Simple Savory & Satisfying: The Best Sugar Cookies

Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Best Sugar Cookies

I'm not going to lie, this sugar cookie is a little bit of a pain to make, but it's so worth the sink of dirty dishes. For that reason I haven't made them for the last few Christmases. However, Eric loves his sugar cookies something fierce. And I wanted to use my delicious sugar cookies to make stain glass cookies. I turned the leftover dough into regular cookies.

This recipe comes from my mom, but because it dirts sooo many dishes, she has been on the search for an easier one that is just as good. She tried the store bought cookie mixes and I don't even know how many other recipes--she tested out yet another one for Thanksgiving. I ate one cookie and that was more than enough. Since I don't make sugar cookies often, I'm sticking to making the best sugar cookie recipe when I do, no matter the mess it makes.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

Directions:
Medium Bowl: Combine flour, tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Small Bowl: Stir together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Large Bowl: Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed for approximately 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Alternating, add a little bit of the flour mixture then a little bit of the egg mixture to the butter mixture while beating. Once ingredients are combined, wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for 2 to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4- to 1/8-inch thickness. (I like to roll out dough between two lightly floured pieces of waxed paper). Use cookie cutters to make cookies. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are a light golden brown.

If desired, frost with royal icing.