Best Basic Sugar Cookies Recipes

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.
• For the icing, sift confectioners' sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in milk, water, or lemon juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, whisk in more sugar; if too thick, add more liquid. Spread over cookies with back of a spoon. Add other decorations, if desired. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180° C. Grease and line two cookie sheets.
• In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract and egg.
• In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff.
• DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut into whatever shapes you desire.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Melt butter over low heat and add to 2 cups Basic Cookie Mix.
• Lightly beat the egg and add to mixture. Stir in vanilla and mix well.
• With lightly floured hands shape into 1 inch balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes until golden.
• Cool a couple of minutes before removing from cookie sheet to racks to complete cooling.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat butter until fluffy, beat in sugar in 3 additions.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt; beat into butter mixture in 3 additions.
• Divide dough in 2 equal portions and shape into discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• On lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, cut into shapes.
• Place cookies 1 inch apart on baking sheets, greased or lined with parchment paper (I spray mine with PAM).
• Bake until light golden for about 10 minutes. Depending on your oven you may have to turn pans halfway through.
• Mix cookie glaze ingredients until preferred consistency and have fun decorating!

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES - TRIED AND TRUE SINCE 1960

Steps:

• Mix self-rising flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt thoroughly in a bowl; beat at least 5 minutes. Refrigerate dough at least 2 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Roll dough out on a floured work surface using a lightly floured rolling pin; cut cookies out with cutters. Place cookies onto baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookie bottoms are lightly golden brown, about 15 minutes.

GLUTEN-FREE BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Stir gluten-free flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl.
• Beat sugar and shortening with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla extract; beat until light and airy, about 2 minutes. Add gluten-free flour mixture in small batches and stir until dough is just combined.
• Pat dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dust rolling pin and cookie cutters with confectioners' sugar. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness; cut cookies and place 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets.
• Whisk egg yolk with food coloring and water in a small bowl. Decorate cookies with mixture using a child's paintbrush. Sprinkle sugar sprinkles on top.
• Bake in the the preheated oven until edges are golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

ANNE'S BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Combine cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the mixture comes together into a sticky ball, 30 to 45 seconds.
• Roll the dough to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured board with a lightly floured rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to stamp out shapes and place them 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (You can reroll the dough scraps once and cut out more cookies.) Brush the cookies with egg white and decorate with sprinkles.
• Place one pan in the oven at a time. Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 10 to 12 minutes for larger. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks with a metal spatula to cool completely, about 20 minutes.

C & H BASIC SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt, stir into sugar mixture.
• Form dough into flat disc on lightly floured surface; wrap in plastic wrapand chill in fridge for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• On lightly floured board, roll out half of dough to 1/8 inch thick.
• Using cookie cutters, cut out various shapes.
• Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with extra sugar.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on rack.
• Variation: Can also use dough to make drop cookies, skip the time to chill the dough in this case.

ANNETTE'S BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
• Beat in the egg and vanilla.
• In a small bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
• Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture; mix well.
• Divide dough in half.
• Flatten halves into discs.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze 20 minutes or longer.
• Remove from freezer and let stand 5 - 10 minutes.
• Place one disk on a lightly floured surface, roll 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut with your favorite cookie cutter shapes.
• Place on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then remove to cookie racks.
• In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice, adding only enough glaze to form a slow sticky stream when you dip into the glaze and let it flow back into the bowl.
• Spread glaze over top of each cookie. Enjoy!

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl; set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in 2 batches until just incorporated. Divide between 2 pieces of plastic wrap; shape into disks. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough on a floured surface until about inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters; arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (If the dough becomes soft, refrigerate until firm.) Refrigerate the cookies 30 minutes. Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll and cut out more cookies.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are slightly puffed and just golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to racks to cool completely before icing.
• Basic Royal Icing
• Whisk one 1-pound box confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 1 more tablespoon water if necessary. If not using the icing right away, cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. (Makes about 2 1/4 cups.)
• Decorating Instructions:
• Striped:Spread royal icing on the cookie using a small offset spatula. Let set slightly, then dip a wooden skewer in tinted icing to draw stripes.
• Pearled: Spread royal icing on the cookie using a small offset spatula. Let set slightly, then place sugar pearls around the edges.
• Windowpane: Spread tinted royal icing on the cookie using a small offset spatula. Let set slightly, then dip a wooden skewer in white icing to draw crisscross lines.
• Ombre: Tint half of the royal icing, then mix one-third of the tinted icing with one-third of the white icing. Spread the 3 shades on the cookie from dark to light, blending the sections.
• Floral: Spread royal icing on the cookie using a small offset spatula. Dip a wooden skewer in different colors of tinted icing to draw dots for flowers. Photograph by Jeff Harris/Studio D

BASIC SUGAR CUT OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together sugar and butter (can use all butter or half and half like I do).
• Beat in the egg and vanilla.
• If using spices add them at this point, I like a combination of 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp of cinnamon and half a tsp of allspice. but have also made them using a cup of chocolate chips.
• Add in the flour a cup at a time (if you are finding it a little dry add a tsp or so of water).
• Roll out between two sheets of baking paper (thanks wife2abadge for this tip!) and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• I roll out about half a centimetre thick (I'm in Europe and don't do inches, sorry!) when cutting out and put on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 400 for about 6-10 minutes, the time taken depends on the size of cutters you have used.
• Cool for a minute on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack before decorating.
• (This is just a personal note for me! 1 cup butter = 225g).

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
• Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and fold a few times to make sure everything is well combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough 1/4-inch thick. Use 3-inch floured cutters to cut out cookies, and transfer to two parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Reroll scraps as needed, chilling as needed until firm before rolling and cutting again. Freeze until very firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake until golden brown at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 3 months.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
• Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl and fold a few times to make sure everything is well combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough 1/4-inch thick. Use 3-inch floured cutters to cut out cookies, and transfer to two parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Reroll scraps as needed, chilling as needed until firm before rolling and cutting again. Freeze until very firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake until golden brown at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or frozen up to 3 months.

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375. Beat softened butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add vanilla, eggs, baking powder, and salt. Beat to combine.
• Mix in flour a cup at a time until combined, forming a soft ball. Refrigerate 1 hour for cutout cookies or bake immediatly for circle cookies. Refrigerate leftovers.
• Roll out and cut shapes or drop by heaping scoop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly, sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 8~10 minutes. Enjoy!