flavor. These weren't my favorite, but you can make it work! If you use all butter, I wasn't able to get quite the amount of crispiness, but you'll still get a tastier, just chewier cookie. 
• Traditional Crisco vs. Butter Flavored Crisco: Either will work! I used the traditional and combined it with the butter I was still able to get that buttery cookie flavor. If you use the butter-flavored Crisco, you'll get a similar or richer butter flavor in the final cookie. 

Storage

Store in an airtight container (these are my favorite) for up to a week at room temperature. Keep in mind if you live in a humid environment, the time they will stay crispy will decrease. I would recommend either eating quicker or freezing. To freeze, add the baked cookies to an airtight container and freeze for 3-6 months. After 3 months the cookies may start to lose quality. 

Tips for making the best crispy cookies

• Measure your Flour Properly: If you have a kitchen scale, that is ideal. If not, use the scoop and level method. Essentially, scoop the flour into your measuring cup until it is overflowing. Then, take the straight edge of a knife or spatula and scrape off the excess flour back into the container. Too much flour in cookies will lead to a dryer final product. 
• Make Sure Your Oven Temperature is Correct: Using an oven thermometer can be super helpful for both cooking and baking. Your oven may be running hot or cool and you would really never know without a thermometer. They are pretty reasonable and you can just let one hang on your oven rack and be assured your cookies are baking at the right temperature. 
• Don’t Overmix: A common mistake in cookie baking is overmixing your cookie dough. The more you mix, the more the gluten develops, which then leads to a tougher cookie. We want crispy, not tough! Stop mixing as soon as you see the flour has been incorporated.