Sugar Cookies

This is the best sugar cookie dough ever! You can use this recipe for other shaped sugar cookies throughout the year for all occasions.

 

Tips for making perfect sugar cookies

Use eggs at room temperature for better incorporation, improved volume and even baking. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10 to 15 minutes before using them in your recipe. You can also cube the butter to increase the surface area so it will soften more quickly or grate the butter and spread it in a single layer on a plate or cutting board to soften.

Always whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. Do not sift it. Whisking gives fluffiness and air to the flour.

Mix just until the wet and dry ingredients are combined, then turn off the mixer. Mixing too long after adding the flour will create a dense, tough cookie.

Extracts can be substituted as desired; for example peppermint extract for the almond extract, brown sugar extract, rum extract, etc. Or simply use vanilla extract.

Chill your cookie dough twice…once after mixing it and after the cookies have been cut out. Refrigerate the unbaked cookies on the parchment-lined cookie sheet until the dough is once again firm. This will help the cookies retain their shape when baking. This time when you chill the dough, you only need to leave them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to an hour. Oftentimes time does not allow, so don’t worry if you cannot chill them twice.

Use two cookie sheets (or even three if you have them). Never put your cookies on a hot cookie sheet. Using more than one allows one to cool.

Do not bake cookies until they are golden or light brown. Remove them when they barely show a touch of color. This prevents crispy or burnt edges and overly-browned bottoms.

Bake cookies on parchment paper for easy cleanup. Parchment promotes even baking and creates a nonstick surface for removing cooking from the cookie sheet.

How to properly measure flour

Spoon and level flour: To properly measure flour scoop spoonsful of flour into a measuring cup and then scrape with a table knife to level off the access.

Scooping the measuring cups directly into flour causes the flour to compress and you get more flour than the recipe calls for.

How to make tie-dyed sugar cookies

• Divide dough into 3 or 4 equal pieces.
• Set one ball of dough aside to stay white.
• With the other two three dough balls add  gel food color (not liquid) to each. Mix well to saturate the dough. Keep dough pieces separate.
• To swirl the three dough together tear off parts of each dough and squish them together to form a large ball. Then rip dough ball in half a few more times. Squishing it back together.
• When dough is mixed together, scoop dough into  balls and place on a the parchment-lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
• Refrigerate on the cookie sheet for 30 minutes before baking if you have time.

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