Best Butter Sugar Cookies Recipes

BEST EVER VANILLA BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup butter, sugar and egg in bowl. Beat at medium speed, until creamy. Add milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
• Divide dough in thirds. Shape each third into a ball on plastic food wrap. Wrap in plastic food wrap; flatten to 1/2 inch. Refrigerate 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-third at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8 to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely.
• Combine powdered sugar, water, 1 tablespoon butter, corn syrup and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in bowl; mix until powdered sugar is moistened. Beat at medium speed until smooth, adding additional water if necessary, to reach desired glazing consistency. Tint with food color, if desired.
• Glaze cooled cookies. Add decorator candies, if desired. Let stand 6 hours or overnight until glaze is hardened.

BROWN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat butter over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until it turns nut brown in color. The foaming and bubbling is part of the browning process, but watch it carefully so that you don't burn the butter. Remove from heat, and cool slightly. Reserve 1/2 cup of the butter for the frosting.
• Pour remaining browned butter into a large mixing bowl. Beat browned butter with brown sugar until the butter is no longer hot. Mix in eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat thoroughly. Mix in flour and chopped pecans. Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown around the edges. Cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix the reserved 1/2 cup browned butter with 2 teaspoons vanilla, confectioners' sugar, and hot water. Beat until smooth, and use to frost cooled cookies.

VANILLA-BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. , For frosting, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring. Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; transfer frosting to bag. Pipe decorations. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Freeze option: Freeze undecorated cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw and decorate as desired.

THE BEST BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for a full 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through the mixing; the butter should be very light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add half the dry ingredients and beat on low speed to combine. Scrape down the mixing bowl before adding the remaining dry ingredients and beat to combine. Refrigerate for 1 hour in the bowl for drop cookies, or form into a 1-inch log for slice-and-bake cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the turbinado sugar in a small bowl. For drop cookies, scoop the cookie dough with a 1 tablespoon-size cookie scoop and then dip the tops of the cookie dough balls into the sugar. Place onto the prepared baking sheet.
• For slice-and-bake cookies, cut the log into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Press the tops into the sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake the cookies until slightly puffed and lightly golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes.

THE BEST SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Add the 4 sticks (2 cups) of butter and 2 cups of white sugar to your mixer. A word about the butter, we use Sweet Cream Salted Butter when we are baking and I think it tastes great with these sugar cookies too. The butter needs to be softened but still cold. A prime culprit for dry sugar cookie dough is butter that is too warm and soft. I let the butter sit out on the counter for just under an hour before I start making the cookies - this seems to be the perfect amount of time for me. The butter is still cold to the touch but you can press into the stick with your fingers. In the past, when in a rush, I have softened the butter in the microwave but inevitably the dough that I get is on the "crumbly" side.
• Cream the butter and sugar until it is completely mixed (3 minutes on medium-high should do the trick.)
• Add 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 2 eggs. I know that sounds like a lot of vanilla but this recipe needs a little extra moisture and the cookies will taste great.
• Mix the cookie dough until light and fluffy (about 3 more minutes.)
• Add 4 teaspoons of Baking Powder and mix.
• Mix in the 6 cups of flour two cups at a time. Don't over-mix the dough when you are adding the dry ingredients. Mix it only until the flour is incorporated into the dough.
• After you have added the 6 cups of Flour the dough should be firm but not dry or crumbly. If the dough seems to dry, add a tiny bit of vanilla or milk (start with a teaspoon) and mix again.
• Roll a handful of the dough out on a prepared surface until it's about 3/8" thick.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
• Bake in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for 6-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookie cutter you used. Do not over-bake! We like thicker sugar cookies so they will hold a good amount of frosting. If you make your cookies on the thick side as we have done in the pictures here, you should cook them 9-10 minutes. They might not look done to you but they are. Take them out of the oven. You don't want them to start browning around the edges the way a Chocolate Chip Cookie would, for example. The cookies should be set and just bet starting to slightly brown around the edges. Over-baking is the prime culprit if you feel your sugar cookies seem dry. If you roll out thinner cookies, or use smaller cookie cutters than the ones we have used here, you should only bake the cookies 6 or 7 minutes.
• Let your cookies cool and then they are ready for frosting. We use our Best Buttercream Frosting recipe with these Best Sugar Cookies. The frosting is easy to color and tastes so delicious and yummy on these Sugar Cookies. You will have all the tips and tricks to make this yummy homemade sugar cookie frosting right here.

BUTTERY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Beat together butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or 6 with a handheld. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour.
• Halve dough and form each half into a disk, then wrap in wax paper. Put each disk in a resealable plastic bag and chill until firm enough to roll into balls, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Bake and decorate cookies:
• While oven heats, work with 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled). Roll 1 level tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll in coarse sugar in a shallow bowl to coat completely. (If dough becomes too soft to roll easily into balls, quick-chill in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator.)
• Place balls 2 inches apart on a lined baking sheet. With the flat bottom of a glass, flatten balls into 2-inch rounds.
• Bake cookies, one sheet at time, until bottoms are golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Cool on sheets 2 minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets.

WORLD'S BEST BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
• Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
• Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
• Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough smooths out.
• Turn onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, wrap up and refrigerate for several hours or freeze.
• Before baking, preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Line your baking sheets with parchment.
• Slice the dough into slices about 1/8" thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart (they won't be spreading very much, but they need air room around each cookie).
• Bake until JUST beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 16-18 minutes.
• Note: you can do many things with these cookies.
• You could roll the dough out and cut shapes.
• You could slice them even thinner and sandwich them with chocolate or jam or lemon curd.
• You could make them and then dip them half into chocolate.
• You could just make them and eat them, which is my favorite.
• Whatever you do, they will be delicious.

BUTTER ICING FOR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat cream and butter until butter is melted. Stir in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.

BEST EVER BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup butter, sugar and egg in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add orange juice and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed until well mixed.
• Divide dough into thirds. Shape each third into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap each in plastic food wrap; refrigerate 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Roll out dough, 1/3 at a time, on lightly floured surface (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch cookie cutters. Place, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 6-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• Combine powdered sugar, 1/3 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often and gradually adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired. Frost and decorate cooled cookies as desired.

BUTTERY SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar; place a walnut or raisin in the center of each if desired. , Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place parchment paper on or grease 1 baking pan.
• In a small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
• With an electric mixer, cream butter. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
• Add dry mixture and milk alternately, starting and ending with dry.
• You should have a dough that is soft but not sticky. Place in fridge for 30-60 minutes.
• Remove dough from fridge and roll out to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Use chosen cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
• Place shapes on baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned on edges.
• Allow to cool completely before icing.
• Beat butter with an electric mixer. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
• Spread on cookies, or pipe icing on with a piping bag. Feel free to decorate with sprinkles!

BEST EVER BUTTER SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine butter, sugar, and egg in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, orange juice, vanilla, and baking powder. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap in plastic wrap and shape into disks. Refrigerate until firm (about 2-3 hours).
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. On lightly floured surface roll out dough, 1/3 at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated). Roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with decorative sugars if you don't plan on frosting them. Bake 6-10 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Cool completely.
• Frost or decorate as desired.
• Preparation time does not include time in refrigerator.