Hi!
I’ve been trying out recipes and experimenting for a long time to find the perfect sugar cookie. And while I don’t think this recipe is perfect, it’s my favorite of all the ones I’ve tried!
The recipe has a couple of secret but simple ingredients to achieve cookies that have: a delicious flavor (so many decorated cookies are just tasteless sugar blobs !), a soft texture (often the recipe has too much sugar and the cookies are hard and stiff) and a consistency that can be handled by children and kneaded… and re-kneaded… and still have delicious cookies.
Ingredients
- 225g of unsalted butter at room temperature.
- 100g of cream cheese at room temperature.
- 1 cup of white sugar.
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar.
- 1 egg.
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence.
- 0.5 tsp almond essence. (optional)
- 1 tsp baking powder.
- 1 tsp baking soda. (baking soda)
- 3.25 cups of white wheat flour. (+1/2 cup approx.)
Instructions
To make the dough
- Preheat the oven to 175ºC and use a cookie tin with a non-stick silicone baking sheet, or greased and floured.
- Using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter and cream cheese with the sugars. The mixture should be smooth and airy, lighter in color than butter, and have a creamy texture.
- At low speed, add the egg and beat until mixed.
- Add the vanilla and almond essence and beat until mixed.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and baking soda and gradually add it to the mixture, about half a cup at a time. Beat only until combined.
- Check the dough’s texture, which will vary depending on the butter and cream cheese you use. If it’s too soft, add 1/4 cup of flour and beat on low speed until combined. If you’re making round cookies (like sugar drop cookies), don’t add extra flour. If you want a firm dough that’s easy to handle (especially if you’re working with children), add another 1/4 cup of flour, although your cookies will be a little harder.
To form the cookies
- To make round cookies: make small balls, flatten them with your hand, and place them directly on the baking tray.
- To make shaped cookies: Remove the dough from the mixer and place it on the counter dusted with flour.
- Form a ball and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough evenly, about 0.5cm thick (thinner for crispier cookies and thicker for softer cookies).
- Use cookie cutters and remove the cookies by lifting from one corner with a thin spatula.
- Transfer the cookies to the baking tray, leaving at least 2cm of space between them so they don’t stick together.
- Bake for 6 to 9 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven until cool enough to transfer to a cooling rack.