This versatile sugar cookie dough is perfect for festive cutouts and can be frozen for future baking adventures. The key to this straightforward, delightful recipe lies in using room-temperature butter. Soft butter blends smoothly with sugar, creating a fluffy base.
Allowing the dough to rest for an hour firms the butter, ensuring the cookies retain their shape during baking. Use your favorite cutter shapes, and serve them plain or decorated with icing. Leftover dough opens the door to treats like chocolate-hazelnut sandwich cookies, pecan logs, and jam thumbprints.
To make these sugar cookies, you need:
– 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus extra for dusting
– ¼ teaspoon baking soda
– ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
– ¾ cup granulated sugar
– 1 large egg
– 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– Optional: Coarse sanding sugar or turbinado sugar
1. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes, then incorporate the vanilla.
3. Lower the mixer speed and gradually add the flour mixture until just mixed (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
5. Roll the dough on a floured surface to ¼ inch thick, cutting into shapes.
6. Arrange cookies on parchment-lined sheets, 1½ inches apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges lightly brown. Cool on sheets slightly before transferring to racks.
8. Store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to a week.
Before decorating, ensure cookies are cool. Use royal icing or your choice of frosting, or simply sprinkle with colored sugar for a quick finish.
The cookies last about three days when stored in the fridge. For icing-topped cookies, layer with parchment if necessary. They can also be frozen for up to three months: freeze in a single layer before sealing in a labeled bag.
Sugar cookies are commonly adorned with shapes and hold together well due to their higher flour content compared to other cookies like chocolate chip. They are ideally soft and remain fresh for days after baking. Shortbread, by contrast, is denser and doesn’t use leavening agents like baking soda which gives sugar cookies a lighter texture.
