So when my pal Christy Jordan told me a while back that she had an excellent copycat recipe for those amazingly little morsels of deliciousness, I had to have it. And y’all… it’s spot on. Like they just might be my favorite cookie ever. Ok, scratch that. They ARE my favorite cookie ever. Like ever. I can eat all 24 of these. All. By. Myself.
But besides the buttery, chewy goodness, I knew that there was a little something extra in terms of flavor when it came to those GACC cookies. And that little something extra is lemon. Now, I have no idea why I never really figured that out, but part of me thinks I just had a mental block. It’s like when something is just so good, you almost don’t want to know what makes it that way.
Regardless, I’m so glad to have this recipe in my arsenal so I can make them every time I have a craving. And while they make perfect holiday cookies, I make them all year long. They’re just as tasty in June or July. 🙂 Y’all are gonna love ’em!
Recipe Card
Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- large decorating sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment or a nonstick silicone baking mat. Using a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the corn syrup, egg, vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix well.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.
- Use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and roll it into balls. Place the decorating sugar in a small bowl and roll the dough ball in the sugar to coat. Place them on the prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. (If you find the dough too soft, refrigerate it for about 20 minutes and it should firm up enough to work with.)
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown, being cautious not to overcook. Cool on the baking pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
- Work in batches until all the dough has been used. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container.
Oopsie had to substitute ingredients. Turned out so stinkin brown maple-y delicious, that I had to leave a review anyway. Great for cold weather, tho.
Yes, I added lemon extract & light Karo syrup to my grocery list, to make them again as written.
Ha! Glad you enjoyed them anyway! 🙂
Hi Stacey! Your recipe is almost identical to mine! I too am a die hard GACC sugar cookie fanatic and had been trying to replicate it for years! I found that using 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1.5 tsp Princess Cake and Cookie Bakery Emulsion really makes it! It adds a nutty, citrus flavor that is identical to GACC! ❤️
I’ve never hear of that! I’ll have to find some and try it.
Oh boy, these were a smash hit in my house, everyone loved them. Thanks for another great recipe! Stacey, you should have your own cooking show!!
Thank you, Dorothy! Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Love it!! I’ve tried so many sugar cookie recipes that are just too dry for me.
Some adjustments I made: I used double the lemon juice as a substitute for lemon extract and it was perfect! Also changed the heat to 350 and baked 8.5 minutes because my bottoms were getting too dark
So glad you enjoyed these!
Love, love this sweet Christmas morsals. Thank you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love from Burbank, California from Beverly Jean and our family,
Merry Christmas, Beverly!
Hi – love your recipes 😀
Looking over this sugar cookie recipe, the last ingredient is –
“Large baking sugar “
What exactly is this ? The sprinkles ?
Sorry …. Maybe all the other cooks know.
Thanks, Sue
It’s the red and green sprinkles on the outside of the cookies in the pictures. Enjoy!
Hello! Ours got more puffy than flat! Any suggestions?
You could always press them down a bit before putting them in the oven. I just gives them a little head start.
Hi! Do you think it would be ok to refrigerate the dough overnight and make it the next day? or would it be better to freeze the dough?
Absolutely! Cover tightly and refrigerating it overnight should work perfectly.
Flavor is close to the original great american, but too much lemon extract. Nicely done finding the lemon as the “secret ingredient” though! The lemon Amt in this recipe is good but overpowering compared to the original. My cookies also turned out completely flat like many of the responses from others. I tried lowering the temp down to 325 and still had the same issue. This tells me there isnt NEARLY enough flour in the recipe. Likely short by at least one half cup if not more. I’ll add flour to the next batch and update the difference!
Hey Evan! I’ve learned that different brands of lemon extract have varying strengths. Unfortunately that’s not something we have much control over. When it comes to the cookies spreading, did you try refrigerating the dough? I’ve never had trouble with this recipe, but I did some cross comparison and still feel like the flour amount is correct.
Can we freeze the dough before rolling in sugar and baking?
I don’t see why not! Make sure to thaw prior to baking or you could roll into balls and them freeze?
First time finding the sugar cookie recipe I have been looking for, for so long, I love them!!
Thanks Haley! Definitely a favorite in my family!
Have you every made a cookie cake from this recipe? It’s our friends favorite cookie and for his birthday I’d love to make it into a cookie cake for him. Trying to figure out baking time.
I’ve never done this but I think it should work just fine. I’d guess around 20-25 minutes for the bake time depending on how big you make the cookie.
The cookies taste amazing! However, they came out flat, for me. I even put the dough, in the freezer for few minutes, before I baked the sugar cookies. While cooking, a ball of dough would be in the center of the cookie, but melted dough all around, until the entire cookie was flat. Watching them cook, was like watching a snowman melt. Ha! I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’ll try again. The taste of this cookie is so good!
Oh no! Maybe a little more flour next time? How long did you let them refrigerate?
are you sure it’s 3/4 cup of butter. I made them and they spread out to thin
Yep. 100% positive. Just made some last week. You can always add a little more flour or try thoroughly chilling the dough before baking.
I am planning on making these tonight but the only sprinkles I have are the more elongated sprinkles, would those work?
Sure! They should work just fine.
My oven isn’t working right now. How can I make these in an air fryer?
I can’t say, Connie. I’ve never tried them in an air fryer.
I just made these. They taste just like the great American cookie co. cookies! So tasty! I used salted butter so I reduced the salt just a smidge. I used scant 1/4tsp lemon extract and it was perfect. It doesn’t taste lemony at all – it just gives it this great perfect sugar cookie taste – a little “je ne sais quoi” – no one will know what it is, but everyone will be asking what makes them taste so good. These are going into my permanent cookie keeper list. Thanks! 🙂
Sweet! So glad to hear you enjoyed them! They’re my absolute favorite!
Okay. First of all, these are delicious! I halved the lemon extract, though. The only thing is….my cookies cracked on top! I’ve never had cookies crack on top , so not sure what I did wrong.
I used vegan butter and flaxseed in place of butter and egg. I also used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. I didn’t refrigerate it, as the dough seemed fine and easy to mold. Could my replacements have made it crack for some reason? I never ran into a cracked top when baking cookies, even when replacing ingredients. Other than the cracking, it was delicious. Thank you for this great recipe.
Glad to hear you enjoyed them! These do crack a little, but I would image the substitutions might have made it a little worse.
These are delicious and pretty! I also have a serious love for Great American Cookie Company, especially the sugar cookies. These taste just like them! Thank you for sharing❤️
So glad to hear that you enjoyed them!! We sure love them at our house!
Stacey – If a recipe calls for Unsalted Butter, but I have Lightly Salted, should I leave out the salt in the recipe?
No, in this case I think it will be just fine to use both.
I didn’t use any lemon extract from the previous ratings comments and it turned out great! I also had to flatten them before baking to ensure it was cooked all the way through for the 10 minutes. Definitely will use the recipe again.
Glad you enjoyed them! You should really try them with the lemon next time, though! So good!
Delicious! Was looking for something to give to the neighbors as Christmas gifts and these were perfect! Turned out great first try. Had to make a second batch for the family! Thanks for sharing.
So glad they turned out great for you!!
This recipe is GREAT!! Personally, I’m not a fan of the hint of lemon taste. I may reduce by half or omit the lemon and add almond or more vanilla to replace. This recipe will be added to my recipe book! Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you enjoyed them!!
I’m a huge sugar cookie eater but the lemon extract kind of steers me away! Does the cookie taste really lemony?
I think the lemon is needed to give it something unexpected, but in my opinion, maybe 1/2 tsp or less. They did have a lemon taste that I liked but my kids were not so crazy about.
I agree! There’s no harm in using less, but I love that extra punch it gives the cookies.
I don’t think they taste lemony. There’s just a little something there that you know is different, but can’t quite put your finger on. Certainly you could always use less extract.
I made these and they spread way more while baking. I made the first sheet on silpat and then tried the next on parchment paper. Still spread a lot. If I make them again, I might try using half shortening to see if that keeps them from spreading so much. They tasted good though, just did not look like yours.
Ugh. Hate to hear you had trouble. Did you coat them in the big pieces of sugar? Also, did you try chilling the dough?
I had large green & smaller red sugar that I combined and rolled them in. I did put the second sheet in the fridge for a bit to see if that would help. They might have spread a little less but still spread a lot. As I said, they are still yummy!
Well, I’m just glad they tasted good! 🙂
These were really good! They stayed soft and fluffy even after a few days. The only thing I would do differently next time is to put a little less lemon extract. They were a little too lemon-y for my kids but I liked them a lot! This is definitely my new go-to sugar cookie recipe.
So glad you enjoyed them!!
Could this recipe be used with cutters, or does it spread too much for shapes?
I’m afraid this dough is a little too soft to be rolled out and cut.
Can the dough be frozen?
I don’t see why not. 🙂
Would these be good with frosting?
I sure don’t see why not!
These look great! A lot of family members need to eat gluten free so do you think this recipe would still work if I swapped out the regular flour and replaced it with an all purpose gluten free flour? Do you think I would need to make other modifications? Thanks!
Hi Cindy! I’m honestly not sure. I don’t have much experience with gluten free flour.
Will the lemon extract make these very lemony? Or is it something I could eliminate? I love lemon but have several in the family that do not.
The lemon is what makes these taste so much like the Great American Cookie Company cookies. If you’re not trying to replicate those, you could leave it out. But I wouldn’t recommend it.