The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
The best sugar cookie recipe, perfect for decorating.
Equipment
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup White sugar
- 1 large Egg (beaten)
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp Almond extract (optional)
- 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Using beaters or a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the beaten egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract (optional) and mix on high speed until thoroughly mixed.
- In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low until fully combined. The dough should not be sticky. If needed, mix in an additional tablespoon of flour until dough is no longer sticky.
- Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Using a dusted rolling pin, roll out each half of the dough into dough sheets. Roll until each sheet is about 1/4 inch thick. Be sure to stay within the edges of your parchment paper. Once you have finished rolling our the dough, sprinkle the top of each sheet with flour.
- Carefully place one dough sheet (while still on the parchment paper) on a plate or cookie pan. Place the second dough sheet (with parchment paper) on top of the first. Place the stacked dough sheets in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough has been chilled, pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Remove the cookie dough sheets from the refrigerator and cut the dough into shapes using your desired cookie cutters.
- Transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheets, keeping at least 1 inch of space between each. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until the bottom edges are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack. Allow the cookies to fully cool before decorating.
