Best sugar cookies

We have found The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe ever and we couldn’t wait to share it so that everyone can have super yummy homemade sugar cookies.

Add the 4 sticks (2 cups) of butter and 2 cups of white sugar to your mixer. A word about the butter, we use Sweet Cream Salted Butter when we are baking and I think it tastes great with these sugar cookies too. The butter needs to be softened but still cold. A prime culprit for dry sugar cookie dough is butter than is too warm and soft. I let the butter sit out on the counter for just under an hour before I start making the cookies – this seems to be the perfect amount of time for me. The butter is still cold to the touch but you can press into the stick with your fingers. In the past, when in a rush, I have softened the butter in the microwave but inevitably the dough that I get is on the “crumbly” side.

Cream the butter and sugar until it is completely mixed. Do not over-mix.

Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 2 eggs.. I know that sounds like a lot of vanilla but this recipe needs a little extra moisture and the cookies will taste great.

Mix the cookie dough until light and fluffy.

Add 4 teaspoons of Baking Powder and mix.

Then mix in the 6 cups of flour two cups at a time.

This is what the dough should look like after you have added the 6 cups of Flour. The flour should be completely incorporated and the dough should be firm but not dry or crumbly. If the dough seems drier than this, add a tiny bit of vanilla or milk and mix again. You do not need to chill this dough before cutting out the cookies. In fact, the cookies come out best if the dough hasn’t been chilled.

Roll a handful of the dough out on a prepared surface until it’s about 3/8″ thick.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes depending on the size of the cookie. Do not over-bake! We like thicker sugar cookies so they will hold a good amount of frosting. If you make your cookies on the thick side like we have done in the pictures here, you should cook them 7-8 minutes but no longer. They might not look done to you but they are. Take them out of the oven. You don’t want them to start browning around the edges the way you would with Chocolate Chip Cookies for example. Over-baking is the prime culprit if you feel your sugar cookies seem dry. If you roll out thinner cookies, or use smaller cookie cutters than the ones we have used here, you should only bake the cookies 6 or 7 minutes.