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These whole wheat sugar cookies have the perfect soft and chewy texture. This easy recipe is the perfect way to add a little extra boost of nutrition to your holiday sugar cookies without sacrificing flavor.
As a dietitian, I’m always looking for ways to add in a bit more nutrition. Even in baked goods! These soft and chewy cookies taste just like traditional sugar cookies but they’re made with whole wheat pastry flour for a little nutrition boost. If you love these, you’ll love my Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies too!
Your New Go-To Sugar Cookie
- Perfectly soft and chewy. Even though they’re made with whole wheat flour, they still have the absolute perfect soft and chewy sugar cookie texture.
- Made with whole grains. They’re made with whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour but I promise you won’t notice.
- A little less sugar. These are made with just a little bit less sugar than most traditional sugar cookies.
- Super easy. Just mix up your dough, scoop and bake! Truly the easiest sugar cookies.
Ingredients
For full recipe instructions and complete list of ingredients, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Whole wheat pastry flour: These cookies call for whole wheat pastry flour, which is made from soft white wheat. It has all of the benefits of regular whole wheat like dietary fiber but performs much more like white flour. White whole wheat works perfectly too (I love King Arthur Golden Wheat).
- Salted butter: Essential for the traditional sugar cookie flavor. I prefer melted butter over softened butter for the best chewy texture.
- White sugar: Regular sugar helps with the structure of the cookie and gives them that soft and chewy texture.
- Egg: For the perfect amount of structure and texture.
- Vanilla & almond extract: A teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and a tiny splash of almond give the cookies their signature flavor.
- Salt & baking powder: A sprinkle of salt balances the sweet flavor and baking powder gives them the perfect puff.
- Sanding sugar or turbinado sugar: A sprinkle of coarse sugar on top is essential for sugar cookies!
Variations
- Make them frosted. Frost cookies with royal icing or buttercream frosting, decorate to your heart’s desire. Perfect for holiday decorating!
- Add sprinkles. You can either top with sprinkles before baking or mix 1/2 cup of sprinkles into the dough before baking.
- Cut out sugar cookies. Instead of melted butter, use softened butter for a firmer dough. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour before rolling the dough out to 1/4″ thickness. Use cookie cutters to make shapes and bake 6-8 minutes until edges are golden.
- Sliced sugar cookies. Instead of melted butter, use softened butter for a firmer dough. Roll dough into a 2″ cylinder shape and then slice into 1/2″ rounds. Bake or freeze.
- Lemon. Skip the almond extract and stir in 1 teaspoon lemon zest into the wet ingredients instead.
How To Make Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
- Melt butter. In a medium microwave safe bowl, microwave sliced butter for 40 seconds. Butter should be mostly melted with some softened butter pieces.
- Mix. Add sugar and whisk together. Then add egg, almond extract and vanilla extract. Combine until smooth.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Mix dough. Add flour to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Scoop. Use a cookie scoop to scoop 12 cookies onto the parchment paper. Gently press sugar into the tops of cookie dough before baking.
- Bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes until edges are slightly golden. Cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
How To Store
- Room temperature. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Freezer. Scoop cookie dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Then transfer frozen cookie scoops to a freezer bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Jamie’s tips
Recipe Tips For Perfect Cookies
- Butter tips. Melt your butter in the microwave for just about 40 seconds. Your butter will be mostly melted with a few unmelted pieces. Make sure it’s not overly melted or hot! I like to use melted butter for a chewier cookie (and for those of us who always forget to soften butter!).
- Don’t over bake. The cookies are done when the edges are just slightly golden brown. The tops will still be soft and the cookies will set as they continue to cool. Don’t over bake them!
- Can’t find whole wheat pastry flour? If you can’t find white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour use half regular whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.
More Recipes For Cookie Lovers
If you’ve made and loved these Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and comments below!
Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
The perfect soft and chewy sugar cookie made with less sugar and whole wheat pastry flour.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp almond extract, measure very carefully
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- sanding sugar or turbinado sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium microwave safe bowl, microwave sliced butter for 40 seconds. Butter should be mostly melted with some softened butter pieces but not overly melted or hot. Note: Be careful not over-melt or your dough will be very thin and a little harder to scoop!
- Next, add sugar and whisk together with butter.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and whisk until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add flour to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop 12 cookies onto the parchment paper.
- Gently press sugar into the tops of cookie dough before baking.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are slightly golden. Tops will look very soft but be careful not to over bake.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
How to melt your butter: Melt butter from the refrigerator for 40 seconds. You want it mostly melted with a few soft pieces.
Don’t over bake: You want to take out the cookies when they are ever-so-slightly golden brown but the tops will still look soft. Be careful not to over-bake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 258IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an estimate.
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