Swig Sugar Cookies
Swig soda has gotten pretty popular over the last few years, but not as many people know about their other popular treat: sugar cookies! These copycat Swig sugar cookies are thick, soft, and topped with a creamy frosting that you can easily dye pink to match the cookies you get at Swig.
Recreate the full Swig experience with some of my favorite mocktail recipes made with Sprite. Or, make my other sugar cookie recipes to figure out which are the best sugar cookies! I have a Crumbl Sugar Cookie copycat, Sugar Cookie Bars, and No Fail Sugar Cookies that can be cut into fun shapes. Personally, I can’t choose a favorite.
Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect copycat. These sugar cookies taste JUST like the Swig cookies. The secret? Some sour cream and powdered sugar in the dough, and some sour cream in the frosting. It makes for super soft and delicious cookies!
- Easy sugar cookie recipe. No chilling time, no rolling out dough. The hardest part of these cookies is pressing a glass into the middle of each cookie to give it that ruffled edge of a classic Swig sugar cookie.
Ingredient Notes
- Granulated sugar: We use granulated sugar both in the cookie to sweeten it, and on top when you press into the dough before baking.
- Powdered sugar: This isn’t an ingredient you often see in cookies. Besides adding sweetness, the different texture of powdered sugar makes for super soft sugar cookies. We’ll also use powdered sugar in the frosting that goes on top.
- Unsalted butter: Butter is a key ingredient to cookies for flavor and structure. Using unsalted butter allows us to control how salty the cookies are.
- Vegetable oil: Another slightly unusual ingredient, vegetable oil typically makes cookies more dense, which makes sense for these thick cookies.
- Sour cream: This Swig sugar cookie recipe uses sour cream in the dough and the frosting. Sour cream adds moisture and richness to the cookie and a delightful tang to the frosting.
- Cream of tartar: This adds a little more of that signature tang and helps make cookies chewy by keeping sugar from crystallizing.
- Vanilla extract: For extra deliciousness.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Cream together sugars and wet ingredients. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 1¼ cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of softened unsalted butter, ¾ cup of vegetable oil, ¾ cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, 2 large eggs, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients at medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until well combined and fluffy.
- Add dry ingredients. Add 5½ cups of all-purpose flour to the bowl with the wet ingredients, along with 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and a ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar. Mix until combined, with no flour streaks remaining.
- Portion dough balls. Scoop dough into 3 tablespoon-sized balls (I use a #20 scoop for this). Place cookie dough balls a few inches apart on your prepared cookie sheet.
- Smush dough balls. Add ⅓ a cup of granulated sugar to a bowl. Grease the bottom of a drinking glass with nonstick cooking spray and dip it into the sugar. Next, use the sugared bottom of the glass to gently press down on a ball of dough, pressing it to ½ inch thickness. Repeat, dipping the glass in sugar for each dough ball. This will make the edges of the cookie get nice and ruffly while they bake.
- Bake. Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes, or until the edges are set. The centers of the cookies may look slightly underbaked, and that’s okay. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together ¾ cup of softened unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I recommend using a hand mixer for this. Once the butter mixture is smooth, add 6 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk and mix until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the frosting is too thick, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. You want a thick but soft and spreadable frosting. To make these look like Swig sugar cookies, add a drop of pink food coloring and mix.
- Frost cookies. Use a knife to add the frosting to your cooled cookies, keeping the frosting in the middle of the cookie so you can see the cute crinkly edges. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
I don’t personally think the Swig cookie recipe has almond extract in it, but if you like almond extract, you can add it to these cookies.
For a more “authentic” Swig sugar cookie experience, keep the unfrosted cookies in the freezer, then pull them out, frost, and eat.
Don’t press your cookies too thin, otherwise they won’t be as soft and chewy.
Don’t overbake your cookies. These cookies should be pale, rather than golden brown. The center may still look a little underdone, and that’s okay. They will firm up as they cool.
This is a great recipe to bake for holidays or events because it makes a lot of cookies. Just dye the frosting to match the holiday or occasion you’re baking for! You can also bake these into smaller cookies, although you will need a smaller glass to press down on the dough, and you’ll need to adjust the baking time.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make Ahead: These cookies will store well for up to a week, so you can make them several days ahead of time.
Storing: Store unfrosted cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Because of the dairy in the frosting, I recommend storing frosted cookies in the fridge. They should still keep for 7 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: These cookies freeze great! You can freeze frosted or unfrosted cookies. Start by flash freezing individual cookies in a single layer, then store them in either ziplock bags or freezer-safe containers. You can stack layers of frozen cookies, but I recommend adding parchment paper in between the layers. Thaw cookies at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Swig cookies are thick and soft cookies made and sold by Swig, the soda shop. They have several seasonal options, but the Swig sugar cookie is the OG.
Swig cookies originated in St. George, Utah, where the first Swig opened in 2010.
Absolutely! These cookies freeze great, both frosted and unfrosted.
More Classic Cookie Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
Swig Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Soft Sugar Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar - for pressing cookies
Frosting
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar - more or less as needed
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Make the Soft Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment cream the sugar, butter, oil, powdered sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until well combined and fluffy.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar and mix until combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Roll dough into 3 tablespoon sized portions (#20 scoop). Place the cookie dough balls a few inches apart on the baking sheet. Add the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar to a bowl. Spray the bottom of flat-bottomed glass with nonstick cooking spray, then dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar. Using the sugared bottomed glass, press each cookie into an even thickness leaving the cookies about ½” thick. Dip the bottom of the glass in the sugar between each cookie press.
- The edges of the cookies will ruffle out. Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes or until the edges are set, the centers may look a tad underbaked and that’s ok.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- Make the frosting: In a medium bowl beat the butter, sour cream and vanilla . Add the powdered sugar and milk and mix until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the frosting appears too thick, add a splash of milk, alternatively, if the frosting is too thin and more powdered sugar until it reaches a thick but soft, spreadable consistency.
- Add a drop of pink food coloring to frosting (if you want to be just like Swig). Use a knife to frost the cooled cookies. Enjoy.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
Welcome to this delicious corner of the internet! Here I share the recipes my family loves.
