This GIANT sugar cookie is perfection. It’s a single, large cookie that bakes up to about 8-9 inches in diameter. It has a soft, buttery center and it’s topped with fluffy buttercream icing. Plus, it’s totally customizable depending on what you want–peppermint? Almond? Lemon? Orange? Sure! Feel free to play around with flavorings, citrus zests, and fun toppings. This recipe makes one giant cookie approximately 9-inches in diameter. Make sure to browse our tips for the best cookie ever!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Cookie
- Butter – Use real butter.
- Granulated sugar
- Egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
Frosting
- Butter – Use real butter.
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cream or milk
How to Make a Giant Sugar Cookie
- First you’ll mix up a basic sugar cookie dough of butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, flour, and salt.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet, press dough into a circle about 7 inches in diameter. (See Storing and Other Tips section below for notes on using this template!)
- Bake. If needed, reshape: This is one of my favorite pro-tips (I actually do this with regular sized cookies, too!). In order to get a perfectly round shape, as soon as your cookie comes out of the oven (you only have a short window of time to do this) use a large spatula to gently press the edges in to shape your cookie into a perfect circle. The template comes in handy for this, too!
- Whip up your frosting while your cookie is cooling. Before you frost, make sure it cools on a baking rack completely. Our favorite tool to have on hand for moving around giant cookies is a giant spatula, like this one.
- Frost, decorate, and eat (or gift!).
Storing and Other Tips
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Homemade cookies are safe to eat for a week or more when stored this way, but they will definitely have the best taste and texture the first couple days.
- Templates: Here is a great template you can use to get the perfect sized cookie. It has 3 circles on it, and all our giant cookie recipes include a recommended baking size. To use this template, place it directly on your baking sheet and then cover it with parchment paper (do not bake directly on the template!). Press your cookie dough down, using the template as a guide. You can also use this heart shaped template.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Gifting Giant Cookies
- Giant cookies make a great gift for neighbors, teachers, and friends! 10-inch pizza boxes lined with parchment paper* hold one cookie perfectly and are adorable for gifting. *Make sure to line your box and use parchment or waxed paper and not tissue paper. Otherwise the box will absorb some butter and look greasy.
- If you are making several large cookies, I recommend setting out several bowls, one for each batch, and measure ingredients into each one by one. This will help prevent confusion when measuring ingredients and ensure that each dough ball is the correct size for one cookie. Alternately, you can use a food scale to accurately divide your dough into individual cookies.
- If you’d like to, use one bowl for every two cookies, so you can use one whole egg (instead of two yolks) and then just split the dough evenly into two pieces before baking. Again, a food scale is helpful!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make regular sized cookies with this dough?
Absolutely. If you just want a few cookies, this recipe is perfect. Split the dough into 4-6 pieces before baking. Baking times will be quicker this way, so I’d take a look after about 8 minutes and pull them out as soon they look set. If you are wanting to make a full batch, this giant cookie recipe is just a scaled down version of this recipe for The Best Sugar Cookies.
Can I make this cookie in other flavors?
Feel free to replace vanilla in the cookie and/or frosting with another extract of your choice. Almond is actually our favorite! Peppermint is delicious too.
Giant Sugar Cookie
Our sugar cookie recipe is legendary and we hope you love this giant version as much as we do!
Servings giant 9″ cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie
- ½ cup butter super soft, no substitutions
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg yolk from large or extra large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour make sure to lightly spoon into measuring cup and level!
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Icing
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract*
- 1-2 tablespoons cream or milk
Additional ingredient:
- 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, baking powder and salt all at once and mix to combine. Dough will look crumbly at first, that's normal! Keep mixing, for longer than you think you need to and it will come together. When everything is well incorporated, you can use clean hands to pull it all together.
- Form dough into one large ball and sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over it. Roll to coat.
- Place dough ball on prepared baking sheet and gently press to 7" in diameter. Smooth edges with hands so here are no craggily edges that can get overcooked. If your hands melted the sugar into the dough, sprinkle a little extra on top. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until set on the edges and slightly soft in the middle.Note: All ovens cook differently and baking time can vary depending on how you pressed your cookie down so set your timer but keep an eye on it and go by look over time! If your edges are getting browned, it's probably been in there too long!
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- While cooling, mix up all frosting ingredients until light and fluffy. Add as much liquid as you need (a tiny bit at a time) until it is the consistency you like.
- When cookie is completely cool, frost and decorate if desired!
Notes
- Feel free to replace vanilla in frosting with another extract of your choice. Almond is actually our favorite! Peppermint is delicious too.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Homemade cookies are safe to eat for a week or more when stored this way, but they will definitely have the best taste and texture the first couple days.
- Templates: Here is a great template you can use to get the perfect sized cookie. It has 3 circles on it, and all our giant cookie recipes include a recommended baking size. To use this template, place it directly on your baking sheet and then cover it with parchment paper (do not bake directly on the template!). Press your cookie dough down, using the template as a guide. You can also use this heart shaped template.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Nutrition
Serving: 1Cookie, Calories: 2708kcal, Carbohydrates: 348g, Protein: 15g, Fat: 144g, Saturated Fat: 91g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 37g, Trans Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 381mg, Sodium: 1498mg, Potassium: 198mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 249g, Vitamin A: 4456IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 131mg, Iron: 6mg
Calories: 2708kcal
Cost: $4
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
I feel a bit silly asking this, but when you say ‘real’ butter, do you mean regular butter, not margarine? If so, is salted or non salted better?
And do you use a stand mixer with such small amounts?
No silly questions, here! Yes, real butter (as opposed to margarine) and you can always assume salted butter unless specified otherwise. You’ll want to just use a hand mixer for this small batch!
How do I make this in advance? Should I make it til the chill stage? Or freeze the finished cookie? Making it for my kids for valentines and would love to make it before the day!
Either way! You bake the cookies, cool completely, and then freeze between layers of parchment. Or if you want to bake fresh, you can pat the dough out into the circle, and then freeze the unbaked dough between layers of parchment. Just let it sit in the fridge ovenight to defrost before baking.
Can I need to go in advance to keep it in the fridge till ready to bake it?
Yes!
Can you use a 9″ spring form pan to make it round?
sure!
Great recipe! Made this for my friend for her birthday because she prefers cookies over cake and she loved it!
I’ve made these for the past 3 years as gifts. My husband insisted that I make it the first year, and now all his coworkers expect it! I triple the recipe, then divide the dough into 3 cookies before baking. Works great when I need to make a bunch of gifts! Always looks impressive!!
Fabulous! Thanks for the recipe and tips. I made a double batch to make a 10.5” cookies plus some regular size cookies. I used 1/2 vanilla & 1/2 almond flavoring in both the dough and the frosting. It all turned out perfect.
Why just egg yolk? What happens if you use the whole egg?
I think you’d have too much liquid and your cookie dough would be really loose.
Can this recipe be doubled to make a cookie twice as big and turn out the same? Thanks
I’ve never tried so I’m not sure!
Made a double and it came out fine
Very excited to make this. Maybe instead of cut out cookies this year?? Seems so much easier!! Also, my favorite way to measure flour is to weigh it. Then zero guessing. Question, can I leave out rolling in sugar? Does it make it have sugar crunchies on the outside? I prefer not to have that texture. Thank you!!
You are welcome to skip rolling in sugar 🙂