You’re probably saying, really Chef Steph, there are so many different recipes for sugar cookies out there. Yes, I know there are, but here is one more!
Why, you ask… because these are amazing cookie recipes that parents and kiddos will all love. Not only just that, but these are all going to be cookies that can also be given as gifts. I absolutely love homemade gifts for the holidays.
Let’s face it the older we get the less materialistic items we needs others to buy us, right? I mean if you are anything like me, if you want something you go buy it. Or save up and go buy it. So, how great is it to get a wonderful homemade gift that you can eat or wear or use everyday. Since I know how to cook, I go with the gifts that you can eat. Others make amazing clothes or handmade dolls for kids or now more than ever we are seeing homemade soaps, scrubs and lotions.
So, make what you are good at and if cooking it is… I hope that you make these simple, but delicious recipes that will please everyone and wow them without working too hard.
Where do we begin?
First, we are starting out simple, but elegant. We are doing hand decorated sugar cookies. Now, we all loved those gorgeous hand painted sugar cookies that cost about $3 a piece to purchase. These are not those. These are much simpler, but still give you that wow factor.
Anyone can make these and the kiddos can even help you and they will look and taste fabulous. I made the “mistake” of mentioning that I make these my first year at Macy’s and the next thing I knew I was making 100’s of them year after year. You don’t want to do that if you don’t have to as they are a little more labor intensive than most cookies, but they are definitely worth it for the few dozen you will make for family and friends.
We start with a simple sugar cookie recipe, just remember you are cutting them out so you don’t want to roll them out too thin. If you roll them too thin, they will break or not bake to the tenderness you want. They may even over bake. There is a specific rolling pin I like for projects like this. It is the Joseph Joseph adjustable rolling pin and it rolls out to your preferred thickness. So, that is my tip for these cookies.
Some things you will need
-Different color royal icing colors and frosting colors
-Paint brushes
-Disposable piping bags
-Sugar dusts
-Edible pearls
-FUN!!!
Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup unsalted butter
- 1 Cup granulated white sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes
- Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl combine baking powder and salt with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
- There is no need to chill this dough, you can just begin working with it. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).
- Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Other cookies for the holidays with this Sugar Cookie Recipe
These cookies are also great to use for sandwich cookies. My mom makes these awesome Christmas sandwich cookies. You take sugar cookies, cut into rounds and sandwich with seedless raspberry jam. Then she puts royal icing and paints them with holly leaves and uses a red candy for the holly ball. They are so simple and so delicious. The hardest part is the painting.
I also love to make sandwich cookies with Nutella. You can just cut them into rounds and then on every other one, cut out a Christmas shape, I usually do a tree. And then after they are baked, sandwich them with Nutella so that you can see the Nutella through the shape and then dust with powedered sugar. Those are also super simple and delicious and you can make for any occasion, just change the shape you cut out.
Sugar cookies are really easy to work with and the possibilities are endless! Share your favorite holiday sugar cookies with us.
