Best Pioneer Sugar Cookies Recipes

SUGAR COOKIE STARS

Steps:

• For the cookies: Beat the shortening, granulated sugar, orange zest and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until thoroughly combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg until light and fluffy, then beat in the milk.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low speed, beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Divide the dough in half; flatten each half between 2 sheets of parchment or wax paper, wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or freeze for 20 minutes.
• For the glaze: Whisk the egg yolk, water and food coloring in a small bowl until well combined.
• Preheat the oven to 375 ̊. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into stars or other shapes with 2- to 3-inch cookie cutters. Arrange the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Brush the tops with the egg yolk glaze.
• Bake the cookies until set but not browned, about 6 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the pan, then remove to racks to cool completely. Decorate with royal icing and sanding sugar. Let set about 1 hour.

EVERYTHING SUGAR COOKIE (DOUGH!)

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat on medium speed until just combined. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix everything on low speed until just combined. Stir in the pretzels. toffee bits and potato chips until you have an even mix.
• Using waxed paper, roll the dough into 3 logs (each about 12 inches long). If you want to enjoy these later, wrap the waxed paper logs in plastic wrap and pop in the freezer
• When ready to bake from fresh or frozen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Slice the dough into 3/4-inch-thick slices with a sharp knife (no need to thaw), place on the prepared baking sheet and bake until the edges are light brown and the middle has set, about 15 minutes. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

PIONEER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• All ingredients should be at room temperature.
• Sift together flour, soda, and salt.
• Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla.
• Add egg. Mix until fluffy.
• Stir in dry ingredients until smooth.
• Blend in milk.
• Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
• Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in suger.
• Bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes. Cool.

ANGEL SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and mix well. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
• Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto ungreased, unlined baking sheets. Smear a dab of butter all over the bottom of a glass, then dip the glass in granulated sugar. Use the glass to flatten each ball of dough, dipping again into the sugar each time. Then sprinkle blue sanding sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie) over half of the cookies, and purple sanding sugar over the other half.
• Bake until the cookies are just barely turning brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Don't overbrown! Allow to cool before eating. The cookies are ultra crumbly!

BUTTERFLY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookies: Combine the granulated sugar, butter and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through with a spatula.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 batches; mix until the dough comes together.
• Divide the dough in half and flatten each portion into a disk. Place each disk into a separate resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out both pieces of dough until about 1/4 inch thick.
• Using 2 different sized butterfly cookie cutters (2-inch and 3-inch), cut out as many cookies as you can. Use the 2-inch cutter on one portion of dough and the 3-inch cutter on the other portion of dough. Be sure to dip the cutters in flour every other cookie or so while you are cutting them out to prevent the dough from sticking.
• Transfer as many of the cookies as will fit onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until they're just set but not browned, about 7 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to racks to cool completely before decorating. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
• For the icing: Combine the powdered sugar, milk and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until thick and glossy. Add more powdered sugar if the icing seems too thin. Add more milk if it is too thick. You may need to play with it until it is just right. The icing should be loose enough to stick to the cookies in an even layer, but not too loose to slide off.
• For decorating: Divide the icing among 3 or 4 smaller bowls. Add 2 to 3 drops each of red and orange food coloring to each bowl, scattering it over the surface of the icing. Drag a toothpick through the drops a few times to make swirls.
• Dip the top of each cookie in the icing and let the excess drip off over the bowl. Transfer the dipped cookies to a rack and allow to dry completely. When the colors in the first bowl of icing become too muddled, move on to the next bowl of icing and so forth until all the cookies are iced. Let the icing dry completely, about 1 hour.