Sugar Cookie Recipe

posted by Lisa on January 13, 2016

There is nothing like a good sugar cookie! Once you stick those pretty cutout cookie shapes that are laying so perfectly on a parchment-covered baking sheet into your oven, it will make your house smell like it is filled with love and welcome you in with open arms. A sugar cookie isn’t just a cookie. It has the power to do many, many amazing things and we are going to dive headfirst into that very soon. But for today, we are going to talk about this sugar cookie recipe.

Before we get started, I want to tell you if you already have a sugar cookie recipe that you like and produces cookies that don’t spread when they are baked, keep it. Don’t ditch what works for you just because there is something new on my blog. Remember, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Keep your recipe.

If you are looking for a good sugar cookie recipe this one might just be what you are looking for. I’ve been playing around with ingredients for a while now looking for a new recipe that doesn’t spread when it’s baked and still has that delicious sugar cookie flavor we all know and love. This is what I came up with and I am really happy with the results.

Sugar Cookie Recipe Video:

Are you ready to see why I love those cheap mats from Wal-Mart? Here you go!

Let’s talk about butter:

All good sugar cookie recipes begin with butter. Most call for unsalted butter at room temperature. Now you might be asking me why recipes call for unsalted butter and that’s a really good question. If you purchase salted butter, how do you know how much salt is in the butter? The answer is, you don’t. Different companies use different amounts of salt when they add it to butter. If your recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and your butter already has 1/2 tsp of salt, guess what, you have just doubled the amount of salt and the flavor of your cookies is going to change.

When you add the salt and unsalted butter to your recipe you have complete control over the amount of salt that is added, thus ensuring a good cookie with a good flavor. Here’s more information on Salted or Unsalted Butter for you.

How to soften butter:

Here is a little information on The Right Way to Soften Butter making sure your butter is at the right temperature when you make your sugar cookie dough is very important to the cookies holding their shape and not spreading while baking.

If you’re interested here’s some information on How to Soften Butter Quickly so you can start baking your cookies faster without watching the butter sit on the counter for an hour doing it on its own.

Cream the butter for a minute and slowly add the sugar. Mix it until it is light and fluffy looking, but don’t overmix it because it will cause the dough to collapse and get bubbles as it bakes.

Next, add the eggs one at a time mixing well between each addition, but be careful and don’t over-mix them.
Then, add the vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
Again, turn on the mixer long enough to make sure the ingredients are mixed and that’s it.

Now for the flour.

Flour is another very important ingredient in your sugar cookie recipe. Adding too much flour can make your cookies dry and crumbly. I always, always, always measure the flour. This cheap little food scale is less than $20, but worth its weight in gold! Get it? “Weight” in gold! Hehehe

Once I started weighing my flour, my cookies have become more consistent in flavor and it helps get that perfect shape we are looking for.

When you add the flour to the dough, add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time and mix with the mixer on low. We all know what happens if you turn the mixer on high, you might get lost in a cloud of flour and end up with white hair before your time.
Add the flour a little at a time and mix until it is combined. Be careful! Over-mixing can make your cookies tough.
Stop mixing when you don’t see streaks of flour in your bowl.

Time to roll.

Divide the dough into two or three balls and place each on a cutting mat that has been sprinkled with a little flour. If you don’t have mats, that’s alright, roll it out on a floured surface.
If you don’t have cutting mats, you are about to see why I love them so much. Watch the end of the video at the end of this tutorial. You might want to run to Wal-Mart and grab a few because they make life easier.

Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and roll it out evenly. To do that, I purchased rolling pin rings (I use the 1/4″ rings) that slide on each end of the rolling pin. It’s like little silicone wheels for your rolling pin. The dough doesn’t stand a chance. Just ‘drive’ the rolling pin with the spacers over the dough and it will be perfectly even like a freshly paved road with no hills or potholes. You’ve gotta love that!
Also, the mats don’t take up space at all! They are flat and are easily stored under your cookie sheets.

Next, stack the mats on top of each other and place them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Why roll out the dough before you chill it? I am so glad you asked!

If you place the disc of dough in the fridge before you roll it out, you have to wait for the dough to warm up before you can roll it. If you roll it out on mats and then place it in the freezer, you don’t have to wait to start cutting the shapes. It is a real-time saver.

Here is one thing I’ve noticed.

If you have a cutter with a really small area, you might want to let the dough warm up a bit. Popping almost frozen dough out of a cookie cutter can cause the dough to break even if you add flour to the cutter. What good is a good sugar cookie recipe if you break the cookies before you bake them? If you let it warm up a bit, they will pop right out of the cutter and you will have beautiful cookies.

Be gentle:

The reason I freeze the dough for 10-15 minutes is that freezing it will allow me to be a little rougher when taking it out of the cutter. When I remove it from the cutter, it keeps its shape. If I don’t freeze the dough, well, you see that little sad snowflake cookie in the picture. Poor thing!

I’m a tomboy!

I’ve said it once and I will say it again, I am a tomboy. I’m a bit rough with things. I need something that will allow me to push the cookies out of the cutter and freezing it for a few minutes before cutting the shapes works for me. It might not work for you. One recipe or one way of doing things isn’t for everyone. You have to play around and find something that makes you happy! This sugar cookie recipe and freezing the dough a bit makes me happy. I hope you find something that works this well for yourself. 😉

I hope you are enjoying ‘The Bearfoot Basics” because I have a lot more planned for you! Stay tuned!

If you would like to have a sugar cookie recipe chalkboard printable then click the link. Hang it on the fridge and it will save you some time looking up the recipe every time you bake.

Sugar Cookie Recipe: