Sugar cookies galore!

Aren't these gorgeous? They don‘t look like simple sugar cookies do they? Well they are! With just a handful of ingredients and some chilling time you can make the cut out sugar cookies of your dreams. Cookies that are crisp around the edges and tender in the middle, yet hold their shape and don’t spread when baked! The key is to thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly!) chill the dough before baking. That means overnight ideally (4 hours if you are really rushing) before rolling the dough out and 15-20 minutes after rolling and cutting the dough before baking. These cookies in the pictures were made by using a stamp design cutter (I used these mooncake molds). If using a stamp make sure you push hard so the imprint is deep and make sure to chill that dough before baking, see the recipe below...

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups AP flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2-1 teaspoon salt (I like that salty bite)

In a mixer (or by hand but get ready to get a workout) blend the slightly softened butter with the sugar until well blended and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Once blended add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Now add all of your dry ingredients and mix until it comes together. Split the dough into 2 balls, flatten them into disks, wrap in plastic wrap or a ziplock and chill. Chill for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Dust a clean surface with some flour and roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick while still chilled. You don’t want the dough to soften too much before rolling, if it does stick it back in the fridge. Cut your shapes out (or stamp them using these mooncake molds) and put them on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Place them back in the fridge to chill, and while those chill, roll out the other half of the dough and repeat the steps above. Chill the second cookie sheet while the first one bakes. The cookies should take about 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees but watch them because it depends on their size and thickness. Also, I like them a little toasty so I leave them in longer but if you like them more on the blonde side take them out earlier. You can roll out the scraps once and bake them and they won’t be tough, but don’t do a third roll out or those re-rolled cookies will be tough as cardboard! Once baked, cool, decorate and enjoy 😋

Download/Print Recipe