I know you’ll adore this soft cut-out sugar cookies recipe because this has crisp edges, thick cores, and room for gobs of decorating icing. Use your preferred cookie cutters and give my traditional royal icing a try my favorite sugar cookies with icing are these.
For You: Chocolate biscuit Recipe | Delicious Cookies
Why These Sugar Cookies Will Win You Over?
- Edges that are somewhat crunchy with soft, dense middle.
- Delicious creamy vanilla flavor
- Leave plain or add more flavors, such as maple, cinnamon, and others.
- Keep their form.
- Stay soft for days when decorating a flat surface.
- Freeze exquisitely
Overview:
How to Make Icing for Sugar Cookies:
Construct cookie dough. Only 7-8 components are required. Because there are so few components, you must follow the recipe exactly. The cookie dough’s basis is made of sugar and butter that have been creamed. The structure of the cookie is egg, and vanilla essence gives it flavor. I nearly always add a little bit of almond extract for taste, and I highly suggest you do too! The obvious additions are flour, baking powder, and salt, which counterbalance the sweetness. To make the ideal cookie, so many “small ingredients” must do “huge responsibilities.”
Cut into two pieces. Rolling out smaller pieces of dough is simpler. Cookie dough is rolled out. Roll it out to a thickness of ¼ inch or slightly less. Roll out the chilled cookie dough. These sugar cookies with cookie cutters won’t maintain their shape without cooling. For at least one to two hours and up to two days, chill the rolled-out cookie dough.
Shapes should be cut. I recommend the Ann Clark line of cookie cutters if you need some recommendations. (Not sponsored; simply a true admirer!) Cook and cool. The time varies based on the size of the cookies. Decorate. See the icings I’ve proposed below.
When rolling out the cookie dough, keep some flour handy. Keep a small dusting of flour on your work surface, hands, and rolling pin. This dough is fairly soft.
The Trick is the Order of Steps:
Yet another ruse! To make transferring the cookie dough to the refrigerator simple, roll out the dough immediately on a silicone baking surface or parchment paper. Pick it up, put it on a baking sheet, and put the baking pan in the fridge. Stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of one another if your refrigerator doesn’t have enough room for two baking sheets.
How thick should sugar cookies be rolled?
Because they are rolled out rather thickly, these sugar cookies maintain their softness. The cookie dough should be rolled out to a thickness of around ¼ inch or slightly less. Yes, these cookies are extra thick and tender despite being on the thicker side.
The icing on sugar cookies:
You can select the sugar cookie icing recipe that best suits your needs from the two that I have provided.
Favorite Royal Icing: Due to its ease of application, quick drying time, and lack of cement-like flavor, this royal icing is my go-to option for decorating sugar cookies. (It is somewhat softer!) I use meringue powder to make it. In modern royal icing recipes, meringue powder is used in place of raw egg whites. Fresh eggs are no longer required, yet consistency is maintained. Meringue powder is available online, at most craft stores that have a baking area, and in certain baking aisles. Usually, the 8-ounce tub lasts me a while.
Novices should use this simple cookie icing. Because you don’t need an electric mixer and the final product won’t depend on the consistency, it’s simpler to produce than royal icing. However, it doesn’t offer the same level of fine detail as decorations made of royal icing. Additionally, drying takes a good 24 hours.
Tips and tools for sugar cookies:
Let me make some recommendations for helpful sugar cookie instruments before I leave you with the recipe. In my kitchen, I only use and believe in the following products:
- Baking Pans
- Using parchment sheets or silicone baking mats (Want to buy? click here)
- Food coloring with a rolling pin
- Piping Tips/Squeeze Bottle
- Piping bag
Preparation time:
- 2 hours
Cook time:
- 12 minutes
Total time:
- 4 hours
Yield:
- 24 3-4 inch cookies
Description: Sugar Cookies recipe
I am confident that you will adore these soft sugar cookies as much as I do since they have crisp edges, thick cores, and room for gobs of decorating icing. The size of the cookie cutter you pick will determine how many cookies this recipe makes. Double the recipe if you want to prepare hundreds of cookies for a large gathering.
Ingredients:
- 2 and ¼ cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional, but makes the flavor outstanding)*
- Royal Icing or Easy Cookie Icing
Method:
- In a larger basin, combine the salt, baking soda, and flour. Place aside.
- The butter and sugar should be combined on high speed for about 2 minutes in a large basin using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Beat the ingredients on high speed for approximately a minute to incorporate them, then add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract (if using).
- Clean the bottom and sides of the basin, then beat the ingredients together once more if necessary.
- Mix on low speed until incorporated after adding the dry components to the wet ones.
- The dough will be rather tender. Add one extra tablespoon of flour if the dough appears too soft and sticky to roll out.
- Create two equal portions of the dough.
- Each portion should be put onto a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking surface that has been lightly dusted with flour. Roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately ¼ inch using a rolling pin that has been lightly dusted with flour. If the dough seems too sticky, add extra flour. As long as the dough is evenly ¼-inch thick, it can be rolled out into any shape.
- One of the rolled-out doughs should be lightly dusted with flour. Put some parchment on top of that. (Doing so avoids sticking.) Top with the second piece of rolled-out dough. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and as long as two days after covering with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
- Set the oven to 350°F (177°C) after it has chilled. Use silicone baking mats or parchment paper to line a couple of big baking sheets. Take the top dough piece out of the fridge with care. Run your hand beneath it if it’s stuck to the bottom to assist you to remove it. Cut out shapes from the dough using a cookie cutter. Reroll the leftover dough and keep slicing until all is gone. The second piece of dough, and repeat. (Note: You get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll even though it doesn’t appear like there is a lot of dough.)
- Place cookies 3 inches apart on baking pans. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through the baking period if your oven has hot areas. Before decorating, let the biscuits cool completely on a wire rack for five minutes on the baking sheet.
- Use royal icing or simple cookie icing to decorate the cooled cookies. You are welcome to use gel food coloring to color either icing. For a list of suggested decorating tools, see the previous section. As you wait for the frosting to set, there is no need to cover the frosted cookies. If it helps, decorate the cookies right on the baking sheet so that you may chill the entire baking sheet to hasten the icing’s setting time.
- If the icing hasn’t yet been set, you can either eat the cookies right away or wait. These cookies are excellent for shipping or gifting once the icing has dried. When tightly wrapped at room temperature, plain or decorated cookies retain their softness for approximately 5 days. Cover and keep in the fridge for up to 10 days for extended storage.
Guidelines for Freezing:
Sugar cookies, whether plain or adorned, freeze well for three months. Before placing between parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container, allow the frosting entirely set. Thawing can be done at ambient temperature or in a refrigerator. Before rolling out the cookie dough, it can be frozen for up to three months. The dough should be prepared through step 3, divided in half, flattened into discs like pie crust, wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen. The discs should be thawed in the fridge before being brought to room temperature for roughly an hour. The dough should be smoothed out as instructed in step 4 and chilled in the refrigerator for 45 to 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
Ambient Temperature :
The butter must be at room temperature. It’s possible that your butter was too soft if the dough is too sticky. Butter is chilly to the touch at room temperature. It’s best to use room temperature eggs so that the cookie dough may be promptly and evenly combined with them.
Flavors:
As stated in the ingredients list above, I adore flavoring this cookie dough with ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Use a quarter teaspoon for a milder flavor. Consider substituting 1 teaspoon of maple, coconut, lemon, or peppermint extract for the almond extract. Alternatively, include 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. You can also include 1 Tablespoon of lemon zest in addition to the lemon extract.
Icing:
Use my simple cookie icing or royal icing. To learn about the variations, see the earlier post.
We hope you will like our sugar cookie recipes and they will be helpful for you to handle your guests easily.
