We polished off 50 sugar cookies in like, 3 days. I’m still deciding if I’m more embarrassed or amused by that fact. But when you have cut out sugar cookies with buttery, delicious rims, soft centers, and a quick, fuss-free sugar cookie frosting all put together, it’s easy to lose count of how many cookies you’ve consumed in a day. If you’re skeptical that the sugar cookie will hold up in the oven if you’re using a particularly ridge heavy cookie cutter, the answer is, it will. I’m sharing my number 1 tip to make sure your sugar cookies retain their shape so that your Santa cookie doesn’t look like he ate 50 of my cookies when he comes out of the oven. Also, these sugar cookies are just the right amount of sweetness. I hate when frosted sugar cookies are so cloyingly sweet that you can’t fathom having more than two bites. I may even love these sugar cookies more than my chocolate chip ones, and if you know anything about me, it’s probably the fact that it took me 10 years to get that one perfect. Anees disagrees. He still prefers the chocolate chip ones.
Ingredients for the best homemade cut out sugar cookies:
Softened butter: Butter’s first responsibility is to add flavor to the cookie. It’s crucial for a sugar cookie recipe that the butter be softened to room temperature. I also prefer to use salted butter for my sugar cookie recipe. If you don’t have salted butter on hand, you’ll want to add about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt in when you add the flour. We’ll cream the sugar and butter together to create air in the cookie naturally and give it a lighter, cake-like texture. Granulated sugar: the sugar gives the cookies a slight crispness to the edges. I use a 1:1 ratio of softened butter and granulated sugar for my sugar cookie recipe.An egg: eggs add structure to baked goodsExtracts: I am using both vanilla and almond extract for this recipe. I know that almond extract isn’t something that everyone likes, and to be honest, I wouldn’t say I liked it either until I discovered this almond extract.Baking powder: aids in giving these cookies the tiniest rise so that the cookies are slightly soft and chewy in the middle and not hard like a cracker.All-purpose flour: The all-purpose flour absorbs all the softened butter and will allow the cookie dough to hold its shape when the butter starts to heat through in the oven. The method I use when measuring flour for this recipe is the spoon and level method. I use a smaller scoop or measuring cup and gently fluff the flour. Then, I add flour to my measuring cup, using the small scoop (you can also use a tablespoon or a 1/4 cup measuring cup) until it’s heaping full. Finally, I run a knife across the top of the measuring cup without apply pressure on the knife. This method works best when baking cookies and cakes.
How to make the best cut out sugar cookies:
The easiest sugar cookie frosting:
My sugar cookie frosting makes just enough for 1 batch of cookies.
5 Mistakes to avoid when baking cut out sugar cookies:
Cookie baking staples:
Stand mixerAlmond Extract Vanilla ExtractParchment paperRolling Pin Oven thermometerBaking sheetWire cooling rackPiping bags and nozzle setSprinkle Set – the white sparkling sugar you see on the cookies! I also used gold and silver on some of the remaining cookies.
If you like this cut out sugar cookie recipe, you might also like:
Extra Chewy Chocolate Chip CookiesEasy Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies (Pecan Sandies)Twix CookiesRaspberry Almond Linzer CookiesLoaded Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal CookiesApricot Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
