Description
Sweet and delicate sugar star cookies bring festive cheer to holiday gatherings. Delightful butter-based treats melt in your mouth with delicate vanilla notes, promising joyful celebrations for all who enjoy them.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups (310 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 12 tbsps milk or heavy cream
- ¼ tsp vanilla or almond extract
- food coloring (optional)
- sprinkles or edible glitter (optional)
Instructions
- Preparation: Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl, creating a uniform dry foundation for the delicate sugar star cookies.
- Creaming: Whip butter and sugar in a spacious bowl until the mixture achieves a pale, voluminous texture with soft, billowy peaks.
- Flavor Infusion: Blend egg, vanilla, and almond extracts into the creamed mixture, introducing aromatic depths to the developing dough.
- Dough Formation: Delicately fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture using sweeping motions, ensuring a tender, cohesive dough without overmixing.
- Chilling and Shaping: Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes to firm up, then roll out on a lightly floured surface to an even thickness, ready for cutting into star-shaped delights.
- Baking: Position the shaped cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then slide into a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C). Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges turn a gentle golden brown, signaling their perfect, crisp-yet-tender completion.
- Cooling and Serving: Transfer the freshly baked sugar star cookies to a wire rack, allowing them to cool completely before serving, ensuring maximum flavor and ideal textural balance.
Notes
- Prevent Overmixing: Stop mixing as soon as ingredients combine to keep cookies tender and avoid a tough, dense texture.
- Chill for Perfect Shape: Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes to firm up ingredients, making rolling and cutting easier and maintaining clean star-shaped edges.
- Extract Enhancement: Use high-quality vanilla and almond extracts to elevate the cookie’s delicate flavor profile and create a more sophisticated taste experience.
- Flour Surface Wisely: Dust work surface lightly with flour to prevent sticking without making the dough dry or adding excessive flour that could alter the cookie’s texture.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 23
- Calories: 151
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 33 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg