Description
Sugar cookies from grandma’s kitchen blend nostalgic comfort with sweet simplicity. Delicate edges and rich butter create a classic treat perfect for family gatherings and holiday celebrations.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups (312 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- Sprinkles (optional)
- Frosting (optional)
Instructions
- Oven Preparation: Ignite the oven to 350F (175C) and drape parchment paper across two baking sheets, creating a pristine landing zone for the cookies.
- Dry Ingredient Harmony: Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, whisking until the mixture achieves a consistent, cloud-like texture that promises structural integrity.
- Butter Transformation: Whip butter and granulated sugar into a voluminous, pale cream through vigorous beating, aerating the mixture until it becomes impossibly light and expansive.
- Flavor Infusion: Merge egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract into the creamed butter, blending until the mixture achieves a silky, cohesive consistency that hints at the delectable treats to come.
- Dough Orchestration: Tenderly fold dry and wet ingredients together, minimizing manipulation to preserve the dough’s delicate nature, ceasing mixing the instant ingredients unite.
- Cookie Sculpting: Craft precise dough spheres by scooping and rolling, then lavishly coat each in granulated sugar, creating a crystalline exterior that promises a sparkling crunch.
- Baking Choreography: Arrange sugar-coated dough balls on prepared sheets with strategic spacing, allowing room for elegant expansion during the baking ritual.
- Thermal Perfection: Bake for 8-10 minutes, watching for golden-kissed edges while maintaining a center that whispers of tender, barely-baked promise, then remove from the oven with precision.
- Cooling Ritual: Allow cookies to rest briefly on the baking sheet, then transition to a wire rack, completing their transformation into the ultimate soft and chewy sugar cookie experience.
Notes
- Butter Temperature Matters: Ensure butter is softened but not melted for the perfect creamy base, which helps create that signature soft and chewy texture.
- Minimal Mixing Technique: Stop mixing the dough the instant ingredients combine to prevent tough, dense cookies – overmixing breaks down gluten and ruins the delicate structure.
- Sugar Coating Trick: Roll cookies generously in granulated sugar before baking for a sparkling, crisp exterior that contrasts beautifully with the soft interior.
- Precise Baking Time: Watch cookies carefully during the 8-10 minute window; golden edges with a slightly underbaked center guarantee maximum chewiness and prevent dry, crumbly results.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 11
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 25 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg