Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Sugar Cookies
- 8 ounce Butter Unsalted, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar Granulated regular sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract quality vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 1/3 cups Flour All purpose
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
For Rolling
- 1/2 cup Vanilla bean sugar
Instructions
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The very first step is to use a large bowl, enough for all the ingredients to be added in. In the large bowl. you'll add the sugar right over the softened unsalted butter. We use a hand held mixer and begin mixing in the sugar and butter together.
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You want the mixture to be creamy, the sugar well deserved and the butter to be airy. Salt is added next.
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When the mixture is ready, add in one egg, and continue using the hand held mixer. Mix the egg for a minute until fluffy and well blended into the mixture.
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Add in the vanilla extract. Make sure you use premium quality vanilla to get the richest taste.
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Now add in the dry ingredients. We start by adding the baking powder and mix it in using the mixer as well to make sure it is well dispersed in the dough.
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Sift the flour and cornstarch over the dough, and then switch to the spatula. The sifting process is important here because it avoids lumps of flour in the sugar cookie dough. At the same time it helps us avoid over mixing the dough by using a mixer to blend in the dry ingredients until smooth.
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We use a spatula to finish off the dough. This avoids over mixing the dough to blend in the flour. If you over mix the dough you'll end up with a tough cookies, and we need soft and tender cookies. So by sifting the dry ingredients, this step becomes much easier.
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The dough is ready when you can hold it in your hands and it holds its shape. It shouldn't be sticky, nor should it be dry or crumbly.
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Today's recipe is a soft sugar cookie, so we're relying on shaping it right away and baking, no chilling required.
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The best way to shape soft sugar cookies is by using an ice cream scoop. As you can see there are a variety of sizes, and depending on the size you choose, you'll adjust baking times.
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For an average size 1.5 inch baked cookie, we start with a 1 inch ice cream scoop. This is the average size, and this is what we used here. You can definitely make them smaller or larger.
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Scoop out the cookie dough using an ice cream scoop and roll each into an even ball in your hands.
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Then dip each cookie into a plate of vanilla bean sugar and roll it around.
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Place the cookies on a baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough.
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Bake until slightly puffy and set on the outside with specs of vanilla streaking
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Make sure you let the cookies set slightly on the baking sheet before removing them.
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One of our favorite things to do with these sugar cookies, aside from enjoying them, is SHARING them! We love to fill our Holiday cookie boxes with these, we give them as gifts and they're such a HIT. Kids and adults approved and devoured sugar cookie recipe that You Need To Make too!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Tips To Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe
- This recipe uses really simple and basil ingredients, so make sure you use quality. Quality butter, quality vanilla extract and the vanilla bean sugar.
- Room temperature unsalted butter is key to perfect sugar cookie recipe.
- You can use a hand held mixer or kitchen machine for this recipe, we wouldn’t do it by hand. It's quite a workout!
- We replaced 2 Tablespoons of flour with cornstarch and it had made a HUGE impact on the sugar cookies. They are softer, and last longer, without being to sticky in the mouth. We tested adding cream cheese to the dough, and while it made the cookies softer, it was stick to your mouth. So this version isn't like that.
- You can add any spice to the dough like cinnamon (we added a splash), chai spice, almond oil, lemon oil or zest, or your favorite!
- When you add in the baking powder, add it first with the wet ingredients and mix it to distribute it well into the dough.
- Only switch to a spatula when you add in the flour and cornstarch. This is because we don't want to over work the flour into the cookie dough. Over mixing or over working will make a harder cookie, which we don't want.
- To help mix the flour and cornstarch, we highly recommend sifting them. Then the spatula will work like a charm.
- The final dough should be soft, not sticky but soft. It shouldn't be dry or crumbly, rather soft and malleable.
- You don't need to chill this dough at all, just bake right away.
- We roll each cookie in vanilla bean sugar for a delicate crisp. This is a phenomenal blend we found at the Spice House, and it's so tasty! It adds a great rich vanilla taste and a perfect crinkly top on the sugar cookies.
- Keep an eye out for the oven times, as the size of your cookie dough will determine baking times.
- Likewise the ice cream scoop you begin with, will determine the final size of your cookie. We used a standard 1 Tablespoon scoop which gave us a good 1.5 inch round cookie. This is our ideal sized sugar cookie which our family loves.
- Be careful not to overbake the cookies. They will continue cooking even when out of the oven. You want the edges to set, but the center to be soft and chewy. If you prefer a crisper cookie, then let the centers harden before removing them from the oven.
- When out of the oven, make sure to wait 10 minutes as the cookies will be too delicate to handle and too hot to eat!
How to Store This Sugar Cookie Recipe?
These are best stored at room temperature in an air tight container for up to 5 days. I've tried storing a piece of bread (regular toast bread) with the cookies to keep them soft during storage and it absolutely works!
How to Freeze Sugar Cookies?
The best thing about cookies is freezing them and storing them for that one day you desperately need it! To freeze the dough, scoop the portioned cookies and roll each in the vanilla bean sugar as per the recipe. Place the cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Freeze the baking sheet and cookie dough, and when completely frozen, remove them. Place the frozen cookie balls in ziploc bags for easier storage.
How to Bake frozen Sugar Cookies?
If you have rolled them in vanilla sugar, you may need to refresh and roll them a little more. This is because the sugar does get absorbed slightly during freezing. Bake the frozen cookies from frozen adding extra few minutes in the oven.
Do the sugar cookies Spread?
If you haven't overworked the dough, these cookies should't spread beyond their size. They spread from a ball into a round cookie that's about a fourth of an inch thick.
How to get crinkly sugar tops on sugar cookies?
Rolling the dough into vanilla bean sugar or just regular granulated sugar will give you that crinkly top. Also the use of baking powder exclusively here, helps the cookies rise, puff and crack slightly. So make sure you don't use baking soda by mistake!
Do you line the baking sheets before baking?
YES! We love lining our sheets with parchment paper, it's a must for cookies. We have tested silicone matts and we don't favor them for cookies at all. Similarly we don't encourage spraying the baking sheets pr parchment paper with any oil spray before baking. Just a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper and as straightforward as that.
Does the type of baking sheet matter?
Truthfully, if you have any metal baking sheet that would work great! The aluminium half sheets are the ideal ones, but others do the job so well with minor differences. These differences include a slightly darker bottom of the cookie, less or extra time in the oven, one side of the sheet slightly warmer than the other and so on. Overall we don't recommend glass sheets, but any metal works well.
Does this dough require chilling?
No. This is a straight forward ready to bake sugar cookie dough. you'll notice the consistency of the dough holds itself so well and forms the perfect ball when using a scoop. Even after rolling into sugar, the cookies are still intact and hold their shape. If you'd like to make it in advance and chill the dough, you absolutely can.
When chilling the dough or making in advance, you'll notice the cookies taste richer. You'll also notice they bake puffier and softer. Bottom line is, if you can chill the dough, absolutely do so!
Do you need an ice cream scoop?
Yes preferably. We scoop all our cookie recipes using an ice cream scoop, and at different sizes depending on the type of cookie. We love it because it makes all our cookies evenly round in shape. They also all have the exact same size, which means they all bake evenly. And this is KEY.
Can this recipe be cut out and iced?
This recipe is purely for soft sugar cookies, not the iced one.
Can this recipe be iced or decorated?
Yes you can practically ice the cookies however you want to, keeping in mind the surface will always be crinkled and not flat. You may want to consider rolling the dough into crushed nuts or colored sugars.