Simple Sugar Cookies
This sugar cookie recipe is a family favorite! Not only is it super simple to make but it is perfect for any celebration or occasion. Birthdays, holidays and school lunch boxes are always made better with the addition of sugar cookies!
If you want a simple, delicious sugar cookie then look no further.
Pull out the cookie cutters, roll out this simple dough and bake your cookies They will be ready to decorate and enjoy with minimal fuss at all.
This recipe requires no dough chilling, the cookies will not spread much as they bake and the cookies themselves are totally delicious. These cookies have a crisp bite with a center of flaky softness, lightly sweet and buttery. This is a batch of biscuits that they will be gone before you know it!
Ingredients
Sugar – Sugar cookies surprisingly have less sugar that traditional cookies do. Use a white granulated sugar, not caster or icing sugar.
Butter – Salted butter is what I always use because that is what I keep on hand. Add a little extra salt if you use unsalted.
Egg – You will use one large yolk for this recipe. I like to use the remaining egg white to make a royal icing to decorate these cookies.
Cream – This adds a little more moisture and fat to your dough. Milk will also work if you do not have cream on hand.
Essences – Vanilla essence and almond essence.
Flour and baking powder – Plain white flour and a small amount of baking powder.
Salt – Just a pinch or 1/4 teaspoon.
Decorating your sugar cookies.
Decorate your cookies to match any occasion like Christmas, Halloween or birthdays with matching cookie cutters, colored icings or sprinkles!
The options are limitless.
Most of the time if I am making sugar cookies I will make a royal icing to decorate them. Its perfect because it sets firmly, is stable for decorating, so easy to color and it uses the leftover egg white that came from making the cookies!
You can use any icing that you like for decorating your cookies. A simple milk and icing sugar ising is great, so is rolled fondant, buttercream or even melted chocolate.
Have a cookie decorating party or a fun at home activity. Cut out and bake a variety of cookie shapes then set up a station with coloured icings in small piping bags, sprinkles, candies and other toppings. It’s a great way to spend time together, with delicious cookie reward at the end of it.
Tips and tricks.
- While this cookie dough generally does not need chilling. If it is a little sticky or soft you can chill it for 30 minutes before rolling out the dough. The cut out dough can also be chilled if you don’t want to bake them immediately.
- If you use extra large or smaller cookie cutters you may need to tweak your cooking time. Small cookies will take about 8 minutes and larger ones around 12 minutes.
- Roll your dough out in icing sugar. This is a trick that I always use when rolling out cookies, it stops your cookies from becoming more dry and dense when you re-roll the dough.
- Store your cookies in a sealed container in a cool, dry place for up to 7 days.
Other cookie recipes you might like:
Simple Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
- Using an electric whisk, beat together the sugar and butter until it is well combined.
- Add in the egg yolk, cream, and essences then whisk together well.
- Mix through the flour, baking powder and salt, mixing the cookie dough until everything is roughly combined.
- Tip the rough dough out onto a clean bench top and use your hands to form the dough into a smooth dough ball.
- Dust your bench top, rolling pin and dough with a bit of icing sugar. Roll your dough out to approx 1 cm thick. Cut out cookies using your chosen cookie cutters and place them onto a lined baking sheet. Gather up the scrap dough and roll it out again as needed until all of the dough has been cut into cookies.
- Bake your cookies in batches for approx 10 minutes. Let them cool completely before icing them.
- Using an electric whisk, whisk the egg white and lemon juice together until the mixture becomes foamy. Add in the icing sugar, a little at a time, whisking constantly. When it is fully incorporated, add in your essence and food coloring and mix through. Your icing should be thick and hold an indent for 10 -15 seconds before collapsing.
- Dollop a teaspoon into the centre of your cookie spread it around evenly to make a large circle in the centre of your cookie. Add sprinkles on top of the wet icing. Repeat with the remaining cookies until all of your sugar cookies are decorated.
- Place your iced cookies onto a piece of baking paper and allow the icing to fully set. Once the icing is set you can store your cookies in an airtight container.
- Store your cookies in a sealed container in a cool, dry place for up to 7 days.
Notes
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my simple sugar cookies recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.
