Description
This best sugar cookie recipe yields soft, tender cookies with a delicate almond and vanilla flavor. Perfectly balanced in sweetness and thickness, these cookies bake quickly to a golden finish and are ideal for decorating or enjoying as a simple, classic treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- 1 Cup unsalted butter (226 grams)
- 1 Cup granulated white sugar (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 egg
Dry Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour (360 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat your oven to 350° F to ensure it reaches the perfect temperature for baking your sugar cookies evenly.
- Cream butter and sugar: In the bowl of your mixer, beat together the unsalted butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, which should take at least 3 minutes. This step incorporates air for lightness.
- Add extracts and egg: Beat in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and the single egg until fully combined, building flavor and moisture into the dough.
- Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder and salt with the all-purpose flour. Gradually add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time to avoid lumps and create a homogeneous dough.
- Adjust dough consistency: If your dough looks crumbly, continue mixing for 30 seconds to 1 minute until it pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl, indicating it’s coming together properly.
- Knead dough by hand (if needed): If the dough still feels too dry or stiff for the mixer, turn it onto a lightly floured countertop and wet your hands slightly to finish kneading the dough by hand until smooth.
- Divide and roll out dough: Do not chill the dough. Instead, divide it into 2-3 workable chunks. Roll each batch out onto a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness, aiming for thicker cookies rather than thin, crispy ones. Cut into your desired shapes.
- Bake: Place the cut cookies on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven at 350° F for 6-8 minutes. Bake just until the edges are set; the centers should remain soft.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet until they are firm enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Do not chill the dough before rolling and cutting, as it will hinder the soft texture.
- If the dough is too dry, gently wet your hands while kneading to bring it together.
- For thicker cookies, aim for around 1/4 inch thickness when rolling out the dough.
- Watch the cookies closely during baking to prevent overbaking and losing their softness.
- These cookies can be decorated once completely cooled with icing or sugar sprinkles if desired.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: sugar cookies, classic cookie recipe, soft sugar cookies, almond extract sugar cookies, vanilla sugar cookies, baked cookies
