As many would know, cookies are among the simplest baked goods to come around especially the crispy kind. One of the most popular types is called Sugar Cookies. These are especially popular during the Holidays and are very simple to make. In fact, the recipe isn't that far off from the standard formula.
For crispy cookies, the flour to butter to sugar ratio has remained as 3:2:1 and so has the golden rule of a single egg to 2 cups of flour for stabilizing everything. Sugar cookies, on the other hand, call for a little more sugar; almost equal parts to the butter.
Today's recipe is simple to follow for those who have never had a chance in baking their very own sugar cookies with some fun variations thrown in.
The recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup 22(7 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (225) caster sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 (344 g) cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the salt, egg and vanilla extract while blending. Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined to form the dough.
- Seal the dough in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or until firm.
- Use half the dough at a time, keeping the other half refrigerated. Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted surface and roll it out to a thickness of ¼ inch. Cut the dough with a three cookie cutter.
- Transfer the cookies to the parchment lined baking sheet and bake it for 12 minutes or until set and turn pale. Turn off the oven and let the cookies remain inside for 1 minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Repeat Step 4 to Step 5 with the remaining half of dough.
- Decorate the sugar cookies with icing or dust them with powdered sugar and serve.
Serves: 48 cookies
Variations
- Cinnamon - Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon after creaming the butter and sugar during Step 2.
- Lemon - Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest after creaming the butter during Step 2.
- Chocolate - Add 4 ounces of melted chocolate after creaming the butter during Step 2.
- Pecan - Stir 1 cup of chopped pecan into the dough after Step 2.
- Raisins - Stir 1 cup of chopped raisins into the dough after Step 2.
- Almond - Substitute 2/3 cup of almond flour for the flour. Stir 1 cup of chopped almonds into the dough after Step 2.
- Berries - Stir 1 cup of chopped blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, raspberries or mixed berries into the dough after Step 2
