Yields 35 cookies, can easily be doubled.
I've been making sugar cookies for years now for special occasions and I've tried a handful of different recipes. Homemade sugar cookies can be intimidating because in the past you've had to chill the dough beforehand, and rolling it out can be a chore. There is such a balance of trying to get a dough that doesn't need to be chilled, doesn't expand too much in the oven (no BLOB cookies), and tastes great. I have found that recipe!!! Trust me, if you felt like making sugar cookies were this big to-do before, you must give this recipe a try.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of all purpose flour
DIRECTIONS:
PREHEAT over to 350 F
In your mixer, cream together the 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of butter until smooth. Approx 3 minutes.
BEAT in 1 1/2 teaspoons of extract and 1 egg.
In a different bowl, combine 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 3 cups of flour.
Slowly add a spoonful of the dry mixture into the mixer while it's on low.
The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl, and not be crumbly. DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into 2 or 3 batches to make it easier to roll out. Roll out onto a floured surface and cut with your desired cookie cutter.
Bake at 350 F for 6-8 minutes. Every oven is different, so keep an eye on the first batch to see what looks best.
NOTES:
You want to these cookies to be about 1/4 inch thick. When you take them out of the oven they will look like they aren't done. Still take them out and set on top of the stove to bake a little longer on the cookie sheet. After another couple minutes you can carefully transfer to the cooling racks. You want these cookies to have ZERO browning on the bottom. Then you'll know you have the perfect sugar cookie with perfect edge lines.
Butter does not have to be room temperature, but allow the butter to sit on the counter for about 15 minutes before you start mixing ingredients. Cut the butter up into small cubes before you throw it in the mixing bowl-this will help blend with the sugar better.
You can swap out the almond extract for vanilla extract or lemon extract depending on what flavor you are in the mood for.
The dough freezes well, just saran wrap the sections you want to freeze.
The finished cookies also freeze very well, just be sure to stack them neatly and evenly in a Tupperware container so they don't get squished and break.
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