Recipes

Sugar Cookies

Growing up, we didn’t have a set tradition of baking specific cookies for Santa. We usually left Santa whatever cookies we had baked last because at Christmas the cookie jar was never left empty. Rarely did we bake sugar cookies though, because most of my family, myself included, did not have the patience to chill, cut, and ice sugar cookies. While this recipe for sugar cookies does require an hour of chilling, it is otherwise relatively quick to bake. The dough is easy to mix and cut, and topping with colored sugar significantly cut down the time from measuring to eating. Enjoy! xoxo

Images via Alex Phillips.

Print Sugar Cookie recipe.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Mix room temperature butter and sugar until just combined. Add in room temperature egg, vanilla, and almond extract, beating well. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add salt and flour, beating well for about 1 minute. Form dough into a flat disk, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and carefully cut out shapes. Tip, dip your cookie cutter in flour between cutting out cookies to prevent the dough from sticking to the cutter.  Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar, or leave plain to ice after. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting.