Sugar Cookies - My Tried & Tested Recipe

There are specific recipes that I will go to bat against anyone and claim mine is the best. The only reason I feel this way, is because I tried and tested multiple recipes and can attest to the success of specific ones.

This Sugar Cookie recipe is a perfect example of one of my go-to recipes. Of course, you will NOT believe where I found the recipe...a bag of Great Value sugar about 10 years ago!

A few special things about this recipe:

• Prep: this dough is very easy to work with
• Easy prep & freeze: You can prepare the dough, roll it out and after cutting out the cookies, you can place them into the freezer to bake. They will hold their shape beautifully. 
• Your Choice!: They can be made as thin or thick as you want, either way, they're delicious
• Decorations: you can decorate these with a nice glaze, buttercream icing or even royal icing

Here are images of some recent Christmas cookies I decorated:

The Recipe:

Makes 6 dozen cookies

1 C sugar

1 C butter, softened

3 T milk

1 t vanilla

1 egg

3 C all purpose flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Making the dough:

1) In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter. 

2) Slowly add the milk, vanilla and egg. Mix well. 

3) Gradually add the flour, baking powder and salt. 

4) Once the dough is mixed, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. 

Cutting the cookies:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough to your preferred thickness (I prefer 1/8"). Keep the remaining dough refrigerated. 

3) Cut with floured cookie cutters and place 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

4) Bake for around 5 - 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown. 

5) Immediately remove from the cookie sheets and cool thoroughly before decorating with icing.

Icing Recipe:

Recipe for a very easy & tasty border & flood icing - I used it on the crystal sugar & gold cookies above:

For the border icing:

1 - 1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1/2 t vanilla or other flavoring extract

2 to 2 1/2 T milk or water (I prefer milk)
Food coloring, optional

I found I needed to use about 1 1/2 C+ of powdered sugar to get this to the right consisency. All ingredients may be mixed at the same time and this icing is so easy, you can use a fork! You want the icing to slightly drop off of your fork but still be thick, so it will hold once you put it on your cookies. 

Make sure you use the border icing on your cookies, before you use the thinner, flood icing. Let the icing set about 20 - 30 minutes before using the flood icing. 

Also, if you are wanting a pure white icing, I recommend using the clear imitation vanilla flavoring. The pure vanilla will tint it slightly. I'm a vniilla purist, so this is the only time I'll mention the merits of the imitation atuff 😀

For the flood icing:1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring extract
2 1/2 – 3 tablespoons milk or water
Food coloring, optional

Again, you can mix this with a fork! You want it to be a lot thinner than the border icing but not too thin. When you run your fork through the icing, it should leave a slight trail of the fork prongs. If it's too runny, it could overrun your border. To reduce runniness, add more powdered sugar to your mixture. 

Glazed cookies will take at least 24 hours to dry!

Here are some photos of sugar cookies I have decorated over the years!