These bite-sized mini sugar cookies are about the size of a quarter and have a sweet flavor with a slightly crispy texture. These are a household favorite because of how little and cute they are, and also how easy it is to eat too many. They are like the potato chips of cookies - once you pop you can’t stop!
These little cookies can be made at anytime of the year, just swap the sugar for different depending on the holidays. If you want a larger version of these cookies, check out these Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links at no cost to you.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Shortening
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Sanding Sugar or Sprinkles
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Making the Cookie Dough
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. I recommend using at least two cookie sheets, maybe even three to save some time. While the cookies are very easy to make, they can be a bit time-consuming. So if you can load up one baking sheet with dough while the other is baking you’ll save some time!
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl and mix well until combined. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the shortening, softened butter, and sugar and use an electric mixer on high speed to beat together until combined. The butter will start to look fluffy and slightly lighter in color. With my hand mixer, this usually takes about 60 seconds. However, you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and it may mix a bit quicker.
Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until both ingredients are fully incorporated.
Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, adding in about three sections. In between each addition, beat on low until you've added all the dry ingredients and you now have your completed sugar cookie dough.
Baking the Cookies
Now this is where the time-consuming part kicks in. Fill one teaspoon with cookie dough, leveling it off. Remove the dough from the teaspoon and divide it in half and then divide each of those halves in half. In the end you will now have four very small cookie dough balls. Essentially each little ball will be ¼ teaspoon. It saves time using the teaspoon instead of scooping out dough using the ¼ teaspoon.
Pro Tip: If the cookie dough is sticking to the teaspoon, spray it with some nonstick cooking spray.
Dip each cookie into a bowl of sanding sugar. You can also use rainbow sprinkles, jimmies, or nonpareils.
Once the baking pan is full (I fit about 40 mini sugar cookies on my tray) bake them for 6-8 minutes.
Pro Tip: If the dough starts to soften and become difficult to work with, place it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to let it firm up a bit.
The mini cookies will spread into about the size of a quarter. Remove from the oven and let sit on the tray until they are set. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes. Once they are cool to the touch and no longer fall apart at touch, you can transfer them to a wire rack or a large bowl. Continue this process until all of the dough is gone!
Substitutions
Shortening: You can use either butter-flavored Crisco or the standard version. Either one will work fine! I prefer the butter flavor because I feel that it adds just a bit more flavor to the cookies, but you can’t go wrong with either. However, I would NOT substitute the butter and use all Crisco for this recipe. When I tested it, the flavor and texture were not right.
Butter: You can substitute the Crisco and make this recipe with all butter. The cookies will be crispier and lose the soft bite. However, still very tasty!
Variations
Sprinkles: I love that this recipe can be customized for holidays or special occasions. Just swap out the sprinkles or sanding sugar for the proper holiday colors. I like using red and green sanding sugar for Christmas. However, as these cookies are very small, you will taste the sprinkles more, especially if you use a larger Jimmie or a confetti sprinkle. So just beware and make sure you like the taste of the sprinkle!
Size of Cookie: You can make these into large cookies, just increase the amount of time you bake them. However, try this Sprinkle Cookie Recipe which is a very similar-tasting cookie, but the cookies are a normal size.
Making Ahead
You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for up to two days. When baking, remove it from the refrigerator and let it come close to room temperature before baking.
You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Make sure you wrap it tight in plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer bag or an airtight container to freeze. Let it come to room temperature before baking.
Can You Frost these Mini Cookies?
Yes! You can use a classic buttercream to frost. I also have this fun Margarita Buttercream Frosting or Almond Buttercream recipe.
Storage
Store them in a large bowl with a lid or an air-tight container for up to a week. You can freeze the fully baked cookies and keep them for up to 3 months in a freezer bag or airtight container. As they are very small, make sure not to let them get buried in the freezer or they may get crushed.
FAQ
You can half this recipe, though it is easiest to do if you own a food scale. As it calls for one egg, you’ll need to crack the egg into a small bowl and slightly scramble it to break up the yolk. Weigh the full egg in grams with a food scale. Divide that number by 2 and then pour that amount of the egg into another small bowl to get “half of an egg”.
If you don’t have a food scale, you can eyeball this, but beware the recipe may not come out quite right if you over or underuse the egg.
A mini sugar cookie is typically around 1"-2" in diameter. This recipe makes cookies about the size of a quarter, so they are on the smaller side. However, the size of a mini sugar cookie is subjective.
Decorate mini sugar cookies with sprinkles, buttercream frosting, canned frosting, or you could even try royal icing.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Mini Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Unsalted Butter
- ½ Cup Shortening
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Cup Sanding Sugar (approximately)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- With an electric mixer, in a large bowl beat together the butter, shortening, and sugar until fully combined.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat in with the electric mixer until incorporated.
- Add about half of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until it's combined. Add the second half of the flour mixture and beat until fully mixed in. As soon as it is mixed, stop beating to not over-mix the dough.
- Measure out a level teaspoon of cookie dough, break it in half, and then each of those halves into half. This will leave you with four ¼ teaspoon sized dough balls.*
- Dip each of the cookie dough balls into the bowl of sanding sugar and then place them on the cookie sheet. On a standard-sized cookie sheet, you can fit approximately 40 cookies.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes at 350°.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit on the tray for about 5-10 minutes. Once cooled you can pour them into a bowl.
