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Best sugar cookie recipe to make masterpieces!
The best sugar cookie recipe is at your fingertips.
What makes the perfect sugar cookie to you?
Is it the velvety texture? Is it the soft thickness? No brown bottoms? Oh, how about the taste that hits every feel good bone in your body?
If so, here is that best sugar cookie recipe below.
This will save you oodles of time and 'sifting' through a great many recipes!
As a primer, be sure to check out this page: How to Make Professional Cookies.
The best sugar cookie recipe that's super delicious and made for decorating
Does starting your own sugar cookie business and selling them excite you? Then you need a solid foundation to build on.
That foundation begins with the best sugar cookie recipe baked the right way.
After all, what good is a masterpiece atop an average or less than average base?
You don't have to necessarily buy name brands or expensive products either.
I have tested name-brand items against store-brand ones.
Results?
I prefer some products with store-bought brands.
Two important keys:
- Real butter. Period.
- Emulsion, not extract
Here is the list of ingredients:
· Walmart’s Great Value flour (or Kroger)
· Walmart’s Great Value sugar (or Kroger)
· table salt, usually Great Value
· any brand of eggs
· cream cheese, usually Great Value (or Kroger)
· emulsions, LorAnn
The most cost-effective way to purchase emulsion is by the gallon. Here is a link to the best-tasting emulsion I've found. It's perfect for these sugar cookies! There are a variety of sizes (and flavors) if you don't want to commit to a gallon.
- LorAnn's Butter Vanilla Emulsion lends the rich taste of butter plus vanilla to all of your baked goods and frostings. Try it in your recipes as a substitute for regular vanilla extract. For those who are familiar with the flavor of Butavan - this emulsion is for you!
- 1 teaspoon baking extract = 1 teaspoon emulsion
- Water Based ( Soluble in Water)
- Kosher - Gluten Free - Made in USA
Example of emulsion flavorings and sizesThat’s it? Yep. Super easy!
Wait! What in the world is the 'e' word again? Oh yes, emulsion.
The texture of the emulsion is a thick but pourable solution that is water-based. Since it doesn't have alcohol-like extracts, most of the flavor will stay in during baking.
Extracts have their place in frostings and icings. Though people do use emulsion in them as well. I do not since emulsion is expensive. I choose to use clear, pure Mexican vanilla in its stead in royal icing.
This is a good article on the Imperial Sugar website for a close look at using pure vanilla vs imitation.
I purchase Danncy's clear pure Mexican vanilla from Amazon in a pack of 3. The flavor is unbeatable! I heard one cookier say she didn't like it and that it was so strong. It is strong. It tastes a little like almonds even though it doesn't contain almonds. It just requires using less. Believe me...
...it does NOT disappoint!
This shows the extract at a quarter of the cost when buying a 4-pack. Single bottles available too!
- Danncy Pure Vanilla Extract From Mexico 4 Plastic Bottle Lot Sealed.
- Info from the bottle: does not contain: coumarin.
- (Net 33 fl. oz. each) four new sealed bottles.
- Four clear bottles listed.
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The best sugar cookie recipe...' soft, durable, tasty'
This is a straightforward, no-fuss-no-muss sugar cookie recipe.
Soft, durable, and tasty. Did I mention a wonderfully velvety texture? Speaking of texture, be sure to check out my Best Buttercream Frosting page.
Look for yourself…
These photos indicate the thickness and velvety look of these tasty cookies.
There are photos below for a step-by-step process.
Here is the best sugar cookie recipe you’ll find.
This recipe is made available to you through the download link below—FREE.
Nita’s Signature Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
2 sticks (1/2 pound) of real butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 whole egg, room temperature
1 ½ c granulated sugar
1 tsp almond emulsion
1 tsp butter-vanilla emulsion
1 tsp salt
3 c flour
This makes roughly 20, 3” cookies.
This is my Superior Royal Icing Recipe that couples deliciously with these sugar cookies! Click to take you to the recipe.
Tap this image below for a great sugar cookie glaze recipe as a free download as well:
***If you are comfortable with the recipe and eager to get started decorating, click this image to start the royal icing flooding process.
If you are ready to start pricing your cookies to sell, visit this page: Price for Decorated Sugar Cookies.
What are the best attributes of this sugar cookie recipe?
- easy
- quick
- delicious
- perfect for cut-out cookies
- won't spread
- stays soft after baking for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container
- freeze dough for months
- freeze undecorated baked cookies for months
- bakes flat
- makes customers happy
*These cookies should be chilled for 15 minutes or overnight. If it is overnight, you will need to let the dough sit out for a bit to make it workable, or it will be brick-hard.
I have used it with just a few minutes being chilled before you use your cutters. You need it to be workable but not soft.
You can use either a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer. However, I zipped through 2 hand-held mixers, burned them out, because the dough was too thick for them. So, I bought a Sears Kenmore at a store's liquidation cost (super cheap) 10 years ago.
Because of the high daily use, it started making noise a few years ago. I couldn't afford downtime, so I bit the bullet and bought a KitchenAid Artisan. I've been super pleased with it. It's a powerhouse!
-5 Quart Stainless Steel Bowl
-10 speeds
-Choose from a full palette of color options
-Includes coated flat beater, coated dough hook, 6-wire whip, and 1-piece pouring shield.
Directions
1. Cream butter and cream cheese together until they look fluffy and light yellow.
2. Add egg, granulated sugar, and emulsions. Mix just until incorporated.
3. Add the salt and flour. Mix only until the flour is mixed in. Over-mixing could cause tough cookies due to the egg.
4. Spatula it out onto plastic wrap on a table. Form a nice ball. Flatten the ball out to a rectangle or disk shape about an inch high.
It doesn’t matter the height. The more you flatten it out in this soft stage, the less you have to roll it out with your rolling pin. Also, flattening the dough into discs makes them perfect to stack.
5. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. I double the plastic wrap if the dough will be in the fridge for more than a couple of days. Place it in the fridge for 15 minutes or overnight.
Step-by-step instructions of how to make the best sugar cookie recipe:
Step 1 Gather ingredients
Step 2 Add butter and cream cheese to bowl
Step 3 Beat butter and cream cheese til light and fluffy
Step 4 Add egg, sugar, and emulsions
Step 5 Lift paddle/beater to add dry ingredients
Step 6 Add flour and salt on top of wet ingredients
Step 7 Scrape bowl and paddle/beater
Step 8 Spatula out the dough onto plastic wrap
Step 9 Form dough into a ball
Step 10 Flatten dough ball into a disc shape about 1/2" thick
Step 11 Tightly wrap dough disc in plastic wrap
Roughly 1/2" thick6. When chilled, sift out some flour on your workstation. Place the dough on the flour and roll it out. I choose to cut them at ¼” thickness. All of my customers just love these thick and soft cookies!
7. Cut out the shapes and place them on these highly rated, affordable cookie sheets.
8. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Allow freezing completely to prevent spreading when baked.
9. Preheat the oven to 350⁰.
10. When cookies are frozen, pull them out of the freezer and place them immediately into the oven, yes, frozen. Bake for 13 minutes. For a softer cookie, remove cookies just before they are finished baking. They will continue to bake after you take them out.
Step 1. Place dough on floured work station
Step 2. Roll dough out to a quarter of an inch
Photo showing cookie dough rolled out to a quarter of an inch
Photo of spacing and thickness of cookies on cookie sheet.I use Nordic Ware cookie sheets with parchment. When I take them out of the oven, I leave the cookies to cool on the same pan on my baker’s rack. They never get a browned bottom.
Bonus: saves an extra step!
Best sugar cookie recipe...you need to know these details and tips
Make sure they are cooled before you begin making your works of art with these Cookie Decorating Techniques and Sugar Cookie Decorating Ideas.
These sugar cookies will last up to 2 weeks easily on the counter in an air-tight container.
Oh—did I say the cookie is delicious without any icing or frosting?
I have customers who prefer just the cookie; they are that good! The cookie itself isn't all that sweet—the sweet royal icing on top levels out the extra sweet taste, so double win.
Be sure to tap for my favorite—no-fail—sugar cookie icing recipe, aka: my Superior Royal Icing
There you have it, the best sugar cookie recipe.
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