Sugar cookies are budget-friendly, simple to make, and a delicious way to create memories that will last a lifetime. Whipping up a batch of this sugar cookie recipe and spending the afternoon decorating them with family and friends is my favorite thing to do during the holidays.
Why These Are The Best Sugar Cookies
How To Cut Sugar Cookies
How To Fix Cookies That Have Lost Their Shape
If you open your oven to find that your cookies have lost their shape, it can be an easy fix. First, allow the cookies to cool on the sheet pan for a minute, then reshape them by pressing the cookie cutter into them and using a butter knife to separate the trimmings from the cookie. Work quickly; the more the cookie cools, the more likely it is to shatter. Don’t throw out those trimmings! They’re crispy and a total delight.
Decorating Sugar Cookies
You can eat plain sugar cookies, but decorating them is always so much fun. Traditionally royal icing is dyed with food coloring and piped onto the cookies to decorate them. But if you prefer a simpler method, you can also garnish the cookies with a bit of icing, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, or a pinch of zest. They will still look and taste amazing. If you want to steer clear of food coloring, grate freeze-dried raspberries or blueberries into a powder and sprinkle them into the icing to create a vibrant pink or purple hue.
How To Store Sugar Cookies
Store sugar cookies in an air-tight container for up to a week at room temperature. You can also freeze them in a freezer-safe container, separated with layers of parchment or wax paper, for up to 3 months. Don’t refrigerate sugar cookies, as it can dry them out and dull their flavor.
Sugar cookies are budget-friendly, simple to make, and a delicious way to make memories that will last a lifetime.
Servings: 24 cookies
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 7 mins
Resting Time 30 mins
Total time: 47 mins
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
Royal Icing
InstructionsÂ
Sugar Cookies
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the softened butter & sugar until fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the creamed butter and mix to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.
- Add half the flour to the creamed butter and mix just until a wet dough forms. Add the second half of the flour and mix gently until a stiffer dough forms.
- Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll the dough ¼ inch thick. Cool for thirty minutes in the fridge. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Once the dough has hardened, cut out the cookies, remove the scraps from the cookie sheet, and leave the cookies behind. Roll any scraps out on a separate piece of parchment, and chill before cutting them into cookies.
- Place the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies on a sheet pan. Bake the cookies at 350°F for 3 minutes. Next, rotate the sheet pan, so the front faces the back—then bake for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Cool the cookies in the sheet pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Decorate when cookies have cooled completely.
Royal Icing
- To make the royal icing, combine half of the pound of powdered sugar and all of the cream of tartar in a large bowl. Add the egg whites and whip the mixture to soft peaks.
- Add half the sugar and mix it at a lower speed to keep the powdered sugar in the bowl. Next, increase the speed to medium-high and whip until the icing is stiff and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Thicken the icing with as much powdered sugar as necessary to create a piping consistency for outlining—thin the icing with a bit of water for flooding.
- If coloring your icing, separate it into as many bags as necessary to create your palette. Then, follow the directions on the food coloring package to make your palette. Next, close the bag and squeeze and press it to disperse the food coloring throughout.
- Remove as much air as possible and twist the top of the bag to close it. Secure the twisted end with a rubber band. Snip off the tiniest bit of the bottom corner of the bag.
- Next, gently squeeze the top of the bag while moving it steadily to outline the cookie with the stiffer icing.
- Then flood your cookie with the thinner icing. Allow the icing to dry before enjoying your sugar cookie!
Notes
*If using unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon of finely ground salt (like fine sea salt) or 1 teaspoon of coarsely ground salt (like kosher salt) to the butter
*If you don’t have powdered sugar, you can make your own by processing a pound of sugar in a blender until it forms a fine powder.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cookies Calories: 199kcal Carbohydrates: 35g Protein: 2g Fat: 6g Sodium: 66mg Fiber: 0.3g
How to Make Sugar Cookies – Step by Step Photos
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the 12 tablespoons of softened butter & cup of sugar until fluffy.
Add the egg and the teaspoon of vanilla to the creamed butter and mix to incorporate.
In a separate bowl, mix the 2 cups of all-purpose flour and the 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder.
Add half the flour to the creamed butter and mix just until a wet dough forms. Add the second half of the flour and mix gently until a stiffer dough forms.
Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll the dough ¼ inch thick. Cool for thirty minutes in the fridge. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Once the dough has hardened, cut out the cookies. Remove the scraps and leave the cookies behind. Roll any scraps out on a separate piece of parchment, and chill before also cutting them into cookies.
Place the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies on a cookie sheet or sheet pan.
Bake the cookies at 350°F for 3 minutes. Next, rotate the sheet pan, so the front faces the back—then bake for 3 to 4 minutes.
To make the royal icing, combine half of the pound of powdered sugar and the 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar in a large bowl. Add the egg whites and whip the mixture to soft peaks.
Thicken the icing with as much powdered sugar as necessary to create a piping consistency for outlining—thin the icing with a bit of water for flooding.
If coloring your icing, separate it into as many bags as necessary to create your palette. Then, follow the directions on the food coloring package to make your palette. Next, close the bag and squeeze and press it to disperse the food coloring throughout.
Next, gently squeeze the top of the bag while moving it steadily to first outline the cookie with the stiffer icing.
Then flood your cookie with the thinner icing. Allow the icing to dry before enjoying your amazing sugar cookie!
Recipe by Cook Good Recipes
