Taylor Swift took the food corner of the internet by storm over the last week with a … resurfaced… sugar cookie recipe. It’s a pretty simple but very unique sugar cookie riff that has people on X and TikTok baking cookies left and right. And we’re jumping on the wagon too to see what all the fuss is about.
To really test the strength of Swift’s recipe, we’re baking three other beloved sugar cookie recipes to pitt against her take. And then we’re going to rank them all, so that Swifites can destroy us in the comments and on every other social platform forever if we fail to pick hers as #1.
Once the recipes were sorted out, I kept the process and baking all the same. I made the four dough varieties, properly chilled them, and then baked them according to their respective recipes. To keep this tasting even more equal (and to really test the mettle of the actual cookie), I’m also icing them all the same way, following Swift’s instructions. This will give me a chance to really keep the playing field as equal as possible while judging the greatness of the cookie beneath it. Amazingly, my local grocery store is already stocking eggnog, so I was able to re-create this recipe exactly.
Here’s Taylor Swift’s icing recipe to get us started:
“just mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1/4 T-spoon of nutmeg, 1/4 T-spoon of cinnamon and 3 TAYblespoons <—-(I’m so annoying, it astounds me sometimes) of milk or eggnog if you can find it this time of year. The more milk/eggnog you add, the more your icing will become a glaze. But glazes are legit too so basically just LIVE YOUR LIFE.”
Here’s how it looks once mixed:
Okay, let’s dive into whether or not Taylor Swift really does have the best sugar cookie recipe ever!
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4. Classic Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies
This is the most classic sugar cookie recipe out there. It’s so old-school it uses potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar) as a secondary leavening agent. It’s a standard and almost feels like the control group cookie for this taste test.
Ingredients:
- 2.5 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 cup softened unsalted butter
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 0.5 tsp. almond extract
What You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Plastic wrap
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutter
Method:
Prep:
- Combine the sugar, egg, butter, vanilla, and almond extract in a mixing bowl and combine until creamed.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar together, and then slowly add to the creamed mixture until a dough ball forms.
- Divide the ball into two flat discs and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours (up to overnight).
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Roll out one of the chilled discs to about 1/4-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies.
- Place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 7 minutes.
Bottom Line on the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies:
These are fine. They taste nice as a plain sugar cookie but are full-on crunchy. That’s fine but there’s not much more to savor here without the icing coming in to save the day.
3. Zach’s Bourbon-Soaked Sugar Cookies
This is my take on the whole thing. I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie but rarely make sugar cookies. That said, I’m going with my strengths here and using spirits as flavoring agents with more white sugar and a 50/50 split of brown and room temp unsalted butter.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 0.5 tsp. cream of tartar
- 0.5 tsp. kosher salt
- 0.5 cup brown butter
- 0.5 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 0.5 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. bourbon
- 1 tsp. amaretto
What You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Small pot
- ZipLock bag
- Knife
Method:
Prep:
- Add the butter to a small pot on medium heat. Melt the butter (stirring occasionally) until the fats just start to brown. Remove from heat immediately and place the butter in a small bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to bring back to room temp.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the butter, sugars, and egg in a mixing bowl and mix until creamed. Add the bourbon, amaretto, and egg and continue to mix until well integrated.
- Add the dry ingredients slowly while mixing until a dough ball forms.
- Roll the dough into a log, place it in a ZipLock bag, and refrigerate for at least two hours (up to overnight).
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cut the log into 12 pieces and roll each one into a small ball.
- Place the ball on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and gently press each one down until it’s about half as tall as it was as a ball.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
Bottom Line on the Bourbon Sugar Cookies:
This does have a nice flavor profile and the brown butter takes this one to new heights. But there’s a crunchy texture to the cookie that holds it back. The middle was a tad chewy but I’ll have to make these again and just leave them thicker to get a true sense of chewiness.
Overall, the flavor was dialed otherwise with a nice hint of spice and almond next to a deep brown butter finish.
2. Taylor Swift’s Sugar Cookies
Taylor Swift’s sugar cookie recipe is based on Joy Baker’s classic recipe. The twist with Baker’s recipe is that she uses powdered sugar and granulated while also using oil with the butter (most recipes call for just butter). This helps add to the chewiness of the cookie. Swift’s big change is that she adds a sachet of chai tea — literally the spiced tea leaves from a tea bag.
It’s interesting and really adds a great seasoned flavor profile to the cookie.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups AP flour
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 0.25 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 0.5 cup vegetable oil
- 0.5 cup granulated sugar, plus extra sugar for topping
- 0.5 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 vanilla bean (just the seeds)
- 1 bag of chai tea
- Cinnamon
What You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- ZipLock bag
- Knife
Method:
Prep:
- Combine the butter, oil, and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream until well integrated. Add the egg, vanilla bean seeds, and chai tea into the creamed sugar and mix until well integrated.
- Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until a dough forms. Scoop out the dough ball and form into a log. Put in a ZipLock bag, seal, and place in the fridge for at least an hour (up to overnight).
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Once chilled, cut the log into 12 pieces and roll them into small balls.
- Place the balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and gently press each cookie ball down into a disc (you want it to be about 1/4-inch thick still). Sprinkle each cookie with fresh white sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 9 minutes.
- Ice once the cookies come out of the oven.
Bottom Line on Taylor Swift’s Sugar Cookies:
Okay, these are really good cookies. The base cookie is soft and chewy. The chai tea bag (I had to quadruple-check that this is what’s called for) is a bit baffling, though. As a flavor profile as it doesn’t ~quite~ meet the eggnog cinnamon icing. It’s just a touch wrong, in my opinion.
1. Brown Butter Sugar Cookies (Sally’s Baking Recipes)
This recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes is a classic brown butter base sugar cookie. Using brown butter always made sense to me but it does change the consistency of the cookie dough. Still, you’re adding a wonderfully deep and nutty flavor profile thanks to browning that butter in a pan.
Quick note: I always like to use brown butter in cookies (and baking in general) as it adds so much more flavor (deep nutty and buttery flavor notes). It’s also very easy to prep. You’ll need a shallow pan or pot over medium heat to gently simmer the butter for no more than five minutes (or until the fats just start to brown). To get it even deeper, take it to it’s boiling and bubbling point and remove it the moment those bubbles fade — but that means you need to watch it closely. That’s it!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 0.5 salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 0.75 cup granulated sugar
- 0.75 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla
What You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Small pot
- ZipLock bag
- Plastic wrap
- Knife
Method:
Prep:
- Add the butter to a small pot on medium beat. Cook until fully melted (stirring occasionally) and the fats just start to turn a dark beige. Kill the heat and let set as the fat in the butter turns a deep brown. Place the butter in a small bowl and put in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool back down to room temp.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and mix until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until well integrated into the creamed sugar.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed sugar until a dough forms.
- Form the dough into a log and place it in a ZipLock. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour (up to overnight).
Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Cut the cookie dough log into small balls (about 20). Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for another 30 minutes.
- Place the balls on a new cookie sheet (also parchment lined) and bake for 12 minutes.
Bottom Line on the Brown Butter Sugar Cookies:
This had the perfect balance of a crunchy bottom and a soft and chewy middle. The icing made a great addition to the overall vibe. But the real star of this show was the cookie flavor. The depth of the brown butter added was lightyears beyond the non-brown butter version. Where the other cookies sort of just petered out on the palate, this cookie kicked into high gear on the finish with a deep, nutty, and salted butter end that adds a wonderfully soft texture and finish to the overall experience.
Winner, winner.
Final Thoughts on the Sugar Cookies:
I feel certain that the best cookie recipe on earth is hidden in this post. Will an intrepid Swift fan make it and share it online? I’d take the base of Taylor Swift’s cookie and replace the softened butter with brown butter. And then maybe remove the chai tea bag and replace that with bourbon and amaretto (or a capful of almond oil). I think that’s the sweet spot.
Or keep everything about Swift’s recipe and add some brown butter. That might be the key takeaway here — “brown butter” is killer for cookies!