How to make Sugar Cookies

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Sugar Cookies

  • 2 cups of unsalted butter (softened at RT, 65-70 degrees)
  • 2 cups (400g) sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 6 1/2 cups (894g) flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer.  Be careful not to over-beat the dough.  Mix just until combined to prevent adding air to the dough.  Add the eggs, one at a time scraping the bowl with each addition.  Next add the the vanilla, almond and lemon extracts.  Whisk together the dry ingredients in separate bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients about one cup at a time, scraping the bowl as needed.  Mix just until combined.

Form the dough into disks and wrap tightly in saran wrap.  Store in the refrigerator for at least four hours, or overnight.  Preheat the oven to375F.  Place a small cookie sheet into the freezer.  Let the dough sit out for 5-10 minutes before using.  Using rolling pin guides, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  (Thinner cookies will be crispier and thicker cookies will have more of a cake-like texture).  Cut dough into shapes.  Use the bits and pieces to cut more shapes; however they will not look as nice as the first roll-out.  If you are worried about the shapes spreading, place the cut shapes on the cookie sheet in the freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes.  Pull out of the freezer and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat.  Bake for 6-9 minutes, or until there is just the tiniest bit of golden brown on the edges.

A video… 3:21 to sugar cookie dough.

 

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Cream butter and sugar.  Do not over beat.

Mix on low just until combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon extract.

Weigh flour using a digital scale.  I can not stress this enough.  I buy flour in bulk and sometimes it is so compacted that it is hard to get consistent results.  Buy a scale, your results will be more consistant and you will save yourself lots of dirty dishes.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt.  This is much faster than sifting.

Add flour mixture one cup at a time on low speed.  Do not over-mix.

   The flour is combined and the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Dough will be shaggy.  Place on saran wrap and form into a tight disk.

Place dough in the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight.  Dough is good for up to a week in the refrigerator or up two months in the freezer.  I prefer to make several batches at a time.

I was making so many cookies last Spring that my wrists started to ache.  I found it convenient to roll the dough immediately after mixing between two sheets of saran wrap. The sheets of dough would go in to the refrigerator and chill just as above.  It is much easier to roll dough out when it is very soft.  The only downside of this method is that the dough tends to get more air bubbles and spreads more when baking.

This is the best tasting sugar cookie recipe I have tried.  I found it at a fun website called beeinourbonnet.  My one issue with this recipe is that it tends to spread and puff in the oven.  If you plan on doing very complex shapes that need to maintain their shape and size, I would try the recipe in this post.  As is said on Toy Story, “you can’t rush art.”  So if you want the prettiest cookies mix dough on the first day, bake on the second, then decorate on the third.  Don’t do too much at once or it will take the fun out of it.  I prefer to decorate my cookies using my favorite royal icing recipe adapted from Sweetsugarbelle.  I usually half the recipe and use just two pounds of powdered sugar.