If you’ve ever been to Utah’s favorite drive-through soda shop, I bet you’ve tried one of these Swig Cookies! They are one of the best sugar cookies around, but if you don’t live near one of these chain restaurants, you are missing out.
No worries though, with this copycat recipe, you can make Swig Sugar Cookies with the most perfect pink frosting on top, at home!
Restaurant copycat recipes are so much fun, and with this recipe for Swig Cookies, I think I’ve recreated one of the best cookies ever!
These sugar cookies are thick, buttery, and soft, with slightly crumbly edges.
But the best part about Swig Sugar Cookies is definitely the frosting! Sour cream gives it this wonderful tang, and it’s tinted pink to be just like the original Swig recipe.
I’ve figured out the secrets to some of the best Crumbl Cookie recipes too! Be sure to check those out when you’re finished recreating your favorite Swig Cookies with this recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- An Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe – While I enjoy and appreciate recipes for sugar cookies that require cookie cutters and a rolling pin, I much prefer drop cookie recipes like this one! The prep work is less involved, but the payoff is just as delicious.
- A Perfect Copycat – I’ve done my best, and I think that I’ve gotten this Swig cookie recipe pretty darn close to perfect. The soft texture of the cookie and the sweet icing will bring you right back to when you had one of these for real. And if you’ve never had a Swig cookie before, you’re still going to love this recipe!
- Step by Step Instructions – Keep reading for all the details, including photos and tips to help you make the best sugar cookies ever!
Key Ingredients in Swig Sugar Cookies
Here’s what you need to make these thick, soft sugar cookies with crumbly edges. There are a few unique additions that all contribute to the perfect Swig Cookie texture:
- Butter and Oil: While most sugar cookies are made with butter, these have a bit of vegetable oil in the dough as well. This gives them thick and soft, with crumbly, crisp edges.
- Baking Soda and Cream of Tartar: These ingredients work together to give the cookies a bit of rise, and a soft, thick texture. Cream of tartar is a key ingredient in snickerdoodles too, and it adds a slightly tangy flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Here’s another ingredient that you won’t often see in cookie recipes! It definitely belongs in this recipe and is responsible for the extra sweet taste and melt-in-your mouth texture.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Ingredients in Swig Cookie Frosting
- Powdered sugar, softened butter, and sour cream, plus some pink food coloring to keep it authentic.
- Sour Cream is the thing that makes this frosting creamy, tangy, and flavorful!
- If you want to, you can add vanilla extract or almond extract, but it’s not necessary.
How To Make Swig Cookies
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt in a bowl and set it aside. Note that the powdered sugar isn’t part of the dry ingredients in this recipe. It gets added in later!
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: First, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, and cream together with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Then add the oil and powdered sugar, and beat again for a minute. Add the egg, and mix until smooth.
- Combine and Scoop: Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, and mix again on low speed until combined. If the dough gets too thick for your mixer, finish it by hand. Use a large cookie scoop to drop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Press: Spray the bottom of a clean glass with cooking spray, and use it to press down on each cookie, flattening it to about ½” in thickness.
- Bake: Bake in a preheated 325°F/160°C oven for 11 minutes, or until the cookies are just done. Avoid letting them brown at all. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.
How to Frost Swig Cookies
- Make Sour Cream Frosting: In a mixing bowl, combine softened butter with sour cream. Beat with your hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, and mix on low until combined. Then switch to med-high speed and beat for 1 minute.
- Tint it Pink: Add Pink food coloring, and mix again to combine.
- Frost the Cookies: Use a butter knife or the back of a spoon to generously spread the frosting over each cookie.
Tip!
Pink frosting is classic, but you can feel free to make yours a different color, or leave out the food coloring entirely. Try these with sprinkles too to make them extra fun!
Recipe Tips
- This recipe makes nice, big cookies that are about 3.5 inches after baking. You can also make them a bit smaller if you’d like, simply reduce the baking time by a few minutes.
- Try Vanilla or Almond Extract: This copycat swig cookie frosting recipe is a very simple sweet and tangy one. For additional flavor, you can also add vanilla or almond extract to the mix.
- At Swig, these cookies are served cold, with fresh frosting added right before serving. If you’d like to replicate that experience at home, store these in the freezer before frosting.
- If you’d rather not use cooking spray to keep the glass from sticking, try dipping it in a small bowl of granulated sugar instead. Either way, press down on the dough until the cookies are about ½” thick.
- To flatten Swig cookies, choose a glass or jar with a flat bottom that is about 2.5” in diameter. This size is perfect for the job!
Storing Tips
You can store Swig cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also store them in the fridge or freezer if you want to enjoy them cold.
Unfrosted, they should stay fresh in the fridge or on the counter for up to 3 days.
In the freezer, also unfrosted, the sugar cookies can be stored for up to 3 months. Just be sure that they are wrapped individually and really well.
The frosting is best enjoyed fresh! But if you have extra or want to make the Swig frosting ahead of time, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature before using it.
Other Delicious Cookie Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
- Ricotta Cookies
- Date Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Classic Italian Butter Cookies
- Easy Halloween Cookies
- Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies
Recipe FAQs
If you don’t have sour cream, you can use plain yogurt or a small amount of milk or heavy cream in its place.
I find them easier to store without the frosting, but if you frost them, let the frosting harden as much as it can, and then store them layered with parchment paper, they’ll be fine! Keep them in the fridge once you’ve added the frosting.
If your cookies turned out dry or overly crumbly, it’s likely because you added more flour than was needed. Be sure to measure the flour correctly. Using a scale is ideal, but if you are using measuring cups, make sure to spoon the flour into the cup and level it. Scooping into the flour container will compact the flour, and you’ll add too much.
More Yummy Copycat Recipes
Spicy Peri Peri Chicken Wings
Chick Fil A Cool Wrap
Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Texas Roadhouse Rolls
This copycat version of Swig Cookies is just like the original, and super simple to make! You’ll now be able to enjoy these regional favorites, no matter where you live.
Don’t forget to rate and review the recipe to let me know how it turned out. If you loved it, please pin this recipe on Pinterest and share the sugar cookie love with your friends and family. Happy baking!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Copycat Swig Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
- Hand mixer
- Large cookie scoop 3 tablespoon size
- Drinking glass
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2 ¾ cups (345 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (140 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
- 6 tablespoons (45 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 large egg at room temperature
For the Frosting:
- ¼ cup (½ stick) (57 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (40 g) sour cream
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- Food coloring pink
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C, or 140°C for a fan oven, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat silicone mats.
- In a bowl, combine the flour with baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine butter with sugar and beat with hand mixer until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes). Then add the oil and powdered sugar, and beat again for a minute.
- Add the egg and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on LOW speed until combined.
- Using a large 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Spray the bottom of the clean glass (around 2.5” in diameter) with baking spray, then press each cookie to flatten it until it’s around ½” in thickness. The edges of the cookie dough should flare out and become uneven.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 11 minutes. You don’t want the cookies to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, in a mixing bowl combine butter with sour cream and with a hand mixer beat until creamy. Add the powdered sugar, and beat on LOW speed until combined and then increase the speed and beat for another minute. Add food coloring, and mix again.
- Frost the cookies using a butter knife or the back of a spoon.
Notes:
- This recipe makes nice, big cookies that are about 3.5 inches after baking. You can also make them a bit smaller if you’d like, simply reduce the baking time by a few minutes.
- This copycat swig cookie frosting recipe is a very simple sweet and tangy one. For additional flavor, you can also add vanilla or almond extract to the mix.
- At Swig, these cookies are served cold, with fresh frosting added right before serving. If you’d like to replicate that experience at home, store these in the freezer before frosting.
- If you’d rather not use cooking spray to keep the glass from sticking, try dipping it in a small bowl of granulated sugar instead.
- Store unfrosted cookies at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days. Unfrosted cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Frosted cookies should be refrigerated.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Christa says
These copycat swig cookies are one of the best I’ve tried! Kids love to top them with whipped cream or sprinkles.
Little Sunny Kitchen says
I’m so happy to hear that you and your kids enjoyed these cookies, Christa! Thank you for the great review!
April says
These are so good, they practically melt in your mouth and I LOVE that frosting!
Little Sunny Kitchen says
Thank you, April! I’m so glad you’re a fan of these cookies!
Natasha says
These copycat swig cookies are so delicious and they’re looking pretty too! Love that they’re pink and the frosting is so so good!
Little Sunny Kitchen says
That’s so amazing to hear, Natasha! Thank you for the kind review!