Today in Ohio, it snowed ALL DAY LONG. It really got me in the Christmas mood and after decorating our house this weekend, I was ready to go home and bring my Christmas spirit to life. Christmas is such a special time for me. Growing up, it meant family, movies, and homemade treats. My mom would make homemade chocolates and treats every year for our neighbors and friends. I remember decorating sugar cookies with my mom and sister. Mine always turned out with weird faces and unidentifiable features while my sisters cookies always looked like they came out of a magazine...
A few years ago, I stumbled upon a sugar cookie recipe on Pinterest that I decided to try. I was in the Christmas spirit and wanted to make cut-out sugar cookies. Ever since trying that recipe - I've never tried another recipe. These sugar cookies are PERFECT! They issue with sugar cookies is you want them to hold their shape, have flavor, and not be dry. Most loose their shape while they are baking or turn out drier than a desert. These sugar cookies keep their shape, have amazing flavor, and are the farthest thing from dry! Stop buying the refrigerated cookie dough at the store and give this recipe a go. Once you try it, you won't ever go back!
Here's what you need:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
3 cups of flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
colored sugars for decorating
To start, you want your butter at room temperature. Cream your butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
Next, add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. I added a little more almond extract just because I love the scent of it and to enhance the flavors of my cookies.
Once the wet ingredients are mixed, add in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together.
Your dough will look like this, crumbly. DO NOT BE ALARMED, IT IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THIS! I freaked out the first time I made this dough but don't worry, it will come together.
Knead your dough like bread dough until the little crumbles come together in a nice ball shape, like so.
Once you have the ball shape, remove from the bowl and transfer to a sheet of parchment paper. I didn't have parchment paper so I used a cookie sheet.
Take some flour and spread it on your rolling pin so the dough does not stick. Then, flatten your dough. If you have parchment paper, put a second piece on top and stick it in the fridge once you have it rolled into a flat piece (it does not need to be perfect, just easy for you to stick in the fridge). If you don't have parchment paper, put on a cookie sheet (coated with flour) and roll out. Stick some plastic wrap on the top to cover and put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes minimum or an hour if you have the time. (Necessary to prevent spreading)
After your dough has chilled, take it out and roll it on a flat surface with flour. I think the perfect thickness for these cookies is about 1/4 of an inch. Yes, they will be thicker but they will be so yummy.
When your dough is rolled out, you can start cutting your shapes. I used a snowman, candy cane, star, Christmas tree, and gingerbread man cookie cutter for my cookies.
After they are cut, put them on a baking sheet and you can either sprinkle with colored sugar if you don't want to ice them or bake them plain if you plan on icing them. Bake them for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees.
Once they are golden, remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Here is how they should look, they edges should just barely be golden. And the bottom will have a nice golden color to it (yes Riley is begging for one of these)!
And there you go! Homemade sugar cookies!! What's great about these is you probably have most of the ingredients in your home already. Next time you want a quick cookie fix, mix up a batch of these instead of running to the store for that pre-made cookie dough. HERE is the full link for these yummy cookies.
Let me know what your favorite holiday memories are in the comments.
Happy Holidays!!