For as long as I can remember, sugar cookies were a must in our house, regardless of the holiday. My husband – the avid cookie consumer, and what I like to call a cookie snob, LOVES these cookies and never lets them get stale. Heck, they barely survive the day.
Now the recipe I’m sharing may look fancy due to the royal icing decorating, but honestly even with the worst decorating job out there (pending, once my daughter is old enough to participate in making these!) the actual flavours are foolproof! The best part? NO CHILLING! They remind me a little bit of shortbread, with the buttery, silky texture, but less crumbly and more satisfying to bite into.
These sugar cookies barely spread, and are absolutely perfect for the holidays to decorate with!
Now, let’s jump into the actual recipe!
Room Temperature Butter
The key to starting this recipe off right is room temperature butter – or if you are like me and never thaw your butter in fear of it spoiling, cut 1 cup’s worth of butter (doesn’t need to be diced or anything), place on a microwave safe dish and microwave for 15 seconds exactly. I find any more and the butter starts to melt, and any less, and the center is still cold.
Combine butter and sugar in your mixer of choice (I use a stand mixer, but hand mixer, or whisking by hand is fine too) and mix on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes until the butter starts to look a bit creamy.
Then add 1 egg, and continue beating until incorporated. The consistency can still be a bit lumpy, but combined enough that all ingredients seem incorporated.
While it’s mixing, in a large bowl combine your flour, baking powder, and salt and start adding it into your mixture about a cup at a time.
Crumbly Bits are a Good Sign!
The mixture should look crumbly. Don’t be alarmed that it just looks like clumpy bits. The actual dough will form once you knead it a bit on the counter. This is what gives these sugar cookies the perfect consistency is the even distribution of ingredients.
When it start looks like the above, dump your dough onto a floured surface and begin shaping it into a ball. It will fall apart at first, but keep shaping it and poking it with your hands until it starts to stick together.
Playdough Consistency
Keep kneading the mixture and poking it until the consistency resembles playdough. It should look smooth, but not very elastic. When separating the dough it should still break apart, but when rolled will be pliable.
Cutting Shapes and Baking!
Once you’ve completed kneading (should only take 3-4 minutes), you are now ready to roll out your dough! This is the most fun, since you can keep rolling it on itself without worrying that the butter gets too warm. Have fun cutting out your sugar cookies!
Once cut out, place your unbaked cookies on an un-greased baking sheet, or on parchment paper if you are using aluminum baking sheets. Don’t worry about spacing, they barely spread, so you can keep them within a 1/4 inch of one another without much concern.
Bake for roughly 7 minutes in a 350 degree oven, and promptly remove as they will continue cooking on the baking sheet. Don’t remove from the tray until slightly cooled.
Once cooled, they are ready to be iced or enjoyed plain! I ended up making my fall sugar cookies using royal icing to decorate, and I won’t lie, pretty proud of how they turned out! Still some hand shaky-ness, and a bunch of duds that don’t look as pretty, but the flavour is spot on and so no complaints from me (or the hubby)!
I don’t by any means consider myself a professional baker, but if I do say so myself these sugar cookies are the bomb! They keep nicely and taste fresh even a week later. Just make sure to place them in an air tight container to remain moist on the inside. Enjoy and tag me on Instagram or in the comments below to see your creations!
No-Chill, Foolproof Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups flour (all purpose)
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and mix on medium for 3-4 minutes until creamy.
- Add egg and vanilla and mix additionally for 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt, mix well.
- Using 1 cup at a time, add dry ingredients to wet and mix until crumbly.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Flip all of the crumbly dough onto a floured work surface and shape with your hands to get the dough to combine. Keep kneading it together until the consistency resembles playdough. You should be able to create indents in the dough with ease.
- Roll out to desired thickness (for thicker cookies, add 1-2 minutes of baking time), for thin or small cookies stay at the 6-7 mark. Cut out cookie shapes, and place on a baking sheet. If you are using dark steel, don't grease or add a liner, but if you are using an aluminum sheet, I recommend using parchment paper to line.
- Bake for 6-7 minutes for medium or ¼" thickness cookies. Add an additional 1-2 minutes for extra thick, or large cookies.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool before eating or decorating. They will unstick easily off of a baking sheet even if they are not on a cooling rack.
Notes
- If you like slightly less sweet cookies, use 3/4 cups of sugar vs 1.
- If you decide to freeze the dough, allow it to thaw before rolling it out on a floured surface. Cookies will cook the exact same.
- To make quick room-temperature butter, place the 1 cup chunk of butter on a microwave safe dish and heat for 15 seconds to make it soft.
- The egg does not need to be room temperature, in fact I’ve always used it straight out of the fridge.
