The Best Ever Sugar Cookies
The Best Sugar Cookies...Ever!
Equipment
- Stand mixer, hand mixer, cookie cutters, parchment paper, cookie cutters, rolling pin and an oven.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup softened butter
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl the flour and baking powder, Use a hand whisk to mix ingredients together.
- Beat together sugar and butter. Once mixed well, add the egg. Mix again and then add vanilla.
- Slowly add flour to sugar, butter, vanilla mixture. Just a few tablespoons at a time. Mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl and forms a ball around the mixing blade(s).
- Gather up the dough and kneed it with your hands until the mixture is smooth. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place it into the refrigerator to chill. This can be anywhere between 20-40 minutes. If the dough feels hard once removed from the refrigerator, allow it to rest and warm slightly. The dough should be firm but not hard.
- Cut dough in half and then cut each half in half. Set aside.
- Prepare your work area. You'll need a small bowl of flour, baking tray(s) two equal-sized pieces of parchment paper, a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and optional, two 1/4" to 3/8" wooden dowels.
- Take one of the 1/4 cut pieces of dough and gently form into a ball. Sprinkle flour on the lower piece of parchment paper. Then place the dough down and then press down gently with your hands onto the dough to flatten slightly, and sprinkle a light dusting of flour on top of the dough. This will help keep the dough from sticking to your parchment paper. Cover with the remaining piece of parchment paper and begin rolling out dough. Once the dough is 1/4" to 3/8" thick begin cutting out your shapes with your cookie cutter(s).
- Line your baking trays with parchment paper. As you cut-out, your cookie shapes place each one onto your baking tray(s) leaving some space between cookie cut-outs.
- Once your baking tray is filled, you'll need to flash freeze the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes. Be sure to set your timer.
- Remove baking tray from freezer and place it into your pre-heated oven immediately. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the top surface of the cookies has lost their sheen/shine. Do not allow cookies to become golden.
- After removing cookies from the oven place the baking tray onto a cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool to room temperature. Once cookies are at room temperature, remove from the baking tray and store in an airtight container.
- Repeat until all the dough is used.