The holidays can be a stressful time of year for everyone, and it’s important to find ways to relax. Some people do this by taking a bath, or watching a movie, or baking! If you’re someone who finds baking relaxing, here’s a great sugar cookie recipe for you! Cookies are also a great small gift for family and friends at any time of year.
Ingredients:
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup softened butter
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Any decorations you want to add!
This recipe gives around 48 cookies, so if you had a smaller batch in mind, here’s a recipe converter you can use: https://www.free-online-calculator-use.com/recipe-conversion-calculator.html
Before you start, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly and put on an apron if you’re worried about your clothes. If your oven takes a while to preheat, now is a good time to start preheating to 375 degrees, but if your oven is pretty quick, I would recommend waiting until your ingredients are fully combined to start preheating.
The first step is to combine the dry ingredients into a bowl, so this would be your 2 ¾ cups of flour, your 1 teaspoon baking soda, and your ½ teaspoon baking powder. Lightly mix the ingredients together, and then put your bowl to the side for a moment.
Next, take a mixing bowl (or, if you don’t have one, a large bowl and a whisk) and cream together the 1 cup of butter and the 1 ½ cups of sugar, then mix in the egg and the 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once that’s done, you want to slowly mix in your dry ingredients a little bit at a time until they’re all smoothly combined.
At this point, if your oven isn’t preheating, now is a good time to turn it on. Get out a baking sheet and some parchment paper or nonstick cooking spray and set that out in a convenient place. If you just want round cookies, roll the dough into a circle about the size of a teaspoon and place them onto the sheet.
If you want shapes, clean your counter, thoroughly dry it, and then sprinkle a generous amount of flour over it to prevent the cookie dough from sticking to the counter. Set out your dough for the first round of cookies, and bring out a rolling pin. You should also coat the rolling pin and the top of the dough with flour to prevent sticking. Now, roll out your dough to your desired thickness, and stamp out all the shapes you want with cookie cutters.
Carefully peel away the unused dough and stick it back into the bowl. If you have one available, using a spatula or a butter knife to lift the cookies will help protect them against separating into different pieces. Lay them all out on your tray, being sure to leave a good amount of room between each cookie, and if you wanted to add any oven-safe decorations, now is the time.
Now, place the tray in the oven for around 8 to 10 minutes, being sure to check on them often. Once you’re happy with them, take them out and leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool entirely. Once they’re completely cool, you can add frosting, sprinkles, or any other toppings you want. And they’re done! Enjoy them yourself or with family and friends, and have a great holiday season!
Alex
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