Thin & Crispy Sugar Cookies
This small batch sugar cookies recipe makes about 25 thin, sweet, buttery cookies, which was enough to cure our sweet tooth for a few days. These super crispy sugar wafer cookies are egg free, and remind me of a cross between Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes (flavor) and Bordeaux (crunch-factor). They are super thin, uber crunchy, very buttery and these baking soda cookies are a breeze to make with everyday pantry ingredients. I top my thin cookies with a pecan half that toast with the cookies as they bake. It’s optional, but so good!
Where did small batch sugar cookies originate?
These thin, crispy cookies were inspired by my grandmother, Myne, who used to make a version of these sugar wafer cookies for Christmas every year. They were thin (though not as thin as these), very crispy and always topped with a pecan.
They were my one of my favorites. However, they were made with Imperial margarine — back in the days when everyone thought margarine was healthier for you than butter.
I’ve used her recipe but swapped the margarine for the butter and increased a few other values to arrive at these small batch sugar cookies, which are distinctly buttery, wafer thin and super crunchy — even a few days after baking. In other words, they’re cookie nirvana.
Why this recipe works:
- These cookies don’t have any eggs, which would give them a puff and a softer crumb. They’re super-thin and crispy because it doesn’t have any egg and the spread happens quickly in the oven.
- You only need seven ingredients (6 if you skip the pecans — but don’t) and a hand mixer for these easy-to-make small-batch sugar cookies.
Ingredients:
- Flour – I use King Arthur’s Unbleached All Purpose Flour.
- Sugar – plain granulated sugar, not brown sugar.
- Baking Soda
- White Vinegar – can substitute apple cider vinegar, but don’t use red wine vinegar.
- Salt – plain iodized salt works best.
- Unsalted Butter -softened to room temperature.
- Whole Pecans – for garnish optional.
Making & portioning wafer cookies
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.
- Cut the room temp butter into chunks and add to the dry ingredients.
- Add the vinegar — the dry ingredients will fizz lightly because of the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar (remember those elementary school volcanoes?)
- With the hand mixer, beat the butter into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together and is well blended.
- Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (I use a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop for uniformity) set at least 3 inches apart on a parchment or silpat lined sheet pan.
In homage to my grandmother’s tradition, I like to garnish these thin cookies with a whole pecan. While the baking soda cookie bakes, the pecan is gently toasted and takes on a crunchy maple-y flavor that’s irresistible. If you don’t have pecans (or heaven forbid, don’t like them — who ARE you?), you could substitute a walnut, blanched almond, a few pistachios or even some chocolate chips or M&Ms.
Garnishing sugar wafer cookies
Place your garnish on top of the round of dough and gently press it into the wafer cookie. Then bake. The oven temperature is at 300°, lower than the standard 350°-375°, allowing the cookies to spread without browning too quickly. The 12-15 minutes it takes to bake the cookies, also happens to be the perfect amount of toasting time for whole pecans. Just sayin’.
How to know when they’re done…
The sugary, buttery wafer cookies are done when the edges start to turn golden brown and usually takes about 15 minutes, depending on your oven. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to firm up before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Simple, small batch sugar cookies
The allure of these crunchy treats lies in their simplicity. Compared to their embellished, sprinkled and doodadd-ed counterparts, these simple baking soda wafer cookies are practically sparse. No unicorn colors here. But the pure flavor, crackling snap and melt in your mouth crumb make these baking soda cookies one of a kind. Perfect with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot coffee or tea. Though this recipe makes a relatively small batch, it can easily be doubled to feed more.
And look at how thin these cookies are… Seriously. Scott’s first reaction was “Wow! I can taste the butter.” Then, “They’re so thin and light,” followed by “I think I’ll have another…”
More easy cookie recipes:
- Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Chews
- Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
- Salty n’ Sweet Ritz Fluffernutter Cookies
Thin Crispy Sugar Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar (can use apple cider vinegar)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (one stick) at room temperature
- 25 whole pecans optional
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat and set aside.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and whisk together.
- Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and add to the flour mixture. Add the vinegar (it will start to fizz).
- Use a hand mixer to blend the butter and vinegar evenly into the dry ingredients until a crumbly dough forms. Use a 1 teaspoon measure to drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet at least 3 inches apart (I use a mini cookie scoop for uniform cookies)– the cookies will spread out in the oven.
- Place a whole pecan in the center of each round of dough and gently press into the surface. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are just slightly golden.
- Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the sheet pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container, in a single layer, separating each layer with a piece of parchment paper.
NUTRITION:
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OMG, seriously someone must hide these from me!!! My new favorite easy cookie recipe.
I made them gluten free – they are fantastic!
My cookies are not spreading , I followed the recipe, should I add some moisture as it’s pretty dry the dough
I’d like to help you troubleshoot this, and I have a question about how you’re measuring your flour. Adding too much will make the dough drier, and the cookies won’t spread as much. The key to measuring flour is to aerate it first, with a whisk or spoon, to make it less compacted. Then measure it: dip a tablespoon into it and transfer it to the measuring cup. Don’t shake or tamp down the flour, as this will compact it and you’ll get more flour (sometimes up to a quarter cup more per cup measured). Of course, measuring by weight is the most accurate, but it’s not common practice here in the states.
I couldn’t believe how simple and tasty these crispy little cookies were. I added the pecan like you advise and it was fantastic.
I made a batch of these cookies for my boyfriend and they were gone by the second day. Next time will double the recipe.
I made this with one change, I added one tablespoon of scotch for flavoring. Since I didn’t make the recipe as written, I cannot comment on comparison to flavor.
I left them in the oven until they were a golden brown. They were thin and very crispy and delicious.
These were delicious however mine did not spread as others had noted. I have two reasons this may have happened.
1. I used grass fed European butter which has a much lower water content. I wanted a delicious butter flavor.
2. Flour measurements were likely off. Even using the spoon and level method. Since there is so little flour I believe weight vs measurement would work better.
Next time I will weigh the ingredients on 90 g flour, 100 g sugar, and 113 g butter.
I used a 1/2 tsp scoop. Even though they didn’t spread they were crispy, delicious, and adorably small at 1” in diameter.
I did also add a few drops of almond extract.
I will keep these on my rotation, spread thin or not they are a amazing
It’s true…these are so simple to make and the final result (taste) is divine. They have a crisp edge, a bit of a chew in the middle and an overall rich, buttery taste. They do spread a lot in the oven so arrange accordingly. They have to be fairly small in order to get 25 cookies (I only got 17 the first time). Make them, taste them and pass on the recipe!