Sugar Cookie Recipe - Spend With Pennies

This sugar cookie recipe is your go-to for completely formed Christmas cut-outs yearly. A tried-and-true Christmas custom, these cookies roll out simply, maintain their form superbly, and keep tender for days. They’re excellent for adorning or gifting.

Sugar Cookie Recipe with icing and sprinkles on top

Taste: Candy and buttery with comfortable facilities, evenly crisp edges, and ideal vanilla icing that makes each chunk style cozy and do-it-yourself.
Method: Chilled dough ensures cookies maintain crisp vacation shapes with out spreading.
Prep Notice: Make dough as much as 4 days forward, or freeze in discs for stress-free vacation baking.
Swaps: Change vanilla for almond or peppermint extract for festive taste.
Serving Ideas: Embellish with frosting, royal icing, easy sugar cookie icing, or sprinkles for Christmas cookie trays.

Ingredient Notes

Butter: Unsalted butter provides wealthy taste; softened however not melted butter creates the perfect texture.
Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla makes the cookies fragrant and comfortable; swap a little bit for almond extract for that bakery-style taste.
Egg: Carry eggs to room temperature earlier than including, to assist the dough combine evenly. (Shortly heat up chilly eggs by putting them in a glass of heat water for five minutes.)
All-Objective Flour: Properly measured flour is vital for baking. Flippantly spoon into the measuring cup, then stage to keep away from dense dough.

eggs added to butter and sugar in a mixer for sugar cookies

The right way to Make Sugar Cookies

Make the Dough: With an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar till fluffy, then combine within the egg, vanilla, and dry substances till a comfortable dough types. Chill till agency.
Roll & Lower: Roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness, reduce into festive shapes, and place on baking sheets.
Bake & Embellish: Bake till evenly golden on the sides, cool fully, then adorn with icing or sprinkles.

If the dough appears powdery or isn’t holding collectively, it has not blended lengthy sufficient. Proceed mixing for as much as 5 minutes extra, and the dough will maintain collectively.

sugar cookies recipe dough mixed and ready to roll

sugar cookies recipe cutouts on a baking tray

Holly’s Professional Ideas for Vacation Baking Success

Use room temperature butter and egg for easy dough.
It is very important measure flour appropriately. Keep away from scooping the flour with a measuring cup, or it will possibly pack the flour, leading to a dry dough. As an alternative, evenly spoon the flour into the measuring cup and use the straight fringe of the again of a knife to stage it.
Roll dough between parchment sheets to stop sticking. When rolling the dough, if it will get too comfortable, put it within the fridge for a couple of minutes. Don’t add an excessive amount of flour when rolling the dough.

Don’t skip chilling the sugar cookie dough. This enables the butter to agency up a bit, holding the cookies from spreading an excessive amount of and looking out flat. Chilling within the fridge helps them to maintain their form as they bake.

No parchment – Skip baking the cookies on parchment paper or a silicone mat for this recipe. They maintain their form finest on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake one tray at a time for even coloration.
Don’t place new batches on a heat cookie sheet. It will trigger the dough to unfold.
For uniform cookie-cutter sugar cookies, roll to ¼-inch thickness on a evenly floured floor. When rolling the dough, if it will get too comfortable, don’t add extra flour. As an alternative, put it within the fridge for a couple of minutes.
Freeze baked cookies, undecorated, for straightforward present trays later.

Adorning Lower-Out Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are one of the crucial standard cookie recipes for adorning. When my children have been small, we’d have enjoyable with Christmas cookie cutters, stamped rolling pins, and coloured frosting with loads of Festive sprinkles and jimmies!
To make Christmas sugar cookies, or any time of 12 months cut-out cookies, guarantee they’re fully cooled on a wire rack earlier than adorning (or the icing will soften).
You’ll be able to adorn the baked cookies with comfortable frostings like buttercream frosting and gildings, however our favourite is to make use of a easy sugar cookie icing or royal icing that finishes shiny and agency. Tip: Use gel meals coloring for the prettiest colours.
An alternative choice is to soften chocolate chips and dip half of every cookie.

sugar cookies recipe baked and iced in a stack

Storing & Freezing Christmas Cookies

Retailer in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 5 days.
Refrigerate dough for as much as 4 days earlier than baking.
Freeze dough disks or baked cookies (undecorated) in a freezer-safe container for as much as 3 months.
Place a chunk of parchment paper between layers to guard the frosting when storing embellished cookies.

Basic Christmas Cookies

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image of Everyday Comfort cookbook by Holly Nilsson of Spend With Pennies plus text

Prep Time 15 minutes

Prepare dinner Time 9 minutes

Chill Time 2 hours

Whole Time 2 hours 24 minutes

In a medium bowl, combine collectively flour, baking powder, and salt.
Within the bowl of a stand mixer (or a big bowl with a hand mixer), add the butter and sugar. Beat on medium pace for 3 to 4 minutes or till fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and blend till easy.
Progressively add the flour combination with the mixer on low. Proceed including till all the flour is added. Let combine till the dough holds collectively, about 5 minutes. If the dough is powdery or not holding collectively, combine it longer.
Divide the dough in half, and kind every half right into a flat 5-inch disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill within the fridge for two hours or as much as 4 days.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Whereas the oven is preheating, take away the dough from the fridge. If it has been within the fridge longer than 3 hours, it might want to take a seat out quarter-hour earlier than rolling because the dough will likely be very agency.
Sprinkle the work floor with a lightweight dusting of flour (or powdered sugar) to maintain the dough from sticking. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to ¼-inch thickness.
Lower out shapes with cookie cutters. The scraps will be re-rolled; chill them within the fridge in the event that they soften an excessive amount of.
Place the sugar cookies 1 inch aside on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or simply till cookies start to brown on their edges.
Cool for two minutes on the cookie sheet, switch to a cooling rack, and funky fully earlier than adorning.
As soon as cooled, adorn with sugar cookie icing.

If the dough is powdery or not holding collectively, hold mixing it till it types a dough.
When utilizing a stand mixer, be certain that to make use of the paddle attachment as a substitute of the wire whisk. The combination could take as much as 5 minutes of beating earlier than it comes collectively.
When mixing, all substances, together with the egg and butter, must be at room temperature.
Keep away from scooping flour with the measuring cup. Flippantly spoon flour into the cup, then stage it with the straight fringe of a knife.
Chill the dough earlier than rolling so the cookies don’t unfold and lose their form. Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. If the dough turns into too comfortable, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it. Don’t add an excessive amount of flour whereas rolling the dough.
Don’t place new batches of cookies on a heat pan, or the dough will unfold.

Diet data supplied is an estimate and can fluctuate based mostly on cooking strategies and types of substances used.

Course Cookies, Dessert

Delicacies American

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