Description
Grandma’s classic sugar cookies blend nostalgic sweetness with simple ingredients. Crisp edges and tender centers promise delightful moments shared with loved ones you’ll cherish.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups (360 grams / 12.7 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (226 grams / 8 oz) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 grams / 7 oz) granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) almond extract
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
Instructions
- Mixing Foundations: Cream softened butter and sugar in an electric mixer until the mixture becomes supremely light and airy, creating a silky smooth base.
- Liquid Integration: Incorporate vanilla and almond extracts with egg, blending until the mixture achieves a uniform, glossy consistency with no visible separation.
- Dry Component Preparation: Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, ensuring a lump-free and evenly distributed dry ingredient mixture.
- Dough Formation: Gently fold dry ingredients into wet mixture, using minimal strokes to prevent overworking the dough, maintaining a tender cookie texture.
- Dough Refinement: Knead dough briefly on a lightly floured surface, adjusting moisture with fingertips if necessary to create a smooth, malleable consistency.
- Shaping and Cutting: Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured countertop, then use decorative cookie cutters to create precise shapes with clean edges.
- Baking Process: Arrange cookie shapes on a lined baking sheet, placing them with slight separation, and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F until edges turn delicately golden.
- Cooling and Finishing: Allow cookies to rest on the baking sheet for several minutes to stabilize, then transfer to a wire rack for complete cooling, ensuring a perfect crisp texture.
Notes
- Butter Temperature Matters: Use room-temperature butter for smooth, creamy mixing and optimal cookie texture – prevents dense, tough cookies.
- Dough Handling Technique: Avoid overworking the dough to maintain a tender, melt-in-your-mouth consistency that defines perfect sugar cookies.
- Flour Measurement Precision: Spoon and level flour instead of scooping directly from the container to ensure accurate measurements and prevent dry, crumbly cookies.
- Chilling Dough Advantage: Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling to enhance flavor, prevent spreading, and create cleaner cookie cut-outs.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 30 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg