Classic Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipes

OLD-FASHIONED LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
• Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
• Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
• Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, the softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the almond extract and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Divide dough in half; shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Roll each disk on lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 2- to 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters into desired shapes. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cutouts at least 2 inches apart.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• In medium bowl, beat 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla with spoon until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too stiff to spread, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Tint with food color. Spread frosting on cooled cookies. Decorate as desired with colored sugar or candy sprinkles. Let stand about 4 hours or until frosting is set. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature with waxed paper between layers.

THE BEST OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cookies:.
• Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Cover & refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 5-10 minutes depending on how you like them. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Frosting:.
• Beat the butter, add sifted sugar & mix well. Add the vanilla, enough milk to reach the consistency you want & the tint to desired colour.
• Spread the frosting over the cookies using a pallet knife. Allow to sit for a few minutes then add sprinkles. Don't use the sprinkles right after frosting or they will absorb moisture & leach their colour!
• Glaze:.
• Stir confectioners' sugar, milk and extract in small bowl until smooth. Stir in corn syrup until glaze is smooth and glossy. (If glaze is too thick, stir in small amount of additional corn syrup.)
• Stir in 3 to 4 drops food color until evenly distributed and glaze is smooth. Add additional drops of food color until glaze is of desired color.
• To glaze cookies, place cooling rack on foil-lined baking sheet. Holding a cookie by its edge, dip the top of cookie into glaze. (Or spoon the glaze onto cookies using a teaspoon. Cookies can also be glazed using a new small paintbrush.) Place glazed cookies on cooling rack to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch any drips.)
• Use contrasting glaze colors to decorate glazed cookies, if desired. Place small amount of contrasting glaze in small resealable plastic bag. Snip off tiny piece of the corner of the plastic bag. Create design by squeezing contrasting glaze onto cookies. Allow glazed cookies to dry thoroughly before stacking.
• If you would like more than one color of glaze, divide untinted glaze among separate small bowls. Tint each one a different color by stirring in 1 to 2 drops food color until evenly distributed and glaze is smooth. Add additional drops food color until glaze is of desired color. (.
• If cookie is decorated with contrasting glaze before glazed cookie is allowed to dry, glaze colors will blend slightly, creating a softer, more muted design).
• Allow glaze to dry before storing cookies in airtight containers.
• Note: Use glaze soon after preparing. Do not refrigerate glaze, as it will begin to harden.

CLASSIC OLD-FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine baking soda, cream of tartar and flour mixing well. With your hands, knead in softened butter.
• In a small bowl, beat eggs and mix well with sugar and vanilla.
• Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and again using your hands, mix this really well.
• Chill dough. It will be quite hard when it is completely chilled. Using a table knife, cut off chunks to roll out on a well-flour surface to desired thickness - thin cookies will get crispy when baked, thicker cookies will puff and stay soft. Cut into desired shapes.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven until the edges begin to brown; be careful not to overcook if you want them to stay soft after cooling!
• After completely cooled, decorate the cookies. These will freeze really well!

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
• Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a second large bowl and mix well. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Chill the dough for 3 to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheet. If decorating with colored sugar, brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (if using royal icing, leave unfinished). Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
• Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. If using royal icing, decorate the cookies as desired.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over-beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.
• Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Gels are best with royal icing. You don't want to thin them with liquid colors. Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days. Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.
• Yield: 3 1/2 cups icing

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
• Cut in butter until fine.
• Add egg, cream (or evaporated milk), and vanilla.
• Roll out dough evenly on to a lightly floured surface. (I separate my dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece to 1/4 inch thickness.).
• Sprinkle with sugar. (I usually skip this step if I plan to frost the cookies).
• Cut out with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased baking sheet. (The cookies do not really spread much, so about an inch apart is fine.).
• Bake at 400F for 5 - 8 minutes or until edges just start to brown. (In my oven 6 minutes is perfect - the cookie is firm, but not over-cooked and the bottoms are just-browned.).
• Remove to cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour into large mixing bowl.
• Resift with salt, soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
• In a separate bowl, cream the butter or margarine with sugar until fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
• Add butter mixture to dry ingredients, alternately with sour cream, mixing until smooth after each addition.
• Add vanilla.
• Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill until firm enough to roll, about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Roll dough on floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut with large cookie cutter; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

GRANDMA MINNIE'S OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
• Over a large bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir in lightly beaten egg, cream, and vanilla. Blend well. Dough may be chilled, if desired.
• On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Sprinkle with sugar; cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until delicately brown.