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With all the holiday goodies being made, the one thing I look forward to making each holiday season is my sugar cookies. I can’t stop watching all the cookie decorating videos on Instagram, what about you? There are so many different and unique ways to decorate sugar cookies and over the years I have tried quite a few different ways.
My sugar cookie recipe has taken many years to get right and I am the most proud to share the recipe with you today. I love that sugar cookies are easy to make and don’t take long to bake. A really great basic sugar cookie recipe is a must have when baking. Once you have that base, you can get creative with the flavors, decorations and of course, the shapes.
My cookie cutter collection is growing out of control, but I also like to look for basic shapes that can be decorated festively for any occasion such as a circle or square. Something that is really in right now is the cookie sticks. I haven’t attempted that one yet, but the designs you can find online for cookie sticks are just gorgeous. You can use so many different icings, colors or sprinkles to jazz up your holiday cookies. One thing I have done is color the dough for a vibrant cookie color. I have tried the glaze method where you use a thinner icing and pour it over the cookie or dip the cookie in the glaze. I love to add cheerful sprinkles too.
Most importantly, the best part is making sure you have fun with it. Perfection is not required, but having fun is. This year I hope to start a new tradition – cookie decorating with friends. I love cookie baking and decorating because it is a fun activity that people of all ages can do together.
This year, get together with friends or family and make these awesome sugar cookies together! Share what you made with me on social media! I look forward to seeing what you create.
Some of my Favorite Products used:
The Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp Almond extract
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Sea salt
- 3 cup AP flour
For the Royal Icing
- 2 lbs Powdered sugar
- 5 tbsp Meringue powder
- 1½ – 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 ½ – 2 tsp Almond extract
- ½ – ¾ cup Warm water
Instructions
To make the cookies
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grab a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream your butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add in your egg and extracts and continue to mix on low.
- In a separate bowl, whisk your baking powder, AP flour and salt together until combined.
- With your mixer set to low, add your dry ingredients very slowly to your wet ingredients.
- The dough may look a bit dry and crumbly, continue to let your mixer do the work for 1 minute or so. The dough should start to form.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll 1/3 of the dough out until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes using any cookie cutters you like. Set your cut outs on to your prepared baking sheet. Provide a little space between each cookie so they can bake evenly.
- Baking for 6-8 minutes or until the bottoms start to turn a light brown color.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack for the remaining cooling time.
- Repeat the rolling out, cutting of the dough and baking process until you have used all the dough.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.
To make the royal icing
- Add 1/4 cup warm water to a small bowl. Add in your extracts and stir.
- In your mixer bowl add your powdered sugar and meringue powder. On the lowest setting, mix the two until combined.
- Once the powders are combine, start slowly adding in your water and flavoring mixture. It will likely become thick and clumpy.
- Add in additional water, just a little at a time until you get a thick honey like consistency.
- Turn your mixer up to a medium speed and whip for about 3-4 minutes or until a bit fluffy.
- Separate into smaller bowls to color your royal icing with gel food coloring. Be careful not to over mix when adding your colors. Add the color and mix just enough to get incorporated.
- Move to piping bags or use knives to spread the icing onto your cooled cookies. Add any sprinkles you like for a festive look.
- Let the royal icing dry for a couple hours before storing. Royal icing will dry hard enough to stack cookies, but it really depends on how thick the cookies are flooded with icing. So dry times drastically vary.
- Store in an airtight contain at room temperature for up to 1 week.