Big Soft Flavorful Sugar Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cookie dough: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese with an electric hand mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes, until fluffy and the sugar is mostly dissolved. Scrape down the bowl as needed to evenly beat the mixture.
• Add the egg, egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the salt, then sift the flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar into the bowl and fold to incorporate some of the flour. Then beat on low speed, just until incorporated and the dough comes together.
• Shape the dough into a flat disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 3-4 days.
• When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the cookie dough with a rolling pin to ¼-inch (6mm) thick.
• Dip cookie cutters of your choice in some extra flour and cut out shapes from the dough. Gather any excess dough into a ball and chill in the fridge to firm, then re-roll and cut out more cookies. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and chill for at least 20 minutes to ensure they hold their shapes.
• Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges just barely start to turn golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating with royal icing or frosting.
• To make the royal icing, sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl and add the salt. On one side of the bowl, add the vanilla and egg whites.
• Where you added the liquids, begin whisking the powdered sugar into the liquids, gathering a bit more as you whisk to prevent lumps from forming, until all of the powdered sugar is incorporated. Add food coloring, if desired, and whisk to incorporate. You can divide the icing into smaller bowls to make more than one color. At this point, the icing should be a good consistency for piping borders. If you'd like the frosting to be looser to flood or dip your cookies, add a few tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.
• Decorate the cookies as desired.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease large cookie sheets.
• In medium bowl, mix first 4 ingredients until well combined; set aside.
• In large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and 1 cup of the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream, eggs and vanilla.
• Beat in half the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in remaining flour mixture with a spoon (dough will be very soft). Spoon dough by heaping tablespoons on prepared baking sheets about 3 inches apart, making about 24 cookies.
• Butter the base of a flat bottomed glass that about 3 inches wide. Dip bottom of glass into the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Use sugared glass to flatten cookies into 3 inch rounds, coating bottom of glass with sugar each time.
• Sprinkle cookies with some coarse sugar.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly pressed. (Cookies will be very light in color).
• Immediately remove to racks to cool.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt to combine.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and mix until fully incorporated. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, until fully combined.
• Lightly flour a work surface and turn out the dough. Press the dough together into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to about ½-inch thick. Cut out circles using a glass or cookie cutter.
• Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch in between cookies. Bake for 8 minutes, until the cookie bottoms are golden brown and the tops are pale. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.
• Make the frosting: in a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric hand mixer until fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. Add the milk and continue to beat until the frosting is smooth and velvety. Add food coloring, if desired.
• Frost the cooled cookies and decorate as you wish.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Directions.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
• Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
• Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
• Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.