Best Perfect Sugar Cookies Recipes

PERFECT VEGAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
• Cream sugar and vegan margarine with an electric mixer in a bowl, about 2 minutes; add vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture. Add coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness. Dip cookie cutter in flour; cut out cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

PERFECT SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sugar Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat well to combine.
• Reduce speed to low and add half of flour mixture, followed by sour cream, then remaining flour mixture; beat just until smooth. (Dough will be stiff; you may need to finish mixing it with a wooden spoon.)
• Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop dough (about 3 tablespoons at a time) and drop on parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 3 to 4 inches apart.
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges of cookies are just firm and tops are barely beginning to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely, then top with sanding sugar or lemon glaze and candied zest (below).
• Lemon Glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together egg white, sugar, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice until smooth. (If necessary, at up to 1 teaspoon more lemon juice to reach desired consistency. Glaze should be opaque but not so thin as to run down the edges of a cookie when dipped. If glaze runs, add more sugar; if too thick, add water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Use immediately. Makes: About 1/2 cup
• Candied Citrus: With a sharp paring knife, slice the ends off citrus. Following curve of fruit, cut away outermost peel, leaving most of white pith on. Slice peel lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips.
• In a pot of boiling water, cook peel until tender, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet; spread in a single layer and let dry slightly, about 15 minutes.
• In a saucepan, bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add peel and boil until translucent and syrup thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer peel to rack, separating as needed. Let cool 1 hour. Toss with remaining 1/2 cup sugar to coat. Use immediately.

PERFECT VEGAN SUGAR COOKIES AND ICING

Steps:

• Beat margarine and sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in egg substitute and vanilla extract. Add flour, cream cheese, and baking powder slowly. Mix into a dough, using your hands if necessary. Form dough into a long loaf and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets or line with aluminum foil.
• Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bottoms and edges just start to get light brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
• Stir confectioners' sugar and soy milk together in a bowl until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy, adding more corn syrup if too thick. Add food coloring to desired intensity. Dip cookies into the icing; let dry, 8 hours to overnight.

SUGARBELLE'S PERFECT SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Cream together softened butter and confectioner's sugar. Crack the egg into a separate bowl, and add the flavoring. Add that to the butter sugar mixture and mix until the egg is thoroughly incorporated.
• 2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add little by little to the mixture. **You can tell the dough is ready when most of it sticks to the paddle. When you touch it, it has a little give, but does not stick to your fingers. The dough will stiffen up as it rests, so wait 5-10 minutes before working with it.**
• 3. Roll out on parchment to about 1/4 an inch thick, use flour for dusting as necessary. Then, cut your shapes. Remove the extra around your cookies and transfer your cookies on the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
• 4. Bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes until tops appear dry rather than shiny. Do not brown. Freshy baked cookies will be slightly fragile. If you can, let them cool for 4+ hours before moving them into an airtight container.
• 5. About this recipe: -Day-old cookies make easier decorating . They are less likely to leach oil back into your icing if they have had a day or two to "dry out". They are still soft, however. -The dough DOES NOT need to be refrigerated. -Do NOT soften your butter in the microwave. Take it out of the fridge, and it will be ready in about 2-3 hours. Or cut it into smaller pieces, and it will be ready in about 30-45 minutes. -Baking times are approximate. Watch them the first few times you bake them. Do not over bake. If the cookies are browning you have gone too far. -Start with with 2 1/2 cups of flour. Add another 1/4 of a cup if the dough seems too sticky.
• 6. -The recipe doubles well. -This dough can be flavored any way you like. -The cookies freeze well. -This recipe does spread a little. If you don't like that add a little flour. -If you don't like salt, leave it out altogether. -If you only have salted butter, use that and reduce the salt.

PERFECT HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
• Beat in the egg yolk and extracts.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda-gradually add to the creamed mixture.
• Divide into two equal portions and wrap well.
• Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
• Note; Refrigerating your dough and baking sheets is the secret to perfectly shaped cut-out cookies/ The cookies won't"spread" as they bake- in other words, the shapes will be well-defined/ The points on the stars will be sharp, etc/ Also, your dough will be much easier to work with and won't stick to your cookie cutters, so the extra chilling time is well worth it.
• When dough has chilled, remove one half from refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• While oven is preheating, place cookie sheets in refigerator to chill.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to less than 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut with 2 1/2 inch floured cookie cutters.
• Reserve trimmings for re-rolling.
• Remove cookie sheets from fridge (do not grease them) and place cookies on them, 1 inch apart.
• Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
• Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
• Repeat with remaining portion of dough.
• Don't forget to put your cookie sheets back in the fridge once they have cooled/ They only need to chill for about 10 minutes.
• For your frosting, in a large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff, about 5 minutes.
• Tint frosting with paste food colorings if desired.
• Keep tightly covered to prevent from drying out.
• Note; Of course you can use the regular food colorings you find in the supermarkets if you desire/ If you haven't tried the paste colorings, the colors are much more vivid than the regular food colorings/ Your X-mas trees will be much greener, Valentine hearts a brilliant red, etc/ Although they're somewhat pricier, a drop or two goes a long way.
• For detailed decorating, you can use decorating bags with small pointed tips/ You may need to thin frosting a bit to obtain right spreading or piping consistency.
• I sometimes collect pictures of decorated holiday cookies from my favorite magazines to give me some ideas.
• After decorating the cookies, set on wire racks to allow frosting to dry.
• Store in airtight, covered containers.
• Note: I am updating this recipe just to let you know about a little tip I just saw in a magazine. The person had cut out their cookies, placed them on baking sheets, and THEN refigerated them for about an hour before baking. You can do it this way also but I'd still chill your dough beforehand too, as it's easier to work with.

PERFECT SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter, sugar, eggs & vanilla till smooth.
• In a separate bowl combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda & salt.
• Add dry mixture to wet mixture in small amounts until all incorporated.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (overnight is better)
• Preheat oven to 325F. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.
• Bake 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are barely brown.
• Cool. Decorate. Enjoy!