Today we’re sharing the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe. This recipe is our favorite sugar cookie recipe used for all of our holiday sugar cookie baking.
What makes this the best sugar cookie recipe?
If you’ve been looking for a good sugar cookie recipe but just haven’t found one, then you have to try this one. We’ve been making this recipe for at least the past several years for all of the holidays for a fun family activity and they’re an absolute hit.
This recipe comes together quite easily. You just have to make sure to set your butter and egg out ahead of time so that your butter can soften. Just a little planning ahead is all it takes and you’ll have a delicious treat in no time. The perfect treat for your family or to make and give as a gift.
One really awesome trick is to pre-roll your dough out in between sheets of parchment paper before you chill it. Then you just pull it out, cut it with your cookie cutters, and transfer to your lined baking sheet to bake. It makes for so much less mess as you don’t have to roll it out and have so much of a mess to clean up.
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
These sugar cookies have the best flavor, stay soft for days, and are so easy to make!
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp almond extract
Easy Royal Icing
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tsp water
- 2 tsp light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
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Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
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In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 tablespoon more flour.
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Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Place each portion onto a lightly floured parchment paper or lightly floured silicone baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
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Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with flour. Place a second piece of parchment paper on top. This will prevent the dough from sticking to it. Repeat for the remaining dough. Stack the rolled out cookie doughs in their parchment papers on top of each other and cover the plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
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Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Carefully remove the top dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour your work surface and use cookie cutters to cut your desired shapes. Arrange cookie shapes onto your baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
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Once the cookies are completely cooled, make your icing and decorate the cookies.
Sugar Cookie Icing
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Mix powdered sugar and water in a glass bowl until there are no lumps.
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Add light corn syrup and mix until incorporated.
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Stir in lemon juice and mix until incorporated.
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Use white icing as is, or divide the icing into several bowls and add food coloring to create different colored icing.
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Use immediately, or store in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the icing for up to 3 days. Stir gently with a spatula before using.
Recipe Notes
This recipe makes about 24 4-inch cookies. You can easily double the cookie dough recipe or icing recipe to make a larger batch of cookies.
These cookies will keep well at room temperature for at least a couple of days. You can also keep the dough in the refrigerator for a couple of days before baking
We’d love to hear what you think about the recipe. Please give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thank you for stopping by and visiting Sunup to Sundown! We’ll be back soon with another recipe or update regarding our garden or our journey to becoming more self-reliant. Please subscribe, like or share this post with others who could benefit from it.
